UN envoy in Bangkok to pursue efforts to end Myanmar crisis

[snoop1130]

(FILES) UN Special Envoy for Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener / AFP

 

UN envoy to Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener is in Bangkok to begin a tour of Asia in an effort to help find ways to end the ongoing crisis in Myanmar.

 

Informed sources told Thai PBS World that Burgener is observing the 14-day Covid-19 quarantine after her arrival in Bangkok yesterday.

 

The sources said Burgener will visit Japan, Indonesia and China among other countries as part of her tour.  She also hopes to visit Myanmar.

 

Full Story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/un-envoy-in-bangkok-to-pursue-efforts-to-end-myanmar-crisis/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2021-04-09

 

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[Yellowtail]

Sounds like a great gig if you can get it...

[Flying Saucage]

Brave woman, as she wants to talk directly with these top army terrorists in Myanmar and applied for entry to the country. As her entry was denied, now she can at least have a chat with the Burmese terrorists best buddies in Thailand.

[Thechook]

The tourists really are comming 

[Yellowtail]

45 minutes ago, Thechook said:

The tourists really are comming 

 

not until the soapies open back up....

[Kerryd]

Funny how little traction Myanmar gets internationally. Kind of like Zimbabwe where they can get away with literally anything as the "international community" looks the other way.

But if you've got oil and aren't selling it to the US or EU - prepare to get bombed. (Though you know China will veto any Security Council resolution authorizing force against their buddies in Myanmar and no one in the West cares enough to suggest that NATO does anything.)

So basically it's no different than it has been literally since the end of WW2. (You barely even hear any news about the Rohingya anymore either, except a recent article where the courts in India won't stop India from deporting them.)

After one of the bloody clashes a couple weeks ago I wrote a sarcastic message on a friend's timeline (who had posted an article about the incident). I told them not to worry, in a couple weeks everyone's attention will have shifted somewhere else and they'll forget all about Myanmar. Again.

And so it seems to be. 

This "UN envoy" will accomplish absolutely nothing except some empty promises to help the refugees that escape the violence and will then declare the visit a success.

Yellowtail is right when he says it's a great gig if you can get it. You can bet she isn't flying economy or staying at budget hotels. Her meal allowance is probably more than more people here get in a month for their pensions. Probably some bonuses thrown in as well (plus a chance to do some shopping of course).  

[Yellowtail]

9 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

You can bet she isn't flying economy or staying at budget hotels. Her meal allowance is probably more than more people here get in a month for their pensions. Probably some bonuses thrown in as well (plus a chance to do some shopping of course).  

 

Her photo is perfect....

[Mr Meeseeks]

18 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

But if you've got oil and aren't selling it

Burma has fairly large oil and gas reserves and sells a lot of it to Thailand. PTTEP are heavily invested there.

[Kerryd]

1 hour ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

Burma has fairly large oil and gas reserves and sells a lot of it to Thailand. PTTEP are heavily invested there.

Only about 50 million barrels of oil. It is a major producer of natural gas though and it seems that most of it goes to Thailand - for now. 
 

"Current status

Myanmar is today primarily a natural gas producer. As of 2015, Myanmar exports gas to Thailand and China.[3] Myanmar had proven gas reserves of 10 trillion cubic feet in 2012, with an annual production capacity of 416 BcF.[9] Oil reserves in 2013 numbered at 50 million barrels, with a production capacity of 21,000 bbl/d.[9] The Yenangyaung oil field continues to be in operation."

When the new production facilities and pipelines to China go operational (sometime this year, maybe), supposedly they will be sending 400 mcfd (million cubic feet/day) of gas to China and the other 100 mcfd they will be producing will stay in Burma and go to "factories owned by the Burmese government, military and associated business elites."
(In addition to what is already being produced and what is currently being shipped to Thailand.)

(Take with a grain of salt as those figures are published by an activist group that opposes the pipeline.)

One site notes that Myanmar ranks 85th in the world for oil production. They are actually a "net importer" when it comes to oil and other petroleum products.

Here's a tell tale. As of 2016 numbers.
Apparently Myanmar produces just over 15,000 barrels of oil per day. (Maybe up to 21,000 according to Wiki.)
But they consume approx 123,000 per day.
(https://www.worldometers.info/oil/myanmar-oil/#:~:text=as of 2016).-,Oil Exports,barrels per day in 2016).

From what I've read, they have the potential to produce a lot more, but of course, corruption and other factors prevent them from exploiting as much as they could.

Interesting to note as well that the new pipelines going to China are not just for shipping natural gas but one of them is expected to be for (presumably crude) oil that China buys from Africa and the Middle East. That saves them having to ship it through the Straights of Malacca (and potentially hostile waters in the future). 
Myanmar is one of the countries, like Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Djibouti, that China has made "dual use" agreements with to allow them to station naval and air assets at bases all the way to Africa.

All of those countries are (supposedly) very heavily indebted to China.
(But these days, who isn't ?)
 

