Burmese magazine insults Thai Crown (r)

[strider@xxxxxxxxxxx]

/* Written  2:36 pm  Apr 29, 1994 by piras@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx in igc:soc.culture.th */
/* ---------- "Burmese magazine insults Thai Crown" ---------- */
 
In article <1475000110@cdp>, strider@xxxxxxxxxxx (strider@xxxxxxxxxxx) writes:
>From: <strider>
>Subject: Burmese magazine insults Thai Crown Princess
>
>
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>
>IF YOU CAN'T SAY SOMETHING NICE....
>Burmese Magazine Insults Thai Crown Princess
>
>by Reg B. Strider
>
>
>Rangoon--
>
>In an incident that may prove embarrassing to Burma, a government-run
>magazine has insulted the Crown Princess of Thailand.  An article appearing
>in the February edition of the Myatkhin'thit (The New Sword), insinuates that
>Crown Princess Sirindhorn would have been a prostitute if she were not the
>King's daughter.  The penalties for lese majeste are heavy in Thailand but it
>is considered especially provocative to malign Princess Sirindhorn, who is
>the most popular member of the royal family.
>
>The article purports to be a conversation between a Thai and a Vietnamese, in
>which the Vietnamese is quoted as telling the Thai:
>
>     Though your girl is not Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, you believe that
>     she is more intelligent and more patriotic.  Sirindhorn is a well-
>     known person as she was born from the Thai King; however, if she
>     were born from an ordinary farmer or fisherman, she would have
>     become a prostitute.
>                         (Myatkhin'thit, Feb. 94, p. 135)
 
>The price Bangkok exacted for refusing to isolate Burma included lucrative
>logging and fishing concessions.  The Burmese government has since accused
>Thai fishermen and loggers of overfishing and extracting far more timber than
>was allowed by the contracts.
>
>In retaliation for what the Burmese see as rapacious conduct by Thai
>businessmen, a number of Thais illegally fishing in Burmese waters have been
>killed and Rangoon is increasingly turning for trade to Singapore and other
>countries instead of Thailand.  The article insulting Princess Sirindhorn may
>be a further expression of Rangoon's resentment.
>
>Given the heavy government censorship in Burma, it seems unlikely that the
>article could have been printed without authorization from senior Burmese
>officials.  Myatkhin'thit magazine began publishing in 1990, and is similar
>in style to a scandal sheet.  It regularly insults foreign and domestic
>opponents of the regime and among its targets have been pro-democracy leader
>Aung San Suu Kyi and western diplomats.
>
>In a 1993 report by the PEN American Center detailing censorship in Burma,
>the report's author noted that Myatkhin'thit:
>
>     ...does not have to contend with the multiple obstacles of checks
>     on authors, the filling in of forms with biographical details of
>     all contributors [and] predistribution scrutiny...
>
>According to the report, Myatkhin'thit runs stories:
>
>     that criticize and attack the student movement...it also frequently
>     features articles that describe in minute detail rape, corruption,
>     and murder in foreign countries, with the aim of discrediting these
>     very countries that are calling on the SLORC to respect the rights
>     of Burmese citizens.
>
>               Anna J. Allott, 
>               "Inked Over, Ripped Out: Burmese Storytellers and the Censors"
>               A PEN American Center Freedom-to-Write Report.  
>               PEN American Center: New York, NY.  1993 (p. 19)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't know which son of a bitch in the Burmese goverment authorized
this newspaper to publish this insulting article. Is it the Sua Mong
himself?? Too bad, a poor bitch didn't know how to teach her son to
be a good dictator. 

I think there is no need for any official appologize from this devil
regime. The diplomatic relation between the two countries should be
reduce to the minimum lavel, if not cut off. The Thai government
should reduce the number of the Burmese diplomatic staffs in
response to this insult on the Crown Princess. Any trade and
official discussions should be postponed indefinitely. 

The Thai Businessmen  should also open up their eyes, stop dealing
with the devil and being  devils themselves by expoloithing the
natural resource of this poor country thereby supporting this
authoritarian regime to continue oppressing its own people.

Long Live Freedom! 
Long Live The Crown Princess! 
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Piras Chantravekin
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