Reference: The 2007 protests in Burma

The small, scattered, unorganized, but widespread protests in Burma in response to a sudden rise in fuel prices is being likened to the 1988 protests that erupted along the same lines in response to the sudden rise in the price of rice. The 1988 protests were brutally suppressed and it failed to dislodge the junta. However, the 2007 protests are different from the 1988 protests in one very important way and that difference bodes ill for the junta this time around. There was no YouTube in 1988. In 2007, this little Internet miracle is giving even the smallest protests a global presence and the old and disconnected junta are probably unable to comprehend the implication of this important detail.

Cha-am Jamal