Category Archives: Burma

Is Myanmar another Rwanda genocide in the making?

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Editorial – Thailand current events

The events of the last two weeks in Myanmar bear considerable similarity to events a little over 19 years ago in a country that became synonymous with the abject failure of the UN, and defined the word “genocide” for the 20th century – Rwanda. While the one million people butchered in Rwanda is a relatively small number compared to the almost two million killed during the reign of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, Pol Pot took four years to reach his tally while in Rwanda the figure was reached in 100 days. The systematic murder, rape, desecration of corpses, destruction of homes, businesses and places of worship that have taken place against Myanmar Muslims of late closely parallel occurrences in … Continue reading →

Someone is harassing MSF in Rakhine State Myanmar, but it’s a secret who

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Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) logo

When it comes to bizarre media releases it’s hard to go past one issued today by international humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), breathlessly titled MSF prevented from reaching most communities affected by violence in Rakhine State (formerly Arakan State), western Myanmar. The press release, issued by MSF Bangkok, states: “As MSF medical teams work to reach communities affected by the violence in Rakhine State they face ongoing antagonism generated by deep ethnic divisions.”Ongoing animosity, aimed partially at organisations like MSF wishing to provide assistance …” In the third claim of alleged harassment, MSF’s operations manager, Joe Belliveau, is quoted: “That we are prevented from acting and threatened for wanting to deliver medical aid to those in need is shocking … Continue reading →

Drug resistant malaria on Thailand-Burma border grows by 3,335%

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Field microscopy along the Thailand-Burma border. Photo: Courtesy SMRU

Two recent studies of malaria along the Thailand-Burma border show that drug-resistant malaria in the region is increasing at an alarming rate, with one study showing a 3,335 percent increase in the last 10 years. The reports, Emergence of artemisinin-resistant malaria on the western border of Thailand: a longitudinal study published in The Lancet and A Major Genome Region Underlying Artemisinin Resistance in Malaria, published in the journal Science, show drug-resistant malaria is rapidly moving into new areas Funded by the Wellcome Trust and the US National Institutes of Health, the two research projects included scientists from Bangkok’s Mahidol University, the Centre for Tropical Medicine at Britain’s Oxford University, and the Texas Biomedical Research Institute in the USA, found that … Continue reading →

Leaked cable shows USA influencing Thai law & justice system for 60 years

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Former USA ambassador to Thailand Eric G John

A confidential US Government cable allegedly sent by former American ambassador to Thailand Eric John (pictured at left) to US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton provides an interesting insight into how embedded US agencies are in the Southeast Asian kingdom and the role the super-power has had in manipulating domestic Thai policies. Labelled “Embassy Bangkok,CONFIDENTIAL,09BANGKOK611″ with the subject Law enforcement cooperation between Thailand and the United States runs deep, the 3,715 word leaked cable is one of more than 3,000 classified US government cables involving Thailand released by whistleblower organization Wikileaks, some of which have already been published on the website of former Reuters journalist Andrew Marshall. The March 20, 2009 leaked embassy cable covers more than 60-years of … Continue reading →

War on drugs a failure says international group

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The War on Drugs report recommends reviewing the scheduling of drugs such as cannabis, coca leaf and MDMA calling the present system flawed.

Almost 100 years after the League of Nations’ first law on narcotics (drugs), the International Opium Convention of 1912, a report released yesterday, June 2, 2011, says the global war on drugs is a failure and governments need to initiate other policies, including legalizing marijuana and other currently controlled substances. The report, War on drugs by the Global Commission on Drug Policy (GCDP), a think tank that includes former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, the current prime minister of Greece, the past presidents of Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, along with distinguished world leaders and statesmen, said “the global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world”. Commissioner Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin … Continue reading →

Thai researcher debunks dengue fever myth – warnings for 2011 wet season

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A female Anopheles albimanus mosquito feeding on a human host.

A researcher at Thailand’s Department of Medical Sciences’ National Institute of Health (NIH) has found that a single mosquito can carry two different strains of the dengue fever virus, with larvae inheriting the disease from their mothers. The finding coincides with a warning by the NIH that it expects there to be a serious dengue fever outbreak across the country this year, due to the the recent extreme changes in the weather, and figures from Thailand’s Public Health Ministry (PHM) that in 2010 24,816 cases of malaria were reported nation-wide. NIH researcher Usavadee Thavara studied 25 Thailand provinces with reported dengue fever outbreaks between 2006 and 2010 and found that the females of two species of mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti and … Continue reading →

Elephants birthday a jumbo celebration in Thailand

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An elephant demonstrates its painting skills at the Mae Sa Elephant Camp near Chiang Mai during National Elephant Day celebrations in Thailand

Once the backbone of the Thai military and later the backbone of the Thai teakwood logging industry, the Thai elephant remains a potent and often encountered symbol in Thailand. On March 13th of each year elephants in Thailand celebrate their birthday on Thai National Elephant Day.

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