Ar Yone Oo Mar Shock Shi Tae 7

Ar Yone Oo Mar Shock Shi Tae 6

Ar Yone Oo Mar Shock Shi Tae 5

Ar Yone Oo Mar Shock Shi Tae 4

Ar Yone Oo Mar Shock Shi Tae 3

Ar Yone Oo Mar Shock Shi Tae 2

Ar Yone Oo Mar Shock Shi Tae 1

Burmese Video Episode (12): "Ar-Yone-Oo-Mar SHOCK Shi-Tae"

Burmese Video: "Ar-Yone-Oo-Mar SHOCK Shi-Tae" Movie

Junta’s elections on 7 November 2010 is to justify five decades of military rule

18 Oct 2010

Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) calls for the international community not to recognize junta’s planned 2010 election and its results.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi led National League for Democracy (NLD), victor of 1990 election, decided unanimously to boycott the junta’s planned sham 2010 election due to its unfair electoral laws. Without the participation of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, without the participation of National League for Democracy (NLD), and without the participation of 1990 election winning parties, junta’s planned election in 2010 is clearly not creditable.

Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) would like to raise some points considering current situation of Burma. The very military regime who is ruling Burma today held the election in 1990 pledging that they will transfer the power to the election wining party. The junta’s Law No.14/89, "Pyithu Hluttaw Election Law," states clearly in Chapter 3 Section 3 that the "Hluttaw (Assembly) shall be formed with the Hluttaw representatives who have been elected.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi once said that: “The results of these elections will remain valid until such time as the Members of Parliament elected in 1990 by the people have had a chance to get together and decide what the next step is going to be. The world has to make certain that the outcome of these elections is honoured”.

The junta’s planned 2010 election is only a charade designed to legitimise the military dictatorship within Burma. The International Community should be aware of the hopelessly irreconcilable contents of the constitution that was adopted in 2008. The referendum was ushered into existence under questionable conditions including extortion and rigged ballots. Implementing these fundamental demands requested by legitimate leaders of Burma is a MUST before playing into the junta’s illegal 2010 election. Giving the military junta 25% of the parliamentary seats and unbridled authoritarian control are truly not the will of the Burmese people. There is no room for genuine democratic change in Burma due to junta’s planned 2010 election so that all the justice loving countries should avoid any action glorifying it.

Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) would like to call for the international community to take (3) practical steps in order to bring about genuine democratic change in Burma, i.e.

1. International community must declare that it won’t recognise junta’s planned 2010 election and its results.

2. International community must call for implementation of 1990 election results and actually supporting the democratic groups attempting to implement these results.

3. International community must declare that it is ready to endorse Daw Aung San Suu Kyi led people’s leaders as the legitimate government of Burma if should the one be formed.

For more information please contact

Ko Myo Thein [United Kingdom]
Phone: 00-44-78 7788 2386

U Khin Maung Win [United States]
Phone: 001-941-961-2622

Daw Khin Aye Aye Mar [United States]
Phone: 001 509 586 8309

U Tint Swe Thiha [United States]
Phone: 001-509-582-3261, 001-509-591-8459
http://www.bdcburma.org/NewsDetails.asp?id=724

Mandalay dam water leaves 2,500 homeless, cuts roads

New Delhi (Mizzima) – Water released from dams in Mandalay after at least a week of heavy rain has inundated three wards in the divisional capital and forced about 2,500 from their homes, residents and relief workers said yesterday.

Seitawlay and Seitawgyi dams had reached dangerous levels after heavy rain filled their reservoirs to near capacity, forcing officials to open the floodgates. Run-off cut roads and swamped homes in Aungpinle, Thamankone and Myayinanda wards, residents said.

“People from these localities are taking refuge at Innkhayu monastery … There are about 2,500 flood victims there. They an’t return to their homes even though the water has receded slightly,” a resident and volunteer relief worker told Mizzima.

Officials feared the reservoirs, swollen after a least a week of rain, would force dam walls to break or collapse. After they opened the gates, the wards were inundated with four to 10 feet of water, depending on an area’s topography.

