November is officially upon us. The nights here in Chiang Mai are starting to get cool, the rain has stopped and Thais everywhere are gearing up for the 'Loy Kratong Festival of Lights' about to take place in a couple weeks. This is a magical time of year. Festivities will be held in all the local temples, paper lanterns will be released into the night air for good luck, and 'kratong' banana leaf boats will be artfully decorated with flowers and incense and released into the currents of the Ping River as a gesture of making merit and giving thanks to the river goddess for giving life and prosperity this year.
Across the border, it's a whole other story right now. November 7th is the expected date for the first elections in 20 years by the Burmese military government. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will remain under house arrest until the elections are over, and no one's really sure what's going to happen once the election gets under way.
My friends working on the border right now in Mae Sot and Sangklaburi are worried: tensions are running high, violence is expected, and there's talk of minority groups gearing up and banding together for war again.
I myself will be heading to the border again soon, staying with a Burmese orphanage just days after the elections take place, and I'm a little bit nervous about what waits for me there these next few months.
Watch More Videos about the Burmese Military Gov't, Nov.2010
"Burma's 2010 election to be held this November is political theater designed to legitimize the military regime that has violently held power in Burma since 1962. 'This is NOT Democracy' examines the true reasons and historical context for the current election and why the regime's so-called "Roadmap to Democracy" is only a smoke screen to mask the regime's continued human rights abuses and refusal to relinquish leadership of the country to the people's chosen representatives." (17 min. Produced by Burma Partnership and Kestrel Media)
This Is NOT Democracy Part 1, youtube.video
This is NOT Democracy, Part 2
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