News
Thai forced labour case pushed to November 28
A forced labour case involving 14 Myanmar workers and a giant poultry exporter in Thailand’s Lopburi province went unresolved in court on October 31. Unsatisfied with the 1.7 million Thai baht in compensation awarded by the Lopburi Labour Protection and Welfare Office against the poultry farm ...
Myanmar's logging ban feeds shadow economy of illegal trade
Sitting in a shop on the riverfront in Mandalay just last week, Win Nyunt assessed whether it was safe to hide a ton of illegally logged teak in a nearby monastery at midnight. “If I put the logs in the monastery it is safer, but I ...
Doctors say survey underestimates number of women dying from botched abortions
Women denied the right to an abortion are injuring and killing themselves in an attempt to end their pregnancies, doctors and specialists say. In Yangon’s Central Women’s Hospital, it is estimated that from one-third to half of pregnancy deaths occur because of botched abortions, often ...
Gems traders in Mandalay to protest decline in jade market
Gems traders in Mandalay plan to hold a protest tomorrow, calling on the government to take action to bolster the region’s slumping jade market. According to U Than Win, one of the protest’s leaders, the market for jade in Mandalay has been in decline for ...
No back-up plan for Karenni refugees in Thai border camp as funds dry up
As the first wave of Myanmar refugees is repatriated from Thai border camps this week, returning to a home some have not seen for decades, others in the camps fear they will soon have no choice but to follow suit. Since the National League for Democracy ...
Plan to boost children’s healthcare, education, protection
The Union government is drawing up a plan to help children survive and thrive, Ministry of Planning and Finance director general Daw Whar Whar Maung told The Myanmar Times on October 26. Specifics details were not released for the plan, which was discussed at a meeting ...
Locals want a disruptive dam project in Northern Myanmar terminated once and for all
It has now been five years since the Myitsone Dam project in Northern Myanmar was suspended, but a local ethnic Kachin man, Mung Ra, is still not satisfied. He wishes that the project had been entirely terminated. He frequently laments the loss of his farm and ...
Southeast Asia’s last major undammed river in crisis
China has suspended dams upstream of the Salween but the Myanmar government is pushing ahead with Chinese backed dams downstream, despite environmental costs and cheaper alternatives. From the snow-capped mountains of Tibet, the Salween rushes through steep gorges in Yunnan Province and flows through four of ...
Residents fear restart of coal power plant
A coal-fired power plant in southern Shan State that was shut down two years ago due to residents’ complaints may be reopening, despite the opposition of the local community, villagers say. They are already accusing local officials of breaking their promises. Test operations at the plant, ...
Cyclone skirts Myanmar
A storm gathering in the Bay of Bengal is now anticipated to unleash heavy rain on Myanmar, but the cyclone has turned northwest and is forecast to hit India and Bangladesh instead. The Department of Meteorology and Hydrology said on October 24 that the cyclone is no ...