At least 10 people were killed in this flood, a monk giving food and medicine to the flood victims said. “The death toll is climbing and 10 bodies have been recovered so far in Aungpinle,” the monk said.

Mizzima was as yet unable to verify the death toll from an independent source.

Some businessmen such as Win Win Candle, Lucky drinking water, individual donors, and social organisations such as Bhramaso and monks were donating food and drinking water to the flood victims under the leadership of the abbot of Sagaing Myasetkya monastery, the monk said.

Authorities were collecting food parcels in rotation from other wards in Mandalay and had opened an aid-material collection centre in the city, a resident said.

The monk said that he and his volunteers were facing difficulties in their relief work.

“They [city authorities] don’t allow donors to donate relief materials directly to the flood victims. Soldiers and firemen want the relief materials delivered to them. But the monks forcefully waded through the floodwater to donate directly,” he said.

Drugs and dehydration packets were desperately needed for child flood victims, who were suffering from diarrhoea. Also badly needed were candles as electricity had been cut off, and mosquito coils, rice, meat and vegetables, the monk said.

The released water also inundated highway links to northern Shan State, leaving townships there cut off from communications for at least five days.

“We can’t go even to Pyinoolwin as the highway is inundated. There are no uphill or downhill cars. The highway buses running to Musay and Lashio have had to stop running as well. Cars can’t travel to Myingyan and they have to go via Meiktila,” a passenger bus operator’s ticket counter supervisor at the Chanmyashwepyi highway bus terminal said.

Meteorologist Dr. Tun Lwin warned that more and frequent storms were likely to hit Burma this month or next month, with heavy rain and gale-force winds also likely. He also urged the public to watch weather reports regularly.

source: http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/4445-mandalay-dam-water-leaves-2500-homeless-cuts-roads.html

What is a ‘free and fair’ election?

Dr. Kurt Campbell (right), the United States assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, and US embassy Rangoon chargé d’affaires Larry Dinger, meet Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (centre) at a government guest house in Rangoon on Monday, May 10, 2010. The US envoy had expressed his concern over the junta’s unfair laws governing political parties and elections in a meeting with Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy executive members. Photo: Mizzima Archive



Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – In one of its opening salvoes against the Burmese junta’s elections this year, the country’s most powerful opposition party, the National League for Democracy, announced in March it would not re-register as a political party, thereby guaranteeing it would not take part.

The party released a statement at the time saying they had “decided not to register … because the election laws … are unfair and unjust”.

Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi also said she “would not dream” of entering the race because of its illegitimacy. Since the Burmese military regime released its new electoral laws, the election has been widely criticised as a sham. Many international governments and individuals within and outside Burma have called for all of Burma’s political prisoners to be released before the elections take place, in order for them to be considered democratic.

The following is the first in a series of reports in which Mizzima will examine what constitutes a “free and fair’ election by international standards.

The components can be divided into 16 different categories according to International IDEA, (the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance) and various other intergovernmental organisations that promote sustainable democracy and efficient, “free and fair” elections around the world. The following points are a compilation of what they feel is required for a country to meet these standards.

International recognition
International standards for free and fair democratic elections have their foundations in the fundamental freedoms and political rights within various international conventions such as the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Legal framework
The legal framework is the basis for the regulation of the election process. It comprises the electoral law regarding voter registration, political parties and candidates and the media. The framework for elections should be transparent and understandable and approach all the issues of an electoral system necessary to create democratic elections.

Electoral system
The electoral system in place within a country should guarantee political inclusiveness and representation. It should provide a clear electoral formula for transforming votes into legislative seats.

Electoral watchdog
The most important elements of a free and fair election lie in the independence and impartiality of a country’s electoral watchdog or election commission to monitor the efficiency, effectiveness, professionalism and transparency of the electoral processes.

The duties and functions of such a body are:

To ensure that election officials and staff are well-trained and are independent of any political interest,
To ensure the voting public are educated about election processes, voting procedures and contesting political parties and candidates,
To ensure the registry of voters and upkeep of voter registers.
To ensure the integrity of the ballot via maintaining the secrecy of the vote, by insuring against fraudulent voting and by ensuring a transparent process for lawful collection and counting of the votes.

