Myanmar coup

[Khun Paul]

AS I predicted the Myanmars Army especially its leaders are NOT to be trusted and will resort like bullies to the problem. Coupled with LOSS of Face and a Cultural Divide which has existed for centuries, it was known and will be known again as a FAILED State , sad because they have some lovely beaches and the people generally are very pleasant

As rider to what is occurring over the border, here in LOS, it appears the Government is slowly going down the same route , be careful out there.

[Laan Yaa Mo]

Special treatment for rescue workers,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF2PEmzDeMA

[jackspratt]

As rider to what is occurring over the border, here in LOS, it appears the Government is slowly going down the same route , be careful out there.

Seems to be the difference is that the local dictatorship seems to have some regard to world opinion.

Which is totally different - as demonstrated in Uncle Tilo's video above, and in earlier actions against the Rohignya - to the brutal thugs who call themselves the Army/Police in Burma.

UPDATE.

Read what you will into this:

On Tuesday, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) failed to make a breakthrough in a virtual foreign ministers' meeting about Myanmar.

While united in a call for restraint, only four members — Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore — called for the release of Ms Suu Kyi and other detainees.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-03/ ... d/13213430

[tamada]

^ I guess Brunei, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia have no real issues with other people's pseudo-totalitarianism.

To be honest, one of the primary mandates of ASEAN was not to openly comment on each other's political or publicly address them. I think last Tuesday's meeting, ostensibly to debate the Myanmar crisis, may not have had any precedent hence the reticence of some of the members?

Funnily enough, it looks like only ABC have commented on this non-event Foreign Ministers meeting. Nothing on the BBC or Aljazeera yet.

[Whistler]

Frankly what can anybody do? The entrenched interests in militaria regimes get no benefit from International support and no effective push back either. Any restrictions are miniscule compared to the benefits they have while in power.

Vietnam overpowered Pol Pot, but the only example I can remember in eliminating this type of behaviour in recent decades.

In 2021 this will not happen.

[tamada]

^ Maybe Thailand should sign a non-agression pact with Vietnam like they did with Japan and let the Vietnamese pass through on their way to put out the Burmese bonfire.

[Whistler]

Maybe the USA will bring in 'advisors' with stealth bombers and napalm. Based in Udon of course. Just tell them that Htin Kyaw is the nephew of Ho Chi Minh and they will be here in a flash.

[Whistler]

38 killed on Wednesday. Tragic.

[tamada]

Myanmar coup leaders tried draining $1bn from US account.

An executive order from US President Joe Biden gave the green light to block the transfer indefinitely, Reuters reported.

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/ ... nt-sources

[Whistler]

Myanmar coup leaders tried draining $1bn from US account.

An executive order from US President Joe Biden gave the green light to block the transfer indefinitely, Reuters reported.

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/ ... nt-sources

Kudos to Biden.

Begs the question why, are the coup leaders planning an exit to Dubai or similar? Military flight to TH and then an escape to......?

[tamada]

^ We wish.

According to the article, they were maybe just trying to get their hands on some fast liquidity ahead of heavy sanctions kicking in?

[Laan Yaa Mo]

The Tatmadaw are not planning to go anywhere, why should they? The biggest threat to them are their cronies. Like many other countries in the world politics takes place at the top, and the leader is always looking over his shoulder knowing that if he slips up, there are other candidates ready and willing to take over.

[pipoz4444]

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for any meaningful contribution from the EU and UN. Their track record speaks for itself in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1995), Rwanda (1994) and to a certain extent in Sudan (2003). Just a highly paid group of jumped up, "Nobodies", who do very liitle.

https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/un-n ... %20Myanmar

pipoz444

[tamada]

If this did happen, this is so wrong in so many ways.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/20793 ... in-myanmar

[Laan Yaa Mo]

A Kachin nun in the Kachin State (think of jade mines owned by Chinese and Rohingya) pleads for peace on International women's day. There are many Christians in this state. https://twitter.com/MayWongCNA/status/1 ... 6969479174

And Buddhist monks, as usual, lead protests against military rule,https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myan ... SKBN2AG17C

[jackspratt]

And Buddhist monks, as usual, lead protests against military rule,https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myan ... SKBN2AG17C

Are these the same Buddhist monks who were leading the charge against the Rohingya?

[Laan Yaa Mo]

No, it is a different sect. In Thailand there are two sects, and, I think Laos and Cambodia have two sects. Myanmar has eight or nine different Buddhist sects. One sect, in Bago, expects the usual donations of food on a daily basis. They also expect money although not all the monks I saw accepted kyat or dollars. Almost all monks are political to some degree. The ultra-national monks are the ones you are thinking of. They are not well-respected by the public, but the Tatmadaw certainly like them.

The reason monks in Myanmar are political goes back to colonial times when the British refused to appoint the head of the Buddhist sangha. This is what Kings of all Theravada Buddhist countries did to maintain discipline in the monkhood. Subsequently, the monks became involved in politics, and have been ever since. The British thought it would be a hard sell back home to take the place of a Buddhist individual and appoint a head of the sangha.

Examples of the nikayas: Maha Dwara Nikaya (Burmese: မဟာဒွာရနိကာယ, IPA: [məhà dwàɹa̰ nḭkàja̰]); also spelt Maha Dwaya Nikaya or Mahādvāra Nikāya, is a small monastic order of monks in Myanmar (Burma), primarily in Lower Myanmar.[1] This order is very conservative with respect to Vinaya regulations.[2] It is one of 9 legally sanctioned monastic orders (nikaya) in the country, under the 1990 Law Concerning Sangha Organizations.[3]

Thudhamma Nikaya (Burmese: သုဓမ္မာနိကာယ, IPA: [θudəma̰ nḭkàja̰]; also spelt Sudhammā Nikāya) is the largest monastic order of monks in Burma.[1]

It is one of 9 legally sanctioned monastic orders (nikāya) in the country, under the 1990 Law Concerning Sangha Organizations.[2] Thudhamma is considered a more pragmatic order than the Shwegyin Nikaya, with looser rules regarding Vinaya regulations and is less hierarchical than the former.[3] Like all the major orders in Burma, Thudhamma Nikaya prohibits monks from engaging in political activity.[4]

For some others see, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monastic_ ... in_Myanmar

[jackspratt]

Thanks for that illuminating clarification, Uncle.

Religion and politics really don't mix well.

[Laan Yaa Mo]

No, they never have been a good mix.

[tamada]

Now they're shooting and killing people at a sit-in protest. The US and UN call for more restraint. What's more restrained than sitting on your ass? The Chinese call for de-escalation. How do you de-escalate a sit-in? Nobody's specifically telling the killers to stop killing.

"... Three people were killed and several injured when police opened fire on a sit-in protest in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-biggest city, two witnesses told Reuters. ..."

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myan ... SKBN2B503Q