Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said Thailand will work within the framework of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) but “will have to respect Burma’s sovereignty.”

Burma has been ruled by the military since 1962, and its ruling junta is widely criticized for human rights abuses and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.

Burma’s crisis attracted world attention last September when Buddhist monks led anti-government protests, the biggest in two decades. The government detained thousands and killed at least 31 people, according to a UN investigator, whose tally was twice the toll acknowledged by the junta.

“We are not a headmaster who can tell Burma to do this or that,” Noppadon said on Thursday in his first press conference since becoming foreign minister. “The development of democracy and protection of human rights are Burma’s internal affairs.”

Noppadon said that Thailand’s new government will continue to work alongside its neighbors in Asean but will focus on the issues that directly affect Thailand, such as drug trafficking, bilateral trade and illegal immigrants.

“If working through an Asean framework can help Burma’s democracy flourish, we will do it,” he said.

Asean allowed Burma to join a decade ago, hoping that membership would inspire change in the country.

Following September’s crackdown, Western countries tightened sanctions against Burma’s military government, but Asean countries have done little to step up pressure.

During its November summit in Singapore, the group failed to come up with any action to push for democratic reform in Burma.

Thailand—Burma’s number 2 trading partner and a major importer of its natural gas—and other Asean countries have been reluctant to consider sanctions against Burma.

Despite efforts by the Burmese authorities to ban the Stallone’s recently released movie, Rambo 4, reports suggest there an underground trade in downloaded versions of the film in which he rescues missionaries from the clutches of the military.

While cinemas are prevented from showing the film, the downloaded version – burned onto DVDs – is being passed around by groups of trusted friends. “Some of the video rental shops have put up a sign that reads ‘ We don’t have a copy of Rambo 4 released in USA on January 25’, as many people continue to ask for it,” one Rangoon resident told the Indian-based website Mizzima.

Stallone’s fourth adventure as the action hero was shot along the Thai-Burmese border and features the Vietnam War veteran coming out of retirement to rescue Christian missionaries abducted by the authorities while supplying supplies to the ethnic Karen, who have long been the victims of clashes and attacks from government troops.

While political activists both inside and outside of Burma have celebrated the film for revealing the brutality of the junta, the Rangoon resident said that many people were confused as to whether the film was fictional or portrayed genuine events.

Either way, the 61-year-old actor, who first portrayed the mentally unstable veteran John J Rambo in 1982, recently claimed the film was inspiring people to take action against the Burmese regime and had prompted a backlash from the government. He also said that two of the film’s Burmese-born actors had told him that members of their families had been arrested in apparent retribution for their participation in the movie.

A Singaporean company, Pavo Aircraft Leasing Pte Ltd, was also named.

‘We are tightening financial sanctions against Tay Za, an arms dealer and financial henchman of Burma’s repressive junta,’ said Adam Szubin, director of the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

An OFAC notice identifies U Kyaw Thein as a citizen of Burma who is a permanent resident of Singapore with an identity card issued in 2005.

A resident of U Kyaw Thein’s Singapore apartment told AFP by phone Thursday that he had gone overseas and could not be reached.

‘He’s gone for some trip,’ said the man, who would not give his name.

Pavo Aircraft Leasing is the latest Singapore firm to be hit by the US sanctions.

After Myanmar’s deadly suppression of Buddhist-led protests in September, President George W. Bush named three firms with offices in Singapore as among those targeted.

They were Pavo Trading Pte Ltd, Air Bagan Holdings Pte Ltd and Htoo Wood Products Pte Ltd, which is also listed as being from Myanmar’s main city, Yangon.

Pavo Aircraft Leasing is listed at the same office where the other three blacklisted firms were based.

The US action freezes any assets they may have under US jurisdiction and bars Americans from conducting business with them at the risk of heavy fines and prison sentences.

Singapore led regional criticism of the junta’s September crackdown, but rights activists have accused the city-state of not taking economic action against the regime.