Right to elect and be elected
There should be no discrimination on account of colour, race, sex, language, religion, political views, ethnic minority status, property or birth that could eliminate an eligible citizen’s right to vote or right to contest the elections. All eligible citizens should be guaranteed the right to equal voting and the right to contest the elections without any discrimination.

Voter registration and registers
Voter registers should be maintained with transparency and accuracy. The right of an eligible voter to register should be protected, and the prevention of unlawful or fraudulent registration or removal of voters, enacted. The voter register must be comprehensive, inclusive, accurate and up to date, and the process, fully transparent.

Political parties and candidates
All political parties and candidates should be treated equally while competing in elections. The legal framework of a democratic election should clearly provide notification of the dates for beginning and end of registration for political parties. The requirements and procedures for party and candidate registration should be based on reasonable, relevant and objective criteria.

Democratic electoral campaigns
Each political party and candidate has the right to freedom of expression and freedom of association and access to the electorate.

The electoral system should ensure:

There are no unreasonable restrictions on the right to freedom of expression and whatever restrictions there are that they be set out in the law,
Every party and candidate has equal access to the media to undertake their campaign,
Every party and candidate should have equal access to finance for a credible election campaign,
No party or candidate should be favoured, financially or through other resources,
No party or candidate incites or threatens violence to another party or candidate,
All parties and candidates should cease campaigning one or two days before polling day.

Media access and freedom of expression
The legal framework for elections should ensure that all political parties and candidates have access to the media and equal treatment in media owned or controlled by the state. Freedom of expression should be upheld in election campaigns and no party or candidate should be discriminated against in terms of access to the media or freedom of expression. The ruling party should not have unfair dominance of media coverage.

Campaign finance and expenditure
All parties and candidates should be treated equally by the institute governing campaign finances and expenditure. If public funding is distributed among parties and candidates it should be proportionately and equally distributed. Limitations on funding of campaigns should be reasonable and equal among each party and candidate. Political finance laws should be adequately and effectively enforced.

Balloting
Polling stations should be accessible and there should be accurate recording of ballots. The secrecy of the ballot should also be guaranteed. Sufficient provisions for the security of all ballots and voting materials before, during and after voting should be provided by the legal framework. Safeguards should be put in place to prevent fraudulent voting or double voting. The routine entry of police or armed forces into the polling station should be prohibited except when they themselves are voting.

Counting votes
All votes should be counted and tabulated accurately, equally, fairly and transparently. A democratic electoral system should ensure that the entire process for counting and tabulating votes is conducted in the presence of representatives of parties and candidates as well as election observers.

Role of the representatives of parties and candidates
For the election to maintain integrity and transparency, the legal framework must provide for independent observation by representatives nominated by parties and candidates contesting the election to observe all voting processes. These representatives are not permitted to campaign within the polling station or designated area around the polling station.

Election observers
For an election to be credible and transparent, independent electoral observers should be permitted to observe all processes of the election.

Electoral law
The legal framework for elections must set forth detailed and sufficient provisions protecting suffrage rights.

Every voter, candidate and political party has the right to lodge a complaint with the competent electoral watchdog or a court when an infringement of electoral rights is alleged to have occurred.

Defining/delimiting boundaries of electoral units/constituencies
There are three universal principles to guide the delimitation process: representativeness, equality of voting strength and non-discrimination. The ideal international standard is to attain equality of voting power for each vote, therefore providing effective representation.

Source: http://www.mizzima.com/news/election-2010-/4451-what-is-a-free-and-fair-election.html

Burma's Aung Sann Su Kyi "will not vote"

Burma's detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will refuse to vote in the general election on 7 November.
Her lawyer, Nyan Win, said that although her name was on a voters' list, she would not take part in a poll organised by the military.

Ms Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory in the last election in 1990 but the junta annulled the result, and kept her in near continuous detention.

The poll is seen by many as a sham that will just cement the military's power.

Some 25% of seats are guaranteed under the new constitution for the military, which means unelected military officers will sit in parliament.

The government has also founded its own political party - the Union Solidarity and Development Party - headed by the incumbent prime minister.

