A couple of the neighborhoods are occupied partly owned by a number of retired generals. Some people think that Than Shwe is serving notice to a few of them that siding with Khin Nyunt (reformer, now under house arrest) is a bad idea. Arson with gasoline was the old school way, but the retired generals mostly live in cinderblock houses with tall fences around. Factions in power often use this kind of thuggery to get people to distance themselves from factions recently deposed.
In other words, this may well be a consolidation of power by the government they already have.
Thanks for the information. That explains a lot.