Radio interview with Chiranuch
Political Prisoners in Thailand: October 20, 2010
http://thaipoliticalprisoners.wordpress.com/2010/10/20/radio-interview-with-chiranuch/
Free Speech Radio News has a 5:41 minute interview with Chiranuch Premchaiporn. Well worth a listen.
“In Thailand, independent news organizations are facing an increasingly difficult situation, with crackdowns coming from the government in the name of security. Earlier this month, the government renewed an emergency decree, introduced during the deadly protests in April. It gives the government power to detain suspects for extended periods without charge and to censor material. For more, we speak with Chiranuch Premchaiporn, director of the independent news website, Prachatai. She was recently detained by authorities.”
Darunee refused “political” visits
Political Prisoners in Thailand: October 20, 2010
http://thaipoliticalprisoners.wordpress.com/2010/10/20/darunee-refused-political-visits/
Prachatai reports that Darunee Charnchoensilpakul, or Da Torpedo, is being refused some visitors at the prison where she is incarcerated. Darunee is a political prisoner, held in jail awaiting her appeal case against the 18-year sentence she received on lese majeste charges following a closed court trial.
Kittichai Charnchoengsilpakul “told Prachatai that last week he and a foreign academic visited his sister Daranee in prison. The prison authorities did not permit the foreign academic to visit her, citing the more restricted regulations of the prison. Kittichai was told by Daranee during his visit that the authorities told her that red shirts would not be allowed to visit her.”
This ban is ironic given that, at one time, red shirts were accused of forgetting or “disowning” Darunee. Now they are prevented from visiting her in jail.
Darunee’s appeal is being processed at other than a snail’s pace for she remains one of the few who is prepared to challenge the law, and as PPT has pointed out, a failure to admit guilt results in long periods languishing in jail. 27 October is the one-year anniversary of the lodging of Darunee’s appeal.
[FACT comments: Does no one else see Thailand’s cozy military relationship as disturbing, maybe even dangerous? China, of course, is a country predicated upon absolute control of its citizens, brutal repression of its minorities and complete manipulation of information and public opinion through censorship.]
China Sends the Marines to Thailand
Richard S. Ehrlich
Asia Sentinel: October 28, 2010
http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2786&Itemid=171
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Bangkok is the latest recipient of expanding Chinese military attention.
Since Oct. 26, the Marine Corps of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have been training with Thai Marines in an exercise due to last until Nov. 14 and the latest drill to demonstrate China’s expanding military ties across the world.
In September, for instance, an unknown number of China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force Russian-built Su-27 and Mig-29 fighters trained with Turkish US-built F-16 fighters in the first ever military exercise of its kind between China and a NATO country. The People’s Liberation Army and Air Force also participated in a series of military exercises conducted in September 2010 in Kazakhstan with military personnel from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Russia. Although the ostensible purpose of the exercise was to test and coordinate joint counter-terrorist operations, in reality the ‘Peace Mission’ gave China a unique opportunity to deploy land and air units in strength beyond its borders.
The US and other nations including Singapore are closely watching the activity in the Gulf of Thailand in and around the Sattahip Naval Base, near Bangkok, as China seeks to secure its access south to strategic sea lanes. The Blue Assault-2010 joint training exercise is much smaller than America’s annual Cobra Gold military drills which, among several sites, also include Sattahip Naval Base, where Thailand’s Marine Corps is headquartered at Camp Samaesan.
Washington and Bangkok are non-NATO military allies. During the US-Vietnam War in the 1960s and 1970s, Thailand allowed its territory to be used by America to launch massive aerial bombardments against Vietnam and Laos, where a limited number of Thai ground forces also fought alongside US troops.
After regarding China as a communist foe during the Cold War, Bangkok’s relations with Beijing have steadily improved in the past 30 years. Some analysts claim Thailand is intentionally balancing its military and financial dependence on the U.S. by nurturing better relations with China.
Other analysts say relations between Beijing and Bangkok have more to do with the geographical and commercial closeness of Thailand and China, which are separated by tiny Communist Laos. China wants to diversify its southern routes, especially from landlocked Yunnan province, because China’s main southeastern sea port is Hong Kong which is not convenient for some imports and exports. If China could cut straight south across Laos into Thailand, it would give Beijing faster access via Thailand’s modern transport links to Bangkok and the Gulf of Thailand, and speed travel further south to Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, and the southernmost waters of the resource-rich South China Sea.