Legal moves
Ms Sui Kyi is currently under house arrest and was at first excluded from the electoral roll; about 2,000 other activists are also still detained.

Her National League for Democracy (NLD) had already decided to disband to avoid having to expel Ms Suu Kyi and other detainees under strict electoral laws.

Our South East Asia correspondent Rachel Harvey says her decision not to vote may further encourage other NLD supporters to follow her lead, come election day.

That in turn will infuriate the current military leadership, she says.

"The NLD will not compete so she (Suu Kyi) said she has no party to vote for even if she is allowed to vote. As the NLD is not participating in the election, she will not vote," said Nyan Win.

He said Ms Suu Kyi had also pointed out that any grant to her of the right to vote would contravene the junta's own laws which prohibit detainees from taking part in the polls.

Her advice to followers also not to vote has been criticised by the state-controlled press.

Ms Suu Kyi's house arrest is due to expire on 13 November and she expects to be released "according to the law", Nyan Win said.

"If she is not released it is like a violation," he said.

Many Western nations and the UN are critical of Burma's poor human rights record and refusal to hand over power to Ms Suu Kyi's party in 1990.

source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11529919

Post

Myo Yan Naung Thein and today youths

Global Action Against Junta's Planned Sham Election

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/epHUQdoXLjZ-IRlHI7rEtA?feat=directlink

Global Action Against Junta's Planned Sham Election

Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) joined hands together with democratic forces around the world showing our opposition on the junta's planned sham election and its results.

Myanmar's Sham Election

We are now a month away from the first elections in Burma in 23 years. That should give us cause to celebrate. Sadly, that is wishful thinking. Burma’s 55 million people continue to suffer brutal oppression. Abject, needless poverty is, for most, a daily reality. These elections will be little more than a sham to perpetuate military rule.

So when Asian and European leaders meet on Monday in Brussels, the U.K. will be calling for us to speak with one voice against the gross mistreatment of the Burmese people.

That means being unequivocal: These elections will be neither free nor fair. Opponents of the ruling party lack resources and are systematically targeted by the current regime. Thousands of political prisoners remain incarcerated. Various ethnic parties have been refused the right to participate. Last month the military dissolved the National League for Democracy — its biggest perceived threat.

The situation is little better for those parties which are being allowed to participate. The regime they oppose has passed deeply unfair election laws and runs the election commission. In Burma all media is heavily censored by the state.

So the election result is a foregone conclusion. Under the constitution a quarter of seats are already reserved for the military. In half of the remaining seats parties loyal to the regime will run uncontested, their opponents unable to field a candidate. The regime is therefore guaranteed a substantial majority — before a single vote is even cast.

The consequence for Burma is the return to power of a ruling elite that has presided over widespread human rights abuses, including arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, rape and torture. That same regime has been guilty of profound economic mismanagement and corruption. While they routinely blame sanctions for weak development, the truth is that they have squandered Burma’s natural resources and export opportunities. The country’s infant mortality rate is now amongst the highest in Asia.

These failings are undeniable. Yet some are tempted to overlook the deep flaws in the approaching election. Clearly, it would be more convenient for the international community to quietly agree that any election is better than no election. Burma would recede in the mind, allowing us to “move on.” That is attractive for nations that insist we should not interfere in one anothers’ affairs. And the West could not be accused, as it sometimes is, of attempting to recreate the world in its own image.

These are not reasons to ignore the truth. The European Union has already made it clear that sanctions — targeted at the regime and its sources of revenue — will not be lifted until genuine progress is made on the ground. We must now work with our Asian partners, using our collective clout, to push for that progress. Members of the Asia-Europe Meeting group, or ASEM, account for nearly 60 percent of the global population — and the same proportion of global trade. Burma’s military regime should know that, until it satisfies international demands, it will meet the same disapproval whether it looks East or West.

Not only is that our shared moral duty, but it is in our strategic self-interest too. Without a process of national reconciliation in Burma, the risk of instability is real. Ethnic cease-fires look increasingly fragile. A return to conflict would have devastating humanitarian consequences, undermining regional security and leading to further refugee flows into neighboring countries and beyond.

