Earthquake Strike Myanmar and Thailand

 

Myanmar and Thailand have experienced devasting earthquakes. Natural disasters produce a series of long term problems for public health, infrastructure, and housing. Homelessness will increase as a result of destroyed buildings. The military regime in Myanmar has no plans to address the concern of people who lost their homes. Reports estimate that the deaths in Myanmar are 1,600. The number could increase as more debris is cleared. Thailand's capital was damaged from the earthquake. Roads and bridges were also destroyed from the natural disaster. Rebuilding infrastructure is going to require major investments. Myanmar and Thailand might struggle to generate the funds for reconstruction. The military regime also is hostile to external contact. Hospitals are overwhelmed with the injured. The earthquake reveals the need to engineer earthquake resistant buildings. The earthquake was so powerful that skyscrapers in Bangkok were mot spared. The reason Myanmar is so susceptible to earthquakes relates to its location. It is located on a convergence area of the Earth's four major tectonic plates. Myanmar rests on the Sagaing fault. This explains why Mandalay was hit with immense force. Buildings that are older are going to be more vulnerable to collapse. Thailand's older buildings do not meet the safety construction standard. Vigorous earthquake protection for buildings must be required by law. Although regulations do exist, it appears most were not followed in Thailand.    

Ne Win Threatens Protesters (1988)

 

The military has dominated Myanmar throughout its recent history. Ne Win  had control of the country since 1962, but by the late 1980s his grip was slipping. The year 1988 saw a mass uprising against the regime. Ne Win made a notorious speech in response to the challenge to his rule. The military would use extreme force he asserted. The police  Ne Win expressed were more lenient . The army would not as articulated "shoot up in the sky." The Burma Socialist Programme Party was losing legitimacy among the public. Protests did happen before 1988, but the 8888 uprising was more massive. Previous protests mostly were done by workers and students. The 8888 uprising involved people from various sections of the Burmese public. The state responded with violence. Ne Win was forced into resigning and then it triggered another coup by the State Law and Order Restoration Council. The total deaths are not known, but Ne Win never was criminally charged for the abuses of his regime. Ne Win would have some influence in the new military junta. Around the 1990s, his influenced waned and he was put under house arrest. Ne Win was never punished for the state violence that occurred for 26 years. 

A Military Coup Has Occurred in Myanmar

 

Myanmar is in a state of emergency, with the military once more seizing  power. The military insisted this was a response to accusations of fraud in the elections. Aung San Suu Kyi has once more been detained along with other senior officials. It appears that the military wants to overturn the results of the general election and impose resurrect the military dictatorship. This is not the first time this has happened. The National League of Democracy did win the general election back in 1990. The military then launched a coup. The NLD became the ruling party of the country starting in 2015. They had a majority of seats in parliament. The military claims it will hold on to power for one year. Similar to Thailand, the military has large amounts of influence over government. The experiment in developing a democratic system  that began in 2011 appears to be coming to an end. Myanmar already has ethnic conflict and might be on the brink of civil war. The return to military rule will certainly cause some from of reaction from the public. This could either take the form of mass demonstrations or armed resistance. There are multiple armed groups in the country either fighting the military or seeking to create independent states. Myanmar may require a federal system to address issues related to regional and racial tensions. The Rohingya crisis demonstrates that just having elections or democratic government does not eliminate oppression. The NLD  allowed the military to wage war on an ethnic group, because it could have cost them politically with  the Buddhists in the Rakhine state. The only way the military regime will be defeated is through unified action of all ethnic groups and regions. However, political and ethnic divisions may be too vast to form coordinated mass resistance .