Impotent Tatmadaw has turned guns on easy target 

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2016
Impotent Tatmadaw has turned guns on easy target 

Re: “World community must open its eyes to atrocities in Rakhine State”, Editorial, November 20. 

Thanks for your timely editorial. Behind this extremely pernicious action against the Rohingyas lies the Myanmar military’s growing sense of impotence in its attempts to defeat Asia’s longest-running insurgency, being waged by the Karen National Defence Organisation, the Kachin Independence Army, the Shan State Army and others. The United Wa State Army alone is more than a match for Myanmar’s standing army of half a million.
The Burmese imagine recapturing their past national glory, but this time their ambition is both diluted and exacerbated by intolerance for other religions and ethnic nationalities. The unfortunate Rohingyas qualify on both counts.
What can Thailand do? Together with other international actors it could refrain from dealing with the defence industries that feed the ogre. Together with the new American administration, it could re-impose targeted sanctions.
As a final thought, it would create a tremendous difference if Thailand launched its own Peace Corps, with Thai farmers mobilised to share with their neighbours sustainable agriculture methods learned from their great King.
Michael