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Rumors Say Than Shwe is Ill—Bad Karma?
By Wai Moe
December 7, 2007

Rumors are spreading within Burma and as far abroad as Singapore that the health of junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe is deteriorating, with many people suggesting he’s experiencing bad karma because of his brutal crackdown on peacefully demonstrating monks in September.

[Photo: Reuters]

The rumors appear to have originated with Tatmadaw soldiers whose menial duties bring them into close contact with the 74-year-old general. From there, reports of his failing health reached higher ranking officers.

They broke surface on Thursday after Than Shwe met a Chinese official who reportedly urged him to adopt reforms in order to improve the country’s economy. The general was reported to be suffering strain and “psychological problems.”

An earlier meeting with a visitor from Beijing, a Chinese deputy foreign minister, was also followed by a bout of ill health, ascribed by military sources to stress. The Chinese minister was believed to have urged Than Shwe to speed up work on the seven-step road map to democracy.

One source told The Irrawaddy that Than Shwe had been depressed by a report by the head of the United Nations Development Programme in Burma, Charles Petrie, who was expelled from Burma recently. The report highlighted the junta’s economic failures and mismanagement.

Rumors of Than Shwe’s ill health also circulated among Burmese living in Singapore, where members of the junta usually seek medical attention. Despite his reluctance to leave the country, for fear of a coup in his absence, Than Shwe traveled to Singapore in January this year for treatment at Singapore General Hospital.

Than Shwe was in the hospital for about one week, but he reportedly rejected advice to undergo surgery for a life-threatening condition, saying he wanted first of all to consult his chief astrologer. He was said to be suffering from hypertension and diabetes.

Many Burmese say Than Shwe’s health problems are bad karma because of his suppression of the monks’ demonstrations. They point to the precedent of Snr-Gen Saw Maung, regime head and commander-in-chief of the Tatmadaw from 1988 to 1992, who launched a crackdown on a monks’ boycott in 1990.

He subsequently fell ill—many say with psychological problems—and was replaced by Than Shwe in 1992. Two years later, Saw Maung died.

“Now it’s Than Shwe’s turn,” said one Buddhist resident of Rangoon. “He is responsible for the deaths of monks and has earned bad karma. His end could come very soon.”