Lavish wedding amid poverty

In Bangkok, Thailand there was a video that was leaked over the internet of an extravagant and lavish wedding being put on my the top military general (read dictator) of Myanmar (formerly called Burma) to the north of Thailand. General Than Shwe threw this wedding extravaganza for his daughter. This has produced outrage among ordinary people in the communist military-ruled country that is very poor.

In the 10-minute or so video clip that is posted on the Internet, the bride Thandar Shwe is seen lavishly decked out in layers of pearls and sparkling stones. The sparking stones resemble diamonds. As she is standing next to her husband, he is seen pouring a waterfall of champagne in a cascade of wine glasses.

Hundreds of guests are in attendance with a five-tiered wedding cake as it is cut. The newlywed couple is seen posing for pictures before an ornately laid golden braid bridal suite bed. It comes complete with a beautiful red canopy that stretches all the way up to the ceiling.

This July wedding was the talk of the town in Yangon. Yangon is located on the river by the same name. It was formerly called Rangoon and was the former capitol during the colonial era during the time of British domination.

$50 million was supposedly spent on luxurious cars and a mansion. This country has a population of about 53 million people. This wedding cost well over double what the annual health budget is for this impoverished nation.

One of the guests reported that he had never seen so many yellow coloured diamonds. Reportedly there were many grape sized stones wrapped around the neck of the bride. Rangoon residents are calling, Thandar the bride, "Sein," which means diamond in the Burmese language. Zaw Phyo Win, in the groom and husband and he is an army major and a deputy director at the ministry of Commerce.

Aung Zaw, the editor of Irrawaddy, which is a magazine based in Thailand says "It's outrageous, just outrageous, especially when you consider that most Burmese live in extreme poverty," Burma is considered to be one of Asia's poorest countries. A string of military dictators have ruled Burma and it is presently a tightly closed communist society.

Whoever leaked this lavish wedding video may want to embarrass and disgrace Than Shwe, who is 73 years old. General Than loves to play to the official media outlets and pretend that he is a frugal and modest man
"Weddings have mystery politics behind them, so I'm curious to find out why this video was released," Aung Zaw said.

The wedding video is shown here: http://www.irrawaddy.org/bur/thandar_shwe.html