Thailand’s unyielding support of the Burmese junta is fast making the country a laughing-stock throughout the world. Bangkok has become the strongest and most vocal backer of the Burmese regime. Alas! Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is now more Burmese than the Burmese.
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When Burmese democratic activist Naw Htoo Paw spent her first day with Defence Minister Phil Goff , she was astonished that he drove her to electorate functions himself.
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Burma’s Information Minister, Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan, has accused Western media of “jeopardizing” his country’s stability by fabricating news. Attending a conference of information ministers from non-aligned countries in Malaysia, he said his government hoped to find ways “to rebuff the unfair and baseless news produced by the Western media.”
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Published November 19, 2005

The fourth batch of Burmese civil servants were shipped out of Rangoon in a convoy of 1000 army trucks on 20 November, to the country’s new capital at Pyinmana in central Burma.
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Published November 18, 2005

The appeals lodged on behalf of five National League for Democracy (NLD) members including Ba Tint who were sentenced to life, were thrown out by the Supreme Court in Rangoon.
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The International Criminal Court, which prosecutes war crimes and crimes against humanity, may provide a channel for change in Burma according to politicians and rights groups.
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Published November 18, 2005

A UN special envoy for human rights in Myanmar said Friday that he did not see many signs of greater freedom in the military-ruled state, but was guardedly optimistic that its rulers remained committed to a transition to democracy.
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Published November 20, 2005

The Indian External Intelligence Agency’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) has issued a warning to the Indian government, saying it would be “a serious mistake” to allow a proposed tri-nation gas pipeline to pass through Bangladesh, according to recent report by a Bangladesh news agency.
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Published November 19, 2005

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Saturday Southeast Asian nations would not take a confrontational stance towards Myanmar despite US pressure for stronger action.
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Published November 19, 2005

More than Rs 210-million-worth of illicit drugs believed to have originated from India’s border states with Burma were destroyed in Guwahati, Assam last night.
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Banyong Lawka “Jit”, believed by police authorities as a business partner of Maha Ja, reputed as former druglord Khun Sa’s successor, was arrested on Sunday, 19 November, at his house in Maehongson, report Thai papers.
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China and Myanmar are not doing enough to prevent the spread of AIDS, a UN report said, praising Thailand as the Asian success story for bringing about a decline in the number of new HIV cases.
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The chief of the Arakan Army, Colonel Khaing Zaw, surrendered to the Burmese military on 16 November, accompanied by nine soldiers.
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Published November 19, 2005

Saturday November 19 went by without the expected opening of the border pass between Maehongson’s Muang district and Kayah state as announced earlier, say sources from the border.
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Published November 20, 2005

Myanmar has expanded its military presence in the centre of the country since the reclusive junta set up a new administrative capital in Pyinmana, north of Yangon, a source said Sunday.
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The Burmese government is cracking down on an unlicensed cable television network in Rangoon offering subscribers access to foreign channels.
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