FrontierMyanmar

A village watchman trains his binoculars on a suspicious fishing boat – the first line of defence as Thailand braces for a fresh methamphetamine influx after a coup in neighbouring Myanmar. The kingdom’s narcotics bureau has already seized more than 80 million “yaba” pills just in ...

Existing free trade agreements and longstanding non-trade barriers could limit the RCEP’s impact on Myanmar, but the country may benefit from increased investment due to improved access to global value chains. The signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership on November 15 made headlines across the ...

Ko Thant Zaw Win, 26, lies sprawled out on the floor, the dim overhead light illuminating the sweat glistening on his forehead. An unpleasant smell dominates the tiny space: too many people, too little ventilation.  The room is just nine feet on each side; there’s only ...

On September 30, Myanmar announced a record 946 COVID-19 cases in a single day. Less noticed was that it also performed a record number of lab tests – 6,262, to be exact. As cases have increased, particularly in Yangon, numbers like this have quickly become the ...

With the general election only weeks away – notwithstanding the potential impact of the second wave of COVID-19 – political parties are flooding social media with pledges and promises to woo voters. For the National League for Democracy, the November 8 election poses a new challenge: ...

On November 8, the people of Myanmar will go to the polls to select their representatives in both houses of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, Myanmar’s national legislature, as well as in state and region assemblies. With over 7,000 candidate applications from more than 90 political parties, ...

Ten days ago, Myanmar seemed to have COVID-19 under control. Just a handful of local transmission cases had been confirmed in the past three months.  The Ministry of Health and Sports has now reported more than 100 new cases within 24 hours, including 99 in Rakhine ...

Development should be Myanmar’s number one priority. In the lifetime of today’s children, it has the potential to become a developed country. Combined with measures to fight inequality, finding the right path to development is critical for a successful transition to democracy. It’s also critical ...

The COVID-19 pandemic has created enormous challenges for news media organisations, ranging from lost advertising revenue as businesses close or suspend services, to trying to arrange interviews or gather information while complying with social distancing and travel restrictions. The pandemic has only exacerbated the financial pressures ...

Although Myanmar remained one of the rare countries without confirmed cases of COVID-19 on March 13, the national economy has not been immune to the impact of the coronavirus since it emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year. In Myanmar, thousands of workers ...