FrontierMyanmar
Fed-up with graft, the public turns to social media for justice
While social media campaigns can and do attract significant support online, rarely do they translate into real-world action on this scale. That an estimated 6,000 demonstrators marched to the Criminal Investigation Department office in Yangon’s Insein Township on July 6 speaks to the growing concern over the ...
Climate change and deep adaptation in Myanmar
The impact of climate change in Myanmar is likely to be immense and will play out in multi-dimensional ways. Beyond that, though, it is difficult to predict. In remote, upland areas of the country that are controlled or influenced by ethnic armed groups, political, economic and ...
Ashley South
Bagan deserves better
Foreign investors should distance themselves from hotel projects being developed around the ancient temples of Bagan in apparent violation of planning rules. It now seems likely that the World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization will approve Myanmar’s application to have Bagan ...
Debt and misery stalk the delta’s salt farms
Life’s hard for the salt farming communities in the far south of Ayeyarwady Region, where services are basic, food is scarce and debt is never-ending. It’s a 90-minute motorbike journey south from the Ayeyarwady delta town of Labutta before you get the first glimpses of the ...
Kyaw Lin Htoon
Emergency power plans impossible without price rises: official
Electricity prices need to rise before the government can move forward with plans to meet demand for next hot season, a senior Ministry of Electricity and Energy official says. With many areas of the country suffering from crippling power cuts, the ministry earlier this month announced ...
Kyaw Ye Lynn
A clean-up campaign for Yangon’s air pollution
THE SHWEDAGON Pagoda was our first stop on a mission to gather data on air quality in various locations across Yangon, which began one Sunday morning in late March. The air quality in the commercial capital seemed to have deteriorated throughout the hot season, and we ...
Zaw Win Htet and Eaint Thet Su
The bully playing games with border trade
Restrictions on border trade with China are a big headache for many Myanmar merchants. China officially bans most rice imports from Myanmar, for example, but its border officials often turn a blind eye to the trade. In early February though the Chinese authorities launched a crackdown ...
Sithu Aung Myint
Governing the Ayeyarwady
THE CONTINUING conundrum over Myitsone, concern among farmers over river bank erosion in the dry zone and the delta and reports of declining riverine resources in Sagaing Region all indicate the need for coherent and coordinated governance of the Ayeyarwady River. The decision by President ...
Kachin parties refute China’s claim of local support for Myitsone Dam
Three ethnic Kachin political parties said on Monday they sought the “permanent suspension” of the multi-billion dollar Myitsone Dam, discrediting a Chinese embassy statement that implied support for the divisive project among the state’s political leaders. Keep reading ...
Refugees’ citizenship demands ‘impossible’: Myanmar govt
Administrators in northern Rakhine State say it would be “impossible” for the government to agree to Rohingya refugees’ citizenship demands, in a further sign that Rohingya repatriation is likely to proceed slowly – if at all. Repatriation of up to 2,200 verified refugees from Bangladesh ...
