The incident took place on May 12, at the Sino Thai Engineering and Construction Public Company Limited, around Ban Khao Wong, Moo #3, Nawng Nam Daeng, Pak Chong District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province. About 60 Thai and Burmese workers were fighting each other there. Thai police were mobilized and deployed at the scene to hold the event under control not to escalate further. After the situation calmed down, it was found that a person was wounded and he is a Burmese worker. He had been stabbed with knife on his back. The police sent him to the Pak Chong Hospital but he was in a rage and didn’t let the doctor cure him and ran away. He is missing now.

Loi Taileng — Nippon Foundation, the Japanese organization that has been active in Burma’s peace process since early last year, has warned the Thai-border based Restoration Council of Shan State / Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) that further aid to the group would be reviewed if it refuses to participate in the activities of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), according to insider sources from the RCSS/SSA.

Naresuan (1555-1605) who, according to a prominent Shan researcher, had attempted to follow in the footsteps of his Burmese captor-mentor Bayinnaung as an empire builder, and his conquering armies arrived at Hsenwi, the northern most Shan principality, according to another Shan, who was among the students that had interviewed several learned elders during the 1970’s.

Burma Centre for Ethnic Studies (BCES), an independent think tank founded in March this year, launched its first publication in English about the country’s diverse armed movements today “for all those who are interested in peace and reconciliation in Burma,” according to its publishers.

According to the UN Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), Thailand, due to its remarkable success in its policy to reduce birth rate, is facing high demand for labor.

Until the middle of the 20th century, most people did not live beyond the age of 50, but today the average Thai can expect to reach the age of 73, the UNFPA’s Thailand Office that has been working with the Thai government since 1972, says in today’s Bangkok Post supplement.

Speaking at the third and last day of the Shan forum on Trustbuilding for Peace today in Rangoon, Dr Sai Kham Leik recalled how a cartoon that appeared in a Shan publication had spurred him to write ‘Panglong Agreement’, his most celebrated song among the Shans since 1971.

Sao Ood Kehsi, 65, who had been ex-Vice President Tin Aung Myint Oo’s classmate in Taunggyi, passed away last night in Taunggyi at 21:30, according to sources there.

Sao Ood was serving as a legal officer for the Restoration Council of Shan State / Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) when he died. He is survived by his wife and 2 children.

The late Khun Sa may be still regarded as a traitor in several quarters for surrendering to the Burma Army, but not in Homong, opposite Maehongson, where he had ruled for more than 10 years.

This I found out when I was up there last week. Each home that I visited had his photo hung on the wall in the living room.