Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s landslide victory in Sunday’s election is good news for Burma’s military regime but holds fears for Burmese opposition groups, according to Thai and Burmese observers.
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February 5: The trial of Sonny Swe, former Burmese partner of local leading weekly, the Myanmar Times, was postponed until Monday, said a source close to the Rangoon-based paper.
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February 5: The trial of Sonny Swe, former Burmese partner of local leading weekly, the Myanmar Times, was postponed until Monday, said a source close to the Rangoon-based paper.
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February 5: Some of the top leaders of “ceasefire groups” which signed the cessation of hostility with Burma’s military junta, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), who were contacted by DVB said they are not resuming the attendance of the junta-sponsored “National Convention” as they have no faith in it and only token delegates will be sent.
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A new capital for the military-ruled Burma has been chosen, according to sources
from the Burma Broadcasting Service, writes Chai Sayam from the border:
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Myanmar has been working to develop a national bio-safety law, aiming to protect people and the environment from possible negative impacts of bio-technology.
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U.S. charges that eight militia leaders in Myanmar are drug lords are false and undermine efforts to stop the growing of opium in the notorious Golden Triangle, an ethnic militia leader said on Tuesday.
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February 7: Myanmar has targeted to attract 750, 000 tourists this year, a projected increase of 14 percent compared with last year’s 656,910, the Myanmar Times reported Monday.
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February 6: Myanmar opened its longest and strategically most important bridge linking the country’s isolated southern rail line with the national rail network, the official newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Sunday.
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February 6: For New Delhi, these may be difficult times in the neighbourhood but there’s encouraging news from one quarter which until recently posed a huge diplomatic challenge: Myanmar. (more…)

February 7: Construction work on the proposed Bangladesh-Myanmar road will begin next month as per a latest agreement, an official announcement said today.
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February 6: United States is determined to strengthen political and trade ties with Southeast Asia even as it takes a tougher line on Myanmar under new Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, officials say.
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Ireland is being urged to play a role in overseeing the drafting of a proposed new constitution in Burma, which the military dictatorship there has renamed Myanmar.
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February 6: Exiled Shan nationals in US celebrated the 58th Shan National Day on 6 February at New York, one day ahead of the official day and denounced the “National Convention” to be reconvened by Burma’s military junta, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).
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February 6: Tony Blair and 70 celebrities including Vivienne Westwood and Sir Ian McKellen are backing a public-awareness campaign asking people not to holiday in Burma (Myanmar) because of human-rights concerns – but a specialist tour operator said it was not the way to change the oppressive regime.
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