China is also trying to upgrade a southern route from Yunnan province through Burma, which opens to Burmese ports along the Bay of Bengal near Calcutta and eastern India, leading to the South Asian island of Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean.
“It is in the common interests of China and other countries to maintain freedom and security of navigation in the region,” said Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of the General Staff of the People’s Liberation Army. Ma, however, did not specify the China-Thailand exercise during his keynote speech on Oct. 22 in the Chinese city of Xiangshan where a three-day forum of military scholars discussed the “Evolution of International Strategic Configuration and Asia-Pacific Security,” organized by the China Association for Military Science.
The amphibious operation by China with the Royal Thai Marine Corps may involve about 135 Marines from each country, according to sketchy reports about the relatively unpublicized military training. It has attracted attention on the Southeast Asian island of Singapore, however, which is a staunch US military partner for regional security, especially for shipping lanes.
“Amphibious military capabilities have application in disaster relief and humanitarian operations, but they are designed mainly for complex combat assault missions launched from the sea,” Singapore’s Straits Times reported, describing the Thailand-China military exercise. “In China’s case, the capability would be particularly important in a full-scale conflict with Taiwan.”
China opposes independence for Taiwan, and has vowed to eventually absorb the island which lies across a 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait. Washington insists it will defend Taipei against any aggression, and has sold weapons worth billions of dollars to the island.
“The United States also has concerns in Asia about threats to peace and stability in the East China Sea, South China Sea, and over terrorist threats in Southeast Asia, humanitarian crises, and security for sea lines of communication, particularly through the Straits of Malacca,” which separate Singapore and Indonesia, said a Congressional Research Service report titled, “Guam: US Defense Deployments,” issued in 2009 for members and committees of Congress.
China’s drill with the Royal Thai Marine Corps began just after the end of a 15-day counter-terrorism training exercise between Thai and Chinese Special Forces in China’s southern city of Guilin. “The two armies have been holding annual joint Special Forces exercises since 2007,” the Bangkok Post said, adding that the first naval exercise, called China-Thailand Friendship 2005, took place in the Gulf of Thailand five years ago.
Many Thais trace their families’ ancestors to China, and are known here as Sino-Thais, enjoying prominent and wealthy positions in Bangkok’s political and financial circles. As a result, Thailand is comfortable with improving its relations with China while maintaining close ties with the US, in tactics Bangkok perceives as diplomatic, profitable and pragmatic.
China’s snuggling up to Thailand was especially noticeable after the Thai military seized power in a bloodless 2006 coup, when Beijing immediately welcomed Thailand’s new junta.
“A central element of Bangkok’s hedging strategy is to keep its military alliance with the United States well lubricated, while at the same time expanding defense ties with China,” Ian Storey, a Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, wrote in 2008. “Given the cozy relationship that has developed between Thailand and China over the past few decades, it is unsurprising that military-security links are among China’s most well-developed in the region – second only to Burma, China’s quasi-ally,” Storey said.
“The number of Thai military officers attending educational courses at the National Defense University in Beijing has increased since 2001, as has the number of PLA officers studying at Thai military academies. The purpose of these courses is to enhance understanding of each other’s strategic perspectives, and to improve language skills for future cooperative activities.”
