Burma Update: March 16, 2008

News from Burmese Media

Narinjara News: Burmese Rice Still Coming to Bangladesh
Narinjara News: Shortage of Eligible Bachelors in Arakan


News from Regional/International Media

The Nation: Suppression of Activists in Burma Normal: Samak
The Nation: Burma's Democracy 'Half-Baked' Like Thailand's: Samak
Bangkok Post: Thailand Commits to Burma Junta Cooperation
Bangkok Post: Exim Bank to Complete Burma Loan
Gulf Time: UN Rights Expert Still Waiting for Myanmar Visa


Opinion/Other

Irrawaddy News Magazine: Don’t Bet on the Burmese Regime [Commentary] - Yeni
Bangkok Post: Burma Gets Choice between Coke, Pepsi - Kyaw Zwa Moe
Jakarta Post: ASEAN must Enforce Charter for Myanmar - Usman Hamid
Asian Tribune: Don’t Blame the Underdog UN Envoy Gambari! - Nehginpao Kipgen
Mizzima News: United Front to Combat Junta's Referendum? [Analysis] - Mungpi


Statement/Press Release

The 88 Generation Students: Vote “No” to the Sham Constitution


Report/Briefer

Irrawaddy News Magazine: Weekly Business Roundup (March 15, 2008) - William Boot

- Junta Rejects Bangladesh Request for Gas
- South Korea to Help the Junta’s Nutty Biofuel Plan

UN Human Rights Council: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro

National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma: Bullets in the Alms Bowl - An Analysis of the Brutal SPDC Suppression of the September 2007 Saffron Revolution


Special Feature

Irrawaddy News Magazine: The Law of the Jungle [Beyond 1988 - Reflections X] - Aung Naing Oo

"March—April 1989: The laws had already been made by the time I arrived at Camp Thay Baw Boe, the largest student camp established by the newly-formed All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF) near the Thai-Burmese border in Karen State immediately after the coup in September. I hadn’t missed much, said students critical of anything that came out of the camp committees.

And criticism abounded. Everyone in the camp had just left behind restricted lives under socialism and hierarchical traditions in which we were supposed to listen to authority of any kind—be they leaders, laws or even parents—without question. Now, after escaping to the jungle to pursue our rebellion, we looked upon them as unreasonable curbs on our freedom; curbs that had to be resisted, or ignored..."