So we must continue to exert pressure on the regime to engage all opposition and ethnic groups in a meaningful dialogue. The objective must be a fair settlement that gives ethnic groups a political voice and protects their minority rights. All prisoners of conscience — including the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi — must be released without delay. Reconciliation must be geared toward the social and economic development that has long evaded the Burmese state.

This week is an opportunity for Asian and European nations to reaffirm that message. Military men must know that swapping their uniforms for suits will not change the demands of the international community. We will not be pacified by a democratic facade. Our expectations will not drop.


Nick Clegg is deputy prime minister of Britain.








http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/04/opinion/04iht-edclegg.html

Flag raising ceremony in USA

Demonstration in front of Burmese Embassy

Burmese Video: "Ar-Yone-Oo-Mar SHOCK Shi-Tae" Ads (Sunrise Shock) 08 September 2010

Burmese Video: "Ar-Yone-Oo-Mar SHOCK Shi-Tae" Ads (Sunrise Shock) 08 September 2010

Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) today releases the Burmese video trailer, "Ar-Yone-Oo-Mar SHOCK Shi-Tae" (Sunrise Shock).

We are humbled to present the preview of our work, "Ar-Yone-Oo-Mar SHOCK Shi-Tae" (Sunrise Shock) video which is the collective efforts of the Burma democratic activists from UK.

We hope that this piece could be one of the corner stones when we could write the true Burma history.

We will share the video with all the democratic activists and organizations around the world as well as people inside Burma so that we can have the opportunity to see two different perspectives compare with junta's propaganda video, Ar-Yone-Oo-Mar-Phu-Tae-Kyar, with full of wrong and misleading information.

We are well aware of the challenges ahead trying to distribute our video inside Burma but we will use the modern internet technology believing that it could help us promoting the good news inside Burma.

Please see the link at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biRw3h...

For more information please contact Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) http://www.bdcburma.org

Burmese Video Love Scene: "Ar-Yone-Oo-Mar SHOCK Shi-Tae"

Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) is embarking on media campaign so as to encourage everyone's participation working for democratisation of Burma. Media play important role to restore democracy in Burma so that Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) is producing the video, "Ar-Yone-Oo-Mar SHOCK Shi-Tae", to share with all the people inside Burma so that they can have the opportunity to see two different perspectives compare with junta's propaganda video, Ar-Yone-Oo-Mar-Phu-Tae-Kyar which is full of wrong information".

In the video, there will be the information regarding why we should boycott junta's planned sham election which will be held on 7 November 2010. Addition, there will be more information about junta's unilaterally adopted sham constitution and why we must collectively lobby international governments including UNSC to to declare military entrenching constitution as NULL & VOID. This is part of the answer for Burma crisis.

For more information please contact Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) http://www.bdcburma.org

Burmese FM to Attend US-Asean Summit

Burma's Foreign Minister Nyan Win will attend the US-Asean summit convened by President Obama later this month in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session.

The White House on Friday announced that Obama will host a meeting with leaders of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean). Obama has invited the leaders of the 10 Asean member states as well the Asean secretary-general to join him for the second ever US-Asean leaders' meeting, it said.


Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win attends the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers Informal Consultations in Hanoi in July. (Photo: Reuters)
Confirming that the top Burmese leader will not be attending the meeting, a senior US official said that no direct invitation was sent to Burma.
“The invitation went to the Asean chair [Vietnam], so we did not address an invitation to Burma directly,” the official told The Irrawaddy. “The Burmese have decided to send their foreign minister, Nyan Win.”

The White House said, at the first such meeting, held in Singapore in November 2009, Obama and the Asean leaders pledged to deepen cooperation in a number of areas of common concern, including trade and investment, regional security, disaster management, food and energy security, and climate change.

“The President looks forward to working with the leaders to assess the progress on these issues, to identify future efforts to strengthen US-Asean relations, and discuss multilateral approaches for greater regional cooperation,” the White House said.

It is understood that Obama will discuss the upcoming election in Burma, which the US has said lacks credibility.