Richard S Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based journalist who has reported news from Asia since 1978. His web page is http://www.asia-correspondent.110mb.com |
| China Reaches Out
Strategy Page: October 27, 2010 http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htsf/articles/20101027.aspx Thailand sent sixty of their special operations troops to southern China to train with sixty of their Chinese counterparts. This was part of a counter-terrorism cooperation agreement between the two countries. The two countries have long exchanged information on terrorism issues, and this two week training exercise enables them to exchange operational techniques as well. This is the third time such training exercises were held. The previous ones were in 2007 and 2008. In 2008, Chinese and Thai special operations troops held three weeks of joint counter-terrorism exercises in northern Thailand. Over the last five years, China has been sponsoring these training sessions with most of their neighbors. Thailand has several thousand special operations troops, including a 144 man SEAL unit, which has trained with American SEALs. There are also some LRRPs and elite infantry as well as the counter-terrorism unit. Chinese TV recently confirmed the existence of Chinese naval commandos. This would be the equivalent of American SEAL commandos, and the first acknowledgement by China that they have such a force. This should not be surprising. China has been putting a lot of effort into its commando forces, and not letting many details get out. However, based on what has been published in China, and what leaks out of the country via the Internet, the Chinese special operations forces (SOF) appears to be small, well equipped, and well trained. There are fewer than 5,000 troops in the Chinese SOF, organized into 6th Special Warfare Group, 8th Special Warfare Group, 12th Special Warfare Detachment and Naval Commando Unit. The 15th Airborne Corps is used as a major source of recruits. Thus Chinese soldiers know that if they want to become commandos, they have to get into an airborne unit first. The Chinese SEALs are apparently part of the naval commando unit, which has been seen operating from surface ships. Some have apparently been sent with ships serving on the anti-piracy patrol off Somalia. All this is quite recent. At the time of the 1991 Gulf War, the Chinese only had a few hundred commando type troops, and they were intended mainly for long range recon missions. But after seeing what American SOF soldiers did in the Persian Gulf, the Chinese began forming units similar to American Rangers. By the time the 2001 war in Afghanistan came along, the Chinese decided to develop more commandos along the lines of American Special Forces, Delta Force, and British SAS. Chinese SOF units mainly train and plan for operations against Taiwan. This would include attacks on key targets, as well as kidnapping or killing senior military and political leaders. Some of this would involve Chinese SOF operators who snuck on to the island as tourists or commercial travelers beforehand. China has been recruiting and training SOF personnel heavily for nearly two decades. That means they have hundreds of very experienced operators, each with over a decade of SOF experience. The Chinese SEALs are probably no exception. |
[FACT comments: Interesting sidebar that Uncle Ho was in Thailand advising the 1932 revolutionaries against absolute monarchy. Would they have had the courage without Ho’s help?
Any outside agitators this time?]
Thai magazine praises President Ho Chi Minh
| Voice of Vietnam News: October 23, 2010
http://english.vovnews.vn/Home/Thai-magazine-praises-President–Ho-Chi-Minh/201010/120714.vov |
The Thai magazine of Public Opinion in its latest issue ran an article praising the Vietnamese late President Ho Chi Minh’s contribution to his nation.
It said the stories of Ho Chi Minh, also called “Uncle Ho” by the Vietnamese people, are associated with the country’s heroic traditions in the past two generations. It provides readers with information about the president’s life and activities during his journeys around the world to find the path to national salvation.
The paper recalled the 1928-1929 period when Ho Chi Minh was in Thailand to foster cooperation between the two countries during the time of Prime Minister Pridi Phanomyyong.
In its earlier issue the paper had published a poem about Hanoi by Navarad, a famous Thai poet, after attending the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi.
[FACT comments: At first glance, Avudh’s article may seem like the usual Royalist fawning but check our emphasis. Our only disagreement would be that divided sentiments grew from the 2006 coup d’etat. We think they came from greatly increased censorship of free expression.]
BURNING ISSUE
Thais must realise HM is above politics
Avudh Panananda
The Nation: October 26, 2010
This month marks two centenaries – the death of King Chulalongkorn and birth of the late Princess Mother. It also gives us the chance to reflect on why so many Thai citizens have allowed themselves to get divided over the monarchy, when they have been the direct beneficiaries of the Chakri reign.
There has not been a single tyrant on the throne during this, the Rattanakosin Era, and His Majesty the King has been recognised, even by communist idealists, for his dedication.
Though a number of chronicles show criticism of absolute monarchy, past monarchs chose to reason and pacify opponents rather than resort to suppression.
With the advent of modern media, King Vajiravudh spearheaded the concept of free press in his experimental city, the Dusit Thani, set up in the palace to raise awareness about rights and democracy.
His successor, King Prajadhipok, chose to abdicate instead of siding with a certain clique of people, who wanted to delay popular voting in order to cling to power.
During the Cold War, the Royal Family became the target of an underground campaign launched by the communist movement. However, instead of reacting sternly, His Majesty reached out to his people and even accessed the red zones barred from local authorities.
The smear campaign failed to eclipse the King’s benevolence and dissipated long before the Communist Party of Thailand collapsed.