Singapore strongly denies allegations that it allows banks based here to keep illicit funds on behalf of Myanmar’s secretive generals.

“Non-interference in others’ internal affairs remains the thrust of our diplomacy,” said Noppadon, a former lawyer and spokesman for ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup.

Noppadon, an Oxford graduate, said democracy and human rights were internal affairs of the former Burma, ruled by the military since 1962 and the focus of international opprobrium since crushing pro-democracy protests in September.

Thailand would rely on the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations, one of the few international groups willing to have Myanmar as a member, to bring change about, Noppadon told a news conference.

“We will work under the ASEAN framework to make democracy in Myanmar prosper and a bring better standard of living to the people,” said Noppadon of a country now one of the poorest in the region. The United States and the European Union have intensified sanctions on Myanmar after the junta crushed the biggest pro-democracy protests in nearly 20 years in September, killing at least 31 people.

About 200 to 300 GSM sim cards are being licensed every day in Burma, according to the Pyi Myanmar Journal.

An MPT official said the agency has issued about 10,000 GSM sim cards since the beginning of the year.

According to a USDA member in Rangoon, the Burmese military authorities will allow USDA members who are working at the township level in Rangoon to apply for cell phone licenses. In Mandalay, the authorities will allow city section organizers to apply for military-authorized phone licenses.

The process to apply for a cell phone license is becoming easier in Burma, and even ordinary citizens can afford to pay about 100,000 kyat can receive a recommendation letter from local authorities to apply for a license.

Most people who apply with a recommendation letter will receive a cell phone license, he said.

GSM telephones prices in Burma have fallen recently after the government decision to authorize more licenses. The official license fee for a GMS cell phone from MPT is 1.55 million kyat (US $1,226).

Most government service workers can not afford the cost. The average daily income in Burma is less than $1 per day.

Before the more liberal policy, a cell phone license cost about 2.8 million kyat ($2,289). Prices are now about 1.7 million kyat ($1,390), according to Rangoon businessmen.

“Many USDA members apply for a phone license and sell it for extra income,” said a USDA member.

The government is expanding the telecommunication service in the country. Two Chinese telecommunications companies, Alcatel Sanghai Bell Co and ZTE (Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment Company Limited), are working on GMS projects, constructing cell phone towers in Rangoon and Mandalay.

There were an estimated 200,000 mobile phones in Burma in 2006; in 2005, the country had about 500,000 land line telephones.

The USDA, a paramilitary organization, was used to intimidate protesters during the 2007 demonstrations.

According to a report from the FBR, a humanitarian aid organisation working in the conflict zones of eastern Burma, “much of the population of northern Karen State is now displaced”. Over 24,000 civilians are in hiding close to their old villages, and at least 6,000 have fled to the Thai-Burmese border. “For those remaining, continual attacks, patrols, and the close proximity of new Burma Army camps has made returning to villages and fields impossible,” the Free Burma Rangers report claims.

On 29 January, the Burma Army attacked a valley near Saw Wa Der, Toungoo District, with mortars and machine-gun fire, causing internally displaced people (IDPs) in the area to flee again.

Burma Army patrols “shoot on sight”, according to the Free Burma Rangers. On 24 January, troops from Burma Army Infantry Battalion 231 arrested and killed Maung Ga Shwey, the headman of Na Shwe Mo village, in Dooplaya District, central Karen State.

On 1 January, soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion 704 shot and killed a 53 year-old man, Saw Bo La Gyi, and shot and wounded Saw Bo Wa, aged 32, in Yaw Kee village in Nyaunglebin District. Yaw Kee has been attacked multiple times in recent months, and was mortared and destroyed in October.

“The displaced people here remain steadfast in their hope for a better future and their struggle for freedom against Burma’s dictators,” the Free Burma Rangers report states. “At the same time they ask us for help and ask us to tell our friends around the world that they need help … The dictators of Burma have no interest in stopping the oppression of the ethnic peoples or relinquishing their power, and until the dictators are stopped, no amount of food or medical relief is enough to solve the human crisis now existing in northern Karen State, eastern Burma. The people here need protection from the Burma Army.”

Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s Advocacy Director, Tina Lambert, said: “The Karen people are struggling for their very survival. For too long their cries have fallen on deaf ears around the world. It is time for that to change. The world must act to bring an end to the dictators’ reign of terror in Burma – before it is too late.”

For weeks, there has been persistent speculation about the health of Burma’s military supremo and his spouse, both of whom are in their seventies. Than Shwe is known to suffer from hypertension, diabetes and other chronic ailments.

Sources in Singapore have suggested that he may have cancer, although there has been no independent confirmation of this.

A year ago, Than Shwe traveled to Singapore to receive medical treatment. When he failed to attend a state dinner to mark Burma’s Independence Day last January, rumors were rife that his health had taken a serious turn for the worse.

More recently, however, observers have noted that he seems to be in reasonably good health for his age. One Western diplomat who has seen him in public described his condition as “disappointingly healthy.”

According to a Burmese journalist in Rangoon, however, Than Shwe’s wife, Kyaing Kyaing, may not be doing so well. This year, it was her turn to miss the Independence Day dinner, lending credence to reports that she may have suffered a stroke recently.

Rumors of serious health problems within the ruling clan were given fresh impetus last December, when Dr Mi Mi Cho, a famous neurological specialist from Rangoon, was taken to Naypyidaw to treat an unspecified relative of one of the top generals.

Since Than Shwe ordered a bloody crackdown on protesting monks in September, many Burmese have been looking for signs of ill health in the ruling family. Some Burmese Buddhists regard such health problems to be a natural karmic consequence of attacks on the revered clergy.

A similar fate supposedly befell Snr-Gen Saw Maung, former chairman of the ruling junta, who suffered a mental breakdown in 1990, shortly after his regime arrested several leading monks and raided 130 monasteries in Mandalay. He stepped down due to illness in 1992, and died of a heart attack five years later.

The National Unity Party of Arakan and Karen National Union rebels were arrested for allegedly smuggling weapons by Indian security forces in the notorious Operation Leech on the Andaman and Nicobar islands in February 1998.

They are currently being held in Kolkata prison, but have still not been convicted of any offence.

One of Monday’s protestors, Arakan Human Rights Watch group director Khine Aung Kyaw, said the rebels should be freed if they have not committed any crime, but added that they would not be able to return to Burma.

“We would rather the court gave them sentences if they are guilty of any violations, but the court is not doing that,” he said.

“These people can’t actually go back to Burma; if they did, they would be murdered by the military junta.”

Because of the threats they would face in Burma, Khine Aung Kyaw said the Indian government should give them refugee status if they are released.

“They are just young people; they are not terrorists, but political activists and armed revolutionaries,” Khine Aung Kyaw said.

“They do have weapons, but these are not intended for any terrorist activities inside [India]; they would only be used to revolt against the military junta in Burma.”

The next court appointment for the group is on 8 February.

The managing editor of The Irrawaddy magazine, Kyaw Zwa Moe, said the goal of the redesign is to give more information to readers in an easy, accessible format that is user-friendly and interactive.

The new design also allows readers to write directly to the Web site by using the comment box located at the bottom of a story.

Six different designs of The Irrawaddy’s website since 2000. (irrawaddy.org, 6 Feb)

“The new Web site is part of our mission to provide information and in-depth analysis in a Web site that meets professional, international standards,” said Kyaw Zaw Moe. “This marks a significant evolution in our online history.

“The redesign is part of our preparation to play a more significant role in the world of news and opinion and to prepare for future events such as the September demonstrations.” The Irrawaddy Web site and other exiled media groups provided unprecedented information to the world during the 2007 pro-democracy uprising. Our reporters and stringers inside Burma sent exclusive news, photographs and video which were posted on the Web site on an hourly basis in some cases.

