$3 Million Set for Thai Tomb, Cultural Village Project near Mandalay

Lo Hsing Han, ‘Godfather of Heroin’, Dies in Yangon

More than US $3 million has been earmarked to restore the tomb of a former Siamese king and build a Thai cultural village

Homes Burned in Latest Outbreak of Religious Violence near Mandalay, according to a source close to the project. Thai experts have been visiting Amarapura Township in Mandalay previous clashes between Buddhists and Muslims since last year, order was quickly restored after this latest outbreak of communal violence.

$400m of Drugs Seized in Mekong Operation

Region since February to verify whether a stupa there was the tomb of Uthumphon, a Siamese king who had abdicated and was taken to the area after Hsinbyushin, the third king of Myanmar’s Konbaung dynasty, invaded Ayutthaya in 1767. “According to historical records and our findings, we, both Myanmar and Thai experts, can now say the tomb belongs to Uthumphon,” Mickey Heart, who has been granted full authority on the project by the Uthumara Memorial Foundation, a section of the Association of Siamese Architects, told reporters on June 29.

US Sanctions Myanmar General for North Korea Ties

The family of Lo Hsing Han, one of Myanmar’s most notorious drug lords, announced his death at the age of 80 on July 7. Dubbed the “Godfather of Heroin” by the US government, Lo Hsing Han first got involved in the drug trade in the 1960s. In 1973, he was arrested in northern Thailand and later handed over to the Myanmar government. His initial sentence of death was commuted to life in prison, but in 1980, he was released as part of a general amnesty. In the 1990s, he and his son Stephen Law founded the conglomerate Asia World. Both father and son were put on the US financial sanctions list in 2008 for allegedly helping prop up Myanmar’s brutal former military junta through illegal business dealings.

A house burns in the background as a man carries makeshift weapons during communal clashes in Rakhine State in June 2012.

Two homes were destroyed by fire and three people were injured when a riot broke out in the coastal town of Thandwe in Rakhine State on the evening of June 30. The incident occurred after about 50 people gathered outside a police station after hearing a woman had been raped by “a man of another religion,” government spokesman Ye Htut said on his Facebook page. The rioters set two homes on fire at about 7 pm after police asked the crowd to disperse, and three Muslims were reportedly injured. Unlike

Authorities from Myanmar, China, Laos and Thailand seized more than US $400 million worth of drugs in a two-month operation targeting crime along the Mekong River, Chinese officials announced on July 2. From late April to late June, the four countries shared intelligence and hunted for drug lords and fugitives, resulting in the detention of 2,534 suspects and the seizure of almost 10 tons of drugs and more than $3.6 million in drug-related assets, the officials said. The joint patrols began in late 2011 after 13 Chinese sailors were murdered on the river. China executed the accused ringleader, Myanmar national Naw Kham, in March.

The United States imposed sanctions on a Myanmar general who it says violated a UN Security Council ban on buying military goods from North Korea despite Myanmar’s assurances it had severed such ties. LtGen Thein Htay is the head of the Directorate of Defense Industries, which the United States designated for sanctions a year ago, saying the organization has carried out missile research and development and used North Korean experts. The latest US action does not target Myanmar’s government, the US Treasury said after the new sanctions were imposed on July 2.

Lower House Passes Controversial Publishing Bill

Myanmar’s Lower House of Parliament approved a controversial Printers and Publishers Registration bill put forward by the country’s Ministry of Information on July 4, with few amendments to draft legislation that press advocates have decried as an affront to free speech. According to the bill the Ministry of Information would maintain the authority to issue publication licenses as well as to revoke or terminate those licenses if the holders violate the rules proposed in the bill. In addition, publishers can be brought to court and fined US $300 to $10,000 for offenses that include “disturbing the rule of law” and “inciting unrest,” provisions that critics say are too vague and ripe for abuse.

Security Tightened at Buddhist Sites Following Bodha Gaya Blasts

Myanmar’s government tightened security at the country’s main Buddhist sites, including Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, the Maha Myat Muni Pagoda in Mandalay and the historical temple complex of Bagan, following a series of bomb blasts on July 7 at Bodh Gaya in northern India, one of Buddhism’s holiest sites. Around 70 armed police were sent to guard the entrances to the upper terrace surrounding Shwedagon, according to the pagoda’s trustees. The security measures were taken after a series of bomb blasts injured two people at Bodh Gaya, a Unesco World heritage site in India’s Bihar State, where the Buddha is believed to have gained enlightenment. Some Indian media reports claim that the attacks were conducted by radical Muslim groups seeking to avenge violence committed against Muslims by Myanmar Buddhists.

Armed policemen guard the eastern entrance to the upper terrace of Shwedagon Pagoda following blasts at Bodh Gaya, a sacred Buddhist site in India.

Govt Signs Pact with Wa Army to Ease Tensions

Myanmar’s government signed an agreement with the United Wa State Army (UWSA), the country’s largest and best-equipped ethnic armed group, on July 12 in an effort to defuse recent tensions in Shan State. Since late June, when the

UWSA rejected demands from Myanmar’s army that it abandon some of its positions, the two sides have reportedly been on the verge of open conflict. State media reported that the agreement includes clauses calling for prompt meetings between the two armies whenever military issues arise and committing the UWSA not to secede. The Wa, who once served as a major fighting force for the now defunct Communist Party of Burma, reached a peace agreement with Myanmar’s former military regime in 1989.

Car Crash Injures Singer, Kills Wife

Well-known Myanmar singer Soe Tay was injured and his wife was killed in a crash on the Yangon-Mandalay Highway on July 14. Staterun newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported that the accident happened