The prevailing political predicament, which erupted during Thaksin Shinawatra’s administration, has spawned the politicisation of the monarchy. Rival camps are trying to sway sentiment by involving the country’s revered institution.
On the one side, a band of Thaksin supporters, anti-coup activists and anti-establishment individuals attack the monarchy for what they see as the King’s meddling in politics. The pro-Thaksin camp attracts support mainly from rural people and workers.
On the other side, Thaksin’s opponents, royalists, conservatives and pro-establishment individuals try to uphold the monarchy by branding their rivals as anti-royalist traitors. The anti-Thaksin camp attracts support from urbanites and professionals.
Also in the fray are individuals, who for some inexplicable reason coupled with mistaken bravado, like to post irresponsible comments on the Internet, hence the mushrooming of cyberspace graffiti on the monarchy.
Zealous agencies keep shutting down these websites, but the problem does not go away because this suppression is triggering defiance.
In a nutshell, the prevailing divisiveness over the monarchy can be attributed to the 2006 coup.
The pro-Thaksin camp launched veiled attacks blaming the King for condoning the coup. Under the red-shirt banner, the bashing of the monarchy gained momentum.
The yellow-shirt movement, meanwhile, seized the opportunity to sway the sentiment by portraying Thaksin and the red-shirt movement as conspiring to undermine the monarchy.
It even coined the phrase “lom chao”, which means toppling the royalty, though the words have no legal classification or clear definition.
To this day both sides rely on hearsay to bring the King into their respective arguments. They are quick to invoke or blame the monarch to sway sentiment, even though there are no facts to back up their claims.
Meanwhile, the murky phrase manages to gag the opponents.
This does not bode well, because every monarch thrives on people’s accessibility, not suppression.
How long will it take for Thais to realise that those at the top are trying to drive a wedge between them and their King for their personal gains?
Monarchy essential to life as we know it
Political Prisoners in Thailand: October 20, 2010
http://thaipoliticalprisoners.wordpress.com/2010/10/22/monarchy-essential-to-life-as-we-know-it/
In a follow-up to PPT’s earlier post on Army boss General Prayuth Chan-ocha’s statement that fighting red shirts and Thaksin Shinawatra is the army’s major task, we can now add his comment in The Nation: “”Everyone is obligated, in an act of loyalty, to root out certain individuals from offending the country’s revered institution because without the monarchy, we may live but things will never be the same…”.
In our earlier post we commented that the fear of Thaksin has reached absurd levels amongst the royalist elite, where Prayuth seems to have been promoted to chief busker. In this most recent quote, Prayuth is establishing the basis for this absurdity. The elite feels that the monarchy is at the heart of all that is good, for them, in Thailand: inequality and exploitation, the dominance of Sino-Thai capital, fabulous wealth for a few, all welded together as economic and political power based on the political exploitation of the masses, double standards and the repression of all opposition.
And, threateningly, he is also making the case for even greater political repression.
Thai Army Chief: We must rid Thailand of those who violate the monarchy
Bangkok Pundit: October 22, 2010
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ASTV Manager quotes Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha as stating at a merit-making ceremony to mark the 100th Memorial for King Chulalongkorn: “ขอให้ทุกคนช่วยกันขจัดบุคคลบางกลุ่มที่จาบจ้วงสถาบัน และหยุดล่วงละเมิด และหันมาเทิดทูน เพราะหากวันนี้ไม่มีสถาบัน เราอาจอยู่ได้ แต่ไม่เหมือนในวันนี้” ผบ.ทบ.กล่าว “I would like to ask everyone to help rid [Thailand] of some individuals who violate the institution and end the violation and instead turn to respect [the institution] because if one day there is no institution, we will be able to live but it won’t be the same” BP: Perhaps, Thailand can set up a parliamentary committee to investigate “un-Thai’ activities such as violating the monarchy…. |
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DEATH THREATS
Special Branch to guard judges after death threats claimed
The Nation: October 23, 2010
Police from the Special Branch have been ordered by the national police chief to provide extra security for Constitution Court judges.
Royal Thai Police spokesman Maj Gen Prawut Thawornsiri said General Wichean Potephosree made the order after a judge said he had received threats on his life.
Prawut said Special Branch police would provide protection for all Constitution Court judges at their offices, in addition to officers from the Metropolitan Police Bureau who take care of their security at home and while on their way to and from work.
