President Thein Sein – Bears shit in woods

By our correspondent in Nay Pyi Daw

President Thein Sein was forced to admit that bears shit in woods during a hard-hitting interview by the BBC.

The surprise admission has caused a storm on social media in Burma, with one Facebook user commenting: “At last, the BBC put the difficult questions to our President, and he is exposed.” Another user posted “It is so good to see our President forced to admit the truth at last.”

The President was clearly put on the back foot in the interview, forcing him to make the surprise admission.

Analyst Richard (Independent) South, who is an independent analyst, told Burma Tha Din, “As an independent analyst, I can say that whilst some are interpreting this as another negative development in the reform process, I don’t think that is correct, and is fact is a sign of how more open Burma is becoming.”

U Wirapoo, speaking on behalf of the Ma Ba Tha movement, conceded that the comments could be seen as an insult to Buddhism, but said it was unlikely they would take any action as they really like the President.

Presidential spokesperson and Information Minister U Ye Htut played down the significance of the comment by the President, posting on his Facebook Page: “What is the big deal, it’s not like he was forced to say something really bad, like the Pope is Catholic?”