• 
• 

Published on October 7, 2007

Zaw Min, the spokesperson for Burma's Democratic Party for a New Society (DPNS), has lived in exile, mainly in Thailand, since 1990.

"At the time, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), which included several affiliated parties such as the DPNS, won the general election, but the junta, then led by General Saw Muang, rejected the results and put the NLD leader under house arrest," said Zaw Min, 45.

In the past few weeks, Zaw Min, who earned his first degree in English literature from the University of Mandalay in 1986 and a master's degree from the London School of Economics in 2003, has been closely monitoring the latest developments in Burma from his base in Bangkok.

"There were no demonstrations in Rangoon last Monday and Tuesday due to a heavy military presence.

"According to my sources, the biggest demonstrations took place from September 25 to September 29, during which the number of demonstrators was estimated to be up to 100,000 scattered in several places in Rangoon.

"About 400 monks and laymen were said to have been killed, with up to 3,000 arrested by the junta.

"The trigger was a sharp rise in fuel prices, resulting in much higher food and travel expenses, worsening the plight of most Burmese, who have long suffered from chronic poverty and hyper-inflation.

"In 1990, I remember a cup of coffee or tea was very cheap, but it's now 200 kyat (Bt5.5), whereas income has remained unchanged over the years. The average salary is currently less than the equivalent of Bt1,000 per month.

"With the latest fuel-price hike, a two-way bus fare to go to work and return home now accounts for up to 20 per cent of a worker's daily wage. So many people were fed up and joined the demonstrations against the junta.

"We've demanded that the junta quickly reduce food and fuel prices, release all political prisoners and open a new dialogue with political parties," said Zaw Min.

In general, the Burmese have less political awareness and alertness than their Thai counterparts due to the widespread destruction of political, economic and social institutions in the past several decades.

"Our democratic struggle has suffered since the end of World War Two, or in the past 50 years. In addition, we've suffered from a lack of national economic development since the 1950s.

"In fact, several generals also ran Thailand in those years, but these Thai generals appeared to be smarter than their Burmese counterparts.

"For instance, Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsongkram was able to generate economic growth for Thailand in the late 1950s while he was in power.

"Together with the building of democratic and related institutions, Thailand was therefore in a better position to promote democracy and citizens' freedoms than Burma.

"Our worst period was after 1962, when General Ne Win took over. Various institutions for a civil society were destroyed. Power strictly came from the gun barrels.

"I think our generals have also suffered from the post-colonial mentality, resulting in a very inward-looking policy as they hoped to lead the country in safe isolation. In this context, there are similarities to North Korea.

"As a result, the people have suffered from chronic poverty and the lack of decent education.

"As of now, I hope the anti-junta demonstrations will be able to maintain the momentum and spread out into many more cities so that it becomes a nationwide event [as it

did with the 1988 student uprising] so that we may successfully overthrow the junta.

"Victory may come

in a year or two years or 10 years. That I don't know, but it should be sooner rather than later. For me, it's already been

a 19-year struggle. In South Africa, Mandela's struggle was 27 years before it was successful," he said.

Nophakhun Limsamarnphun

nap1122@yahoo.com