“We will contact all the judges to find out about their individual needs to ensure increased security,” he said.
Constitution Court Judge Boonsong Kulbupar earlier said he and his colleagues had received death threats by telephone. He also complained that the court’s judges were working under heavy pressure.
Prawut said Wichean had set up an investigative team headed by General Ek Angsananont to find out about people behind the recording and distribution of the controversial video clips accusing the ruling Democrat Party of lobbying the court in connection with the dissolution cases against the party.
The investigators would also try to determine whether the clips had been doctored, he said, adding that the probe was expected to be completed in 30 days.
Four video clips and a slideshow of stills were released through the YouTube video-sharing website. One of the clips shows Democrat MP and defence-team member Wiruch Romyen talking to Pasit Sakdanarong, secretary to the Constitution Court president, about the cases against the Democrat Party.
Three other clips are recordings of conversations among Constitution Court judges in their office.
Pasit was removed from the post on Tuesday, a few days after the videos were made publicly available.
The slideshow clip contains a few pictures of Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda meeting with the Constitution Court president, Chat Chonlaworn, and a number of senior judiciary figures, with a caption saying that Prem was seeking Chat’s help to spare the Democrat Party from being dissolved. The photos were later found to have been taken during an award presentation to Thammasat University’s outstanding law graduates two years ago.
Meanwhile, opposition Pheu Thai MP Jatuporn Prompan said yesterday that he wondered why Boonsong did not file a police complaint over the death threats he received.
Pheu Thai spokesman Prompong Nopparit described the judge’s claim as a tactic to deflect attention from the scandal involving the Constitution Court.
“The judges must tell society frankly if there was lobbying by the Democrat Party,” he said.
Prompong also said that the opposition party “has no fears” about the threat from the Democrats of possible dissolution proceedings against Pheu Thai, regarding its involvement in “resorting to unlawful means”.
In a related development, police investigators have been sent to The Foodie restaurant in the Prachachuen area, in which the Wiruch-Pasit video clip was suspected to have been recorded with a hidden camera, according to a source familiar with the investigation. The place was examined and witnesses were questioned, the source said.
Pol Maj-General Panya Mamen, who heads the investigation team, said the probe would involve two parts – criminal offences on security and judicial proceedings, and violations of computer and information laws.
Asia’s silent censorship-Guardian
30-10-10
Silence of the dissenters: How south-east Asia keeps web users in line
Vietnam, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines are all moving towards Chinese-style internet censorship
Ben Doherty
- The Guardian: October 21, 2010
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/oct/21/internet-web-censorship-asia
A customer uses a computer in an internet cafe at Changzhi in Shanxi province, China Dissenters say the whole region is moving towards tighter web regulation. [Reuters]
Governments across south-east Asia are following China‘s authoritarian censorship of the digital world to keep political dissent in check, the Guardian can reveal.
Vietnam, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines have all moved or are moving towards monitoring internet use, blocking international sites regarded as critical and ruthlessly silencing web dissidents.
• In Vietnam, the Communist party wants to be your “friend” on the state-run version of Facebook, provided you are willing to share all personal details.
• In Burma, political unrest can be silenced by cutting off the country from the internet.
• In Thailand, website moderators can face decades in jail for a posted comment they did not even write, if the government deems it injurious tothe monarchy.
While much is made of China’s authoritarian attitudetowards internet access, a majority of south-east Asian governments have similar controls and , rather than relaxing restrictions on internet use, many are moving towards tighter regulation.
The Guardian has spoken to five leading bloggers across the region about the present restrictions they face and future fears.
Interactive: Meet five key bloggers who fear a crackdown on freedom of expression.
Raymond Palatino, a Filipino MP and editor with Global Voices, says governments, in addition to crudely blocking websites, are starting to use arguments of morality and decency to censor access to information and quash criticism.
“There is direct censorship to block political dissent. You have repressive laws in Myanmar [Burma], in Vietnam, in Singapore. In fact I think Vietnam is catching up with China in terms of building strong firewalls to prevent dissidents from accessing critical content on the internet.
“But we also see governments using the excuse of protecting the public morality in order to censor internet content. Governments use the excuse of censoring pornography as a safe argument to make censorship acceptable to the public.”
