Picket of Thai consulate

Picket of Thai consulate

SYDNEY — On May 15, 40 Burmese pro-democracy activists and supporters protested outside the Thai consulate against Thai Prime Minister General Chavalit Yong Chai Yud's visit to Burma the next day. Chavalit aims to strengthen trade ties with the Burmese military dictatorship, the SLORC. Chavalit visited Burma shortly after the SLORC's massacre of thousands of pro-democracy protesters in 1988. The next year, he handed over to the SLORC 300 Burmese students who took refuge in Thailand, and he has recently sent back thousands of Burma's ethnic refugees who fled the SLORC's attacks. The protesters called on the Thai government to stop its "constructive engagement" policy towards the SLORC, oppose the latter's campaign to join ASEAN, withdraw its investment in Burma, free the Burmese students now in detention in Thai prisons and stop supporting the SLORC's attempts to crush ethnic independence and democratic forces.

@caption photo = Photo by Eva Cheng.

From GLW issue 275