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Thailand and Burma have been at odds since July 8, when the Burmese regime closed the border crossing in protest of the Thai government’s construction work on the river to prevent erosion on the Thai side.

DKBA to Join Junta’s Border Guards

The Burmese government welcomed troops of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) into the border guard force in an August ceremony held at the DKBA headquarters in Karen State. Several large businesses along the Thai-Burmese border in Karen State, such as logging, zinc and tin mining, as well as the border trade through Myawaddy Towship, are currently controlled by the DKBA. Observers predict the DKBA will lose control of many of its strongholds where it operates large businesses when the militia becomes a border guard force paid and dominated by Burmese commanders. 

Trafficking Victims Become Traffickers

Some human trafficking victims in Burma have become traffickers themselves, perhaps due to insufficient support in rehabilitation or a lack of jobs, according to Pol. Col. Sit Aye, the head of the Department against Transnational Crime. Speaking at an anti-trafficking workshop in August, Pol. Col. Ralian Hmong of the Committee on Combating Trafficking in Persons (CCTP) said that when police arrested hundreds of traffickers over the past few years, they found more than 100 people acting as traffickers who had themselves once been trafficked into China or Thailand. He added that some trafficking victims take up the business because they know how it works. According to CCTP statistics, of the 534 trafficking cases investigated between 2006 and 2010, approximately 80 percent took place in China; nine percent in Thailand; 0.6 percent in Malaysia; and 11 percent in Burma.

Growing Food Shortage in Central Burma: UN

One in 10 people in Burma—more than 5 million people—go hungry every day, according to the UN. People in the country’s hot, central dry zone could face a food shortage after the  Burmese government imposed restrictions on access to the area by the World Food Program (WFP). A report by the Food and Agriculture Organization and WFP said that of the 324 townships in Burma, 52 townships are classified as highly vulnerable in terms of food. Among the 52 townships, 29  are located in Shan State. All townships in Chin State and two-thirds of the townships in Kachin State were also reported to be highly vulnerable. People in need are also concentrated in the Irrawaddy and Rangoon divisions and in Arakan and Chin states.

Burma Triples Size of Northern Tiger Reserve

Burma has tripled the size of the world’s largest tiger reserve in an effort to save the big cats. The entire Hukaung Valley—a remote area of northern Burma about half the size of Switzerland—is now a protected tiger area, the government announced. The government designated 2,500 square miles (6,475 square kilometers) of the valley as a wildlife sanctuary in 2004, and the recent increase brings it to about 8,450 square miles (21,885 square kilometers). Illegal hunting in the Hukaung Valley as well as gold mining and large-scale agriculture have decimated wildlife, and as few as 50 of the big cats remain in the area, the US-based Wildlife Conservation Society said, noting the valley had the potential to hold several hundred tigers.

Vietnam, US Hold First Ever Defense Talks

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, left, and Vietnam’s Minister of Defense Phung Quang Thanh shake hands before their bilateral meeting during the Shangri-La Dialogue A sia Security Summit in Singapore on June 4. (Photo: Reuters)

Former foes Vietnam and the United States held their first ever defense talks on Aug. 18, a meeting described by a senior US official as extremely successful. The talks came as the two countries celebrate the 15th anniversary of their normalization of relations after North Vietnam defeated the US in a decade-long war that cost up to 2 million Vietnamese lives. In early August, an American warship, the USS John S McCain, docked in Vietnam and the two navies conducted training exercises—a sign of growing military ties.