[Burma Bill]

17 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

to help find ways to end the ongoing crisis

 

 

[PETERTHEEATER]

18 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

She also hopes to visit Myanmar.

Surely that should be her first priority and not scanning around other countries?

[Yellowtail]

40 minutes ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

Surely that should be her first priority and not scanning around other countries?

Scanning around Gasorn, EmQ & Paragon more like...

[AgMech Cowboy]

21 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

She also hopes to visit Myanmar

I would have thought she would begin in Myanmar, but then she works for the UN and they know how to spend other peoples money and get few results, from my observations.

[AgMech Cowboy]

2 hours ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

Surely that should be her first priority and not scanning around other countries?

We agree on something. There's hope for both of us. ????

[lavender19]

Has the UN ever negotiated any peace deals. Just sounds like a jolly around Asia. 

[Yellowtail]

1 hour ago, lavender19 said:

Has the UN ever negotiated any peace deals. Just sounds like a jolly around Asia. 

 

Well, she has spoken out strongly against the "ongoing crisis" and after she finishes her jolly err tour she will speak out even MORE strongly. 

 

As I understand it, she is so so concerned with the crisis, that if for some reason her speaking out more strongly does not put an end to the crisis, she's actually prepared to speak out REALLY REALLY strongly.

[faraday]

1 hour ago, lavender19 said:

Has the UN ever negotiated any peace deals. Just sounds like a jolly around Asia. 

 Yup, she'll write long reports, wring her hands, & move on to the next 'assignment".

 

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

Spending two weeks in quarantine in Thailand when the people of Burma dies in the hundreds, what a bloody joke. Time to play hardball and take out this evil junta with drones or any other means possible.

[Yellowtail]

13 hours ago, faraday said:

 Yup, she'll write long reports, wring her hands, & move on to the next 'assignment".

 

 

I'm guessing she has underlings to write her long reports...

[faraday]

56 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

 

I'm guessing she has underlings to write her long reports...

 

And like so many of them, then get praised for a great report.

 

As an aside to the topic...if the internet in Myanmar has been cutoff, how are we getting videos of the latest atrocities?

 

Musk should get a Starlink over the country, so we can get a much better understanding. That & a few drones.

 

 

[BangkokReady]

On 4/9/2021 at 8:02 PM, Yellowtail said:

Sounds like a great gig if you can get it...

 

All you need are the right family connections, wealth, the right schooling and university, and access to prohibitively expensive internships.  It's a complete meritocracy.

[Yellowtail]

2 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

 

All you need are the right family connections, wealth, the right schooling and university, and access to prohibitively expensive internships.  It's a complete meritocracy.

 

No, it is the complete opposite of meritocracy.

[faraday]

4 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

 

No, it is the complete opposite of meritocracy.

 Something I didn't know, that didn't know. It Nepotism, of course.

 

Didn't know this either:

 

kakistocracy

 

from the greek κάκιστος (worst) and κράτος (rule), kakistocracy means rule or governance by the worst, least qualified people.

 

No prizes for guessing which gubmint I might mean...

[Yellowtail]

9 minutes ago, faraday said:

 Something I didn't know, that didn't know. It Nepotism, of course.

 

Didn't know this either:

 

kakistocracy

 

from the greek κάκιστος (worst) and κράτος (rule), kakistocracy means rule or governance by the worst, least qualified people.

 

No prizes for guessing which gubmint I might mean...

 

I love this:

 

 

[Kerryd]

Apparently she's still on her shopping trip 2 weeks later while having accomplished absolutely nothing.

Little surprise when China, and Thailand, refuse to condemn the coup (what a surprise) or the violence happening now. 

Now she's hoping to have some "sideline" meetings while in Jakarta. Seems she's not important enough to make the agenda so she's hoping she can make some meetings behind the scenes with "senior officials" while the leaders enjoy their "meet and greets".

In other words, she'll get some more shopping in, report that she made some "progress" but will have to have additional meetings (no doubt in some cities she missed on this trip) and then go home without having accomplished a single thing (other than racking up what will probably be a huge hotel and expense account bill).
 

"The United Nations special envoy for Myanmar will fly to Jakarta on Thursday to meet senior officials of Southeast Asian nations searching for a path to end bloodshed after a coup in Myanmar, according to three sources familiar with her movements.

Christine Schraner Burgener will not be attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders' summit on Saturday but aimed to hold meetings on the sidelines of the event, the sources said."

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/exclusive-un-envoy-hold-sideline-meetings-ahead-asean-summit-myanmar-2021-04-21/

(It was noted in another article dated in early February that Thailand's military have "close ties" to Myanmar's military.  Gee, I wonder if that includes all the "former" military leaders that now make up the ruling government. No wonder they won't condemn what happened in Myanmar. They'd look pretty hypocritical to condemn Myanmar's military coup when they did the same thing themselves, then arranged to install themselves as the "democratic" government.)