More than a decade ago, George W Bush asked people to “imagine if the internet took hold in China. Imagine how freedom would spread”. But rather than emerging as a catalyst for democracy, the internet has become another way to to stifle dissent.
Palatino sees governments using the internet for their own selfish advantage. “They are learning how to prevent people for using the internet to criticise government. Instead of being a potent tool for empowering the people, the internet will be in the hands of an authoritative, repressive government.”
With a population of more than 600 million, south-east Asia has about 123 million internet users. But penetration ratesvary from 0.2% in Burma and Timor-Leste to more than 80% in Brunei Darussalam and 77% in Singapore. But south-east Asian use is still dwarfed by China’s384 million users.
In the Philippines, cybercrime legislation before the parliament would outlaw anything deemed obscene or indecent. Palatino says: “The laws are deliberately broad and vague so they can be used to shut down anything subversive.”
Cambodia’s government is seeking to monitor all internet use inside the country, by appointing the state-owned telephone company to operate the sole internet exchange.
Websites will be monitored to filter out pornography, officials say, but opponents say sites critical of the government are also likely to be blocked.
In Thailand, century-old lese-majesty legislation is combined with new computer-related crime laws, to mute criticism on the web.
Lese-majesty laws – defaming the monarchy – are imposed inconsistently in Thailand, but wielded often enough, and against defendants of sufficient profile, to stifle almost any discussion of the monarchy’s role in a country riven by political factionalism. Chiranuch Premchiaporn, the editor of Thailand’s English-language news website Prachatai.com, faces up to 70 years in jail for allowing the monarch to be insulted online.
The charges relate to five of 200 comments posted about an interview with a Thai man who was charged for refusing to stand for the anthem in a theatre.
Premchiaporn, known as Jiew, did not write the comments, and pulled them from the website but, according to police, allowed them to stay up ”longer than the appropriate period”, a period never defined by authorities before or since the charge.
Now on bail, the prospect of jail weighs heavily on her. “And it isn’t just about ‘Oh, how long I will have to spend in the cell’, my whole life is uncertain. I cannot plan my life because of this legal charge, it makes everything hard.”
Thailand’s strict laws, and harsh punishments, have had a chilling effect on political discussion on webboards and blogs.
“I think the biggest problem in Thai media is self-censorship … but we started Prachatai for the ideals of believing in the rights of people to access information … from many sources and not be dominated by just one source,” Jiew says.
Prachatai is blocked in Thailand, under order of the emergency decree after the red-shirt uprising of May. It is one of more than 100,000 websites blocked in the country. “We want to promote the rights of the people to speak up about their issues, not just only people who have a big name, or who are important in government.”
In Vietnam, web-users can become “friends” with their communist government, joining the country’s own version of Facebook. A trial version of go.vn was launched in May. A full version is expected online by the end of the year.
The functions are familiar to those versed in social networking. Users can update their status, post photos and links, and send messages back and forth.
There are news links, historical articles on founding father Ho Chi Minh and other revolutionary heroes, and members can also play state-approved network games (in one particularly violent example, players join a band of militants sworn to fight the spread of global capitalism).
The site is closely monitored by the government’s security services, and while, for many, the attraction of the internet lies in its anonymity, to join go.vn users must submit their full names and state-issued identity numbers to the government.
The Vietnamese government says it expects to have 40 million members, half the country, in five years. Perhaps because web dissidents are dealt with so ruthlessly by the communist regime – four bloggers were recently jailed for 16 years for anti-government posts – five months on, take-up of go.vn is a bare few thousand.
Burma has one of the poorest records on internet freedom in the region.
All .mm sites and email addresses are closely monitored by the ruling military junta, and international sites banned, but the tiny internet cafes that dot the former capital, Yangon, are adept at bypassing the government’s firewalls, using proxy servers to evade the censors and access banned sites.
Outfoxed on technology, the junta responds during times of stress by simply unplugging the internet, especially to stop unwelcome news getting out of the country.
At the height of the monk-led Saffron Revolution in 2007, the junta’s generals shut down access completely, later claiming a break in an underwater cable had cut the country off.
With Burma heading towards its first elections in a generation early next month, and the anticipated release of political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi a week later, there is an expectation the web blackout may be repeated.