Of late, the Obama administration has shown signs of adopting a stronger position against Burma; given that a year ago it had adopted a new policy of simultaneous engagement with and economic sanctions on Burma.

The US had two rounds of talks with the military junta, however top US officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, expressed frustration over the response of the junta toward a credible and transparent election and the release of all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi.


http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=19380

Myo Thein on BBC Burmese 70th Anniversary

"Lifeline service": BBC Burmese marks 70th anniversary

"Lifeline service": BBC Burmese marks 70th anniversary
By Bethan Jinkinson
BBC News

Burma's first post-Independence Prime Minister U Nu appeared on the BBC Burmese service in 1947
As the BBC Burmese service broadcast a programme marking its 70th anniversary, Sandhobasa, a monk, called in to say that he had been listening for more than two decades.

The broadcasts enriched his knowledge, he said, and he had become attached to them. He could, he said, name the day when every presenter joined or left the BBC.

Founded in 1940, the service has covered independence, uprisings and long years of military rule.

Small teams based in Bangkok and London's Bush House broadcast to an estimated 22.9% of Burma's adult population, and in times of national crisis these figures soar.

"The BBC plays a massive role in bringing accurate, impartial information to the people of Burma," says Soe Win Than, one of the editors at the service.

"People inside Burma cannot get free information. We are a lifeline service."

Essential listening

Last year Burma was voted 5th worst in the world in terms of media freedom by Reporters Without Borders; local media is heavily censored.


The BBC began broadcasting to Burma in 1940, when Burma was still part of the British empire
Soe Win Than says this is particularly true in times of crisis, such as during the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, or the 2007 protests led by monks.

"During the uprising the government slowed down the internet connections and blocked access," he says.

"People tuned in to the BBC to find out what was happening - and our listenership skyrocketed."

This also happened in August 1988, when hundreds of thousands of people took part in pro-democracy protests across the country.

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote

The people of Burma are deprived of the privilege of free information”

Soe Win Than
BBC Burmese service
Former student leader Aung Myo Tun said that during that time he listened to the BBC every day.

But it is not only in times of crisis that the BBC is essential listening in Burma.

Sit Maw, a 19 year-old student living in Burma's commercial capital Rangoon, is one of an estimated 8.3 million weekly listeners in Burma.

"The information in my country is not good," he says. "Most news is controlled by the government."

"We need free information about what is happening inside and outside the country and in the world today. That's why I listen to the BBC. "

His view is confirmed by research.

"Independent surveys also show that BBC Burmese has established itself as the most trusted, reliable source of information in Burma, says the BBC's Director of Global News, Peter Horrocks.

"It's not an exaggeration to say that its broadcasts have helped to keep the Burmese people informed - and empowered."

Huge following

In their weekly Have Your Say programme, listeners from inside Burma as well as countries like Bangladesh, Thailand and Japan call in to to take part in discussion.

"The people of Burma are deprived of the privilege of free information," says Soe Win Than.


Presenter Ne Win (R) was one of the service's best known voices; he retired in 1995
"The government in Burma is so paranoid that they censor publications with dark covers, as they believe they imply that Burma is still in the dark ages."

"Our Have Your Say programme gives the Burmese people a forum, a chance to talk about a range of topics, including politics."

BBC Burmese do not only broadcast radio. They also have a Burmese language website, and receive many emails a day.

They have just launched a newsletter aimed at Burmese migrants on the Thai-Burma border.

Not surprisingly BBC journalists enjoy a huge following in Burma.

"Every journalist in Burma wants to work for the BBC" says producer Moe Myint, one of the younger members of the team. "Nobody can compete in terms of audience or reputation."

But for those who work for the BBC, there is a personal cost. Moe Myint says that whenever he returns to Burma he is followed by the authorities "everywhere I go".

Several BBC Burmese journalists have experienced difficult circumstances due to the political situation in Burma.

Nita May spent three years in the notorious Insein prison, where she gave birth to a son.

Another member of staff took part in the student uprising in 1988 and had to escape through the jungles on the Thai-Burma border.

Now as journalists in London and Bangkok, they provide an essential link to the outside world for a country starved of independent news.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11164597