Burma’s state-owned media organizations are shying away from covering current political uprisings in neighboring countries such as Thailand and the Philippines.

The weekly anti-government rallies that have been attracting tens of thousands of protesters in Bangkok, and Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s decision on Friday to dissolve parliament, have barely been mentioned in Burma’s newspapers, or on television and radio broadcasts. In addition, Burma’s media has also ignored the “people power” uprising in the Philippines, as well as the recent arrest of members of the country’s armed forces, who stand accused of plotting a coup to unseat President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Natural disasters in the region such as the Philippines mudslide in mid-February are being reported however, and there are constant updates on American casualties in the war in Iraq.