The Irrawaddy print magazine, which began publishing in 1993, celebrates its 15th anniversary this year. The Web site was launched in 2000 and has undergone six redesigns.

Since the launch of the new Web site, we have received complimentary comments.

Amphol Kongkeaw, our Thai Web master, who joined The Irrawaddy team a few months ago diligently helped in the redesign.

“The navigation through the site is easier and clearer,” he said. “The Web site is designed to be more resistant to virus infection as we try not to use the scripts which are vulnerable to Web site infections.”

Senior Web master Moe Kyaw, said, “We will always try to update the Web site to be more convenient and friendly for our readers. The new site can be loaded faster and is also more visible to search engines like Google. It’s designed to optimize search engine performance.”

The technical staff at The Irrawaddy is still perfecting the design which should be completed in a few more months.

In the near future, the redesign will include the Burmese- language version of the Web site, making it more accessible to Burmese readers.

The redesign has taken into account readers inside Burma who have complained that internet speed is very slow inside the country. We have optimized our design to download more efficiently.

The Web site received 12 to 15 millions hits per month before the 2007 crackdown. During the uprising and in the following months, we received about 39 million hits and up to 180,000 unique visitors a month.

“The president has made clear that we will continue to take action against the military junta and those who prop it up so long as human rights violations continue and democracy is suppressed,” said Adam Szubin, the director of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

He said the new order will tighten financial sanctions against associates of Tay Za, described by Szubin as “an arms dealer and financial henchmen of Burma’s repressive regime.”

The new order was also aimed at family members of regime leaders and key individuals and businesses that are part of Tay Za’s financial network.

It follows previous actions by the Bush administration to impose economic sanctions to express condemnation of the Myanmar government’s crackdown on protestors. Before the new sanctions announced Tuesday, the administration had imposed sanctions on 30 individuals and seven entities connected with the ruling regime headed up by junta leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe.

“The actions of Than Shwe and his associates remain unacceptable to all those who value freedom,” White House press secretary Dana Perino said in a statement Tuesday.

“In defiance of the unanimous call of the U.N. Security Council, the regime continues to keep (pro-demo- cracy leader) Aung San Suu Kyi isolated and under house arrest, refuses to allow United Nations Special Advisor Ibrahim Gambari’s return to Burma and continues to hunt down peaceful activists,” Perino said.

Myanmar’s crisis attracted world attention when Buddhist monks last September began leading the biggest anti-government protests in two decades. At least 30 people are believed to have been killed when the government suppressed the demonstrations and thousands were detained, although most have since been released.

The new order targets the Htoo Group of Companies, which carries out key projects on behalf of the military regime, including the purchase of military equipment and aircraft for the military of Myanmar, also known as Burma.

The designation on Tuesday will freeze any assets that the named individuals and companies have in U.S. financial institutions and it also prohibits any financial or commercial transactions between U.S. individuals and American firms with those named in the sanctions order.

Among the individuals named are Aung Thet Mann, a director of Tay Za’s Htoo Group of Companies and the son of Gen. Thura Shwe Mann, a senior official in the Myanmar government.

The Treasury Department said in its announcement that Tay Za has used his business relationship with Aung Thet Mann to win favorable business contracts from the military-run government.

Treasury also designated Thiha, Tay Za’s brother and business partner, and U Kyaw Thein, a director of Tay Za’s business ventures in Singapore.

The companies designated were Myanmar Avia Export Co. Limited, a company Treasury said that Tay Za has used to purchase helicopters and aircraft for the military regime, and Ayer Shwe Wah Co. Limited and Pavo Aircraft Leasing in Singapore.

The four spouses of senior Myanmar government officials who were named were Khin Lay Thet, the wife of General Thura Shwe Mann; Myint Myint Ko, the wife of Construction Minister Saw Tun; Tin Lin Myint, the wife of Lt. General Ye Myint, and Myint Myint Soe, the wife of Foreign Affairs Minister Nyan Win.