Panties for Peace in Myanmar

I have been an avid follower of the story and politics of Myanmar (formerly Burma) for quite some time. Many of you will know about the recent crack-down by the ruling Millitary Junta on pro-democracy demonstrations and the situation that ensued. If you're not. I'd reccommend Googleing "News Myanmar" and get caught-up.

Are we all on the same page now?

Aside from the obvious petition-signing, (don't get me wrong, I'm on them all) here's a great chance to do something a little more tangible and naughty

It's called Panties for peace in Myanmar (http://lannaactionforburma.blogspot.com/). It was started by a woman in Thailand, and is a brilliant idea. You see, most of the government in Myanmar, especially the Junta, are intensely superstitious, and believe that by touching a woman's panties or sarong they will loose their power. Really. I'm not joking here. This is a funny situation that we can exploit to our advantage.

So the idea is this: send some panties to their embassies as a form of protest. Myanmar has what is considered one of the worst millitary dictatorships in the world. I've heard their leader, Than Shwe, described as "Like Kim Jong-il, only more stupid". Despite huge ammounts of foriegn pressure, they still refuse to give up power they lost in a democratic election, and continue to abuse their own people.

If you are a woman send in some panties! (Use it as an excuse to buy some new ones, try http://www.barenecessities.com), if you are a man, get a woman to send some in!

If you are in Canada, send your knickers to:

Embassy of Union of Myanmar
Sandringham Building, 85 Range Road, Suite 902-903
The Sandringham, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 8J6
Tel: (613) 232-6434
Fax: (613) 232-6435
E-mail: meott@magma.ca
Head of Mission:
U Nyunt Tin (Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary)
Deputy Head of Mission:
Daw Yin Yin Oo (First-Secretary)

If you stick to something small, you should be able to post it for the regular cost of a letter (just stuff them in the envelope and shell out the $0.53 or whatever it is now).

If you're not in Canada check out http://www.myanmars.net/bluepages/myanmar.embassies.htm
to find your nearest embassy.

and include a letter explaining why you are doing this. Be specific, tell them you hope that by handling your panties, they will loose their power. And that they will recognize the democratically elected Aung San Suu Kyi. And whatever else you want to say.

By all means, take other action, get on those lists (http://www.uscampaignforburma.org/, http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/, http://www.thefreedomcampaign.org/, to name a few) talk to everybody you know and get them aware of this horrible situation, but why not mess a bit with some people and get a message across at the same time?

And please, pass this on to other people. Let's swamp the Embassy in underware! And report back, tell us what you sent, brief, boyshort, thong, g-string, whatever, and if you ever get any response, let's have it!

Thanks for reading.