News
Myanmar police seize '$100m worth of methamphetamines'
Police in the city of Yangon in Myanmar have seized methamphetamine tablets with an estimated value of more than $100m (£64m) in an abandoned truck. Police told state media that they had found almost 27 million tablets. Keep reading ...
Thailand, Myanmar sign visa-free agreement
Thailand and Myanmar signed an agreement on Tuesday to allow citizens with ordinary passports to make visa-free visits of up to 14 days. It will come into effect on 11 August. Keep reading ...
Extreme weather: the new normal for Myanmar farmers
Recent flooding highlights the climactic challenges that upper Myanmar farmers are now facing on a regular basis. Sagaing Region was particularly badly hit from mid-July onward. As other rivers, streams, dams and dykes also burst their banks, houses and fields were inundated, with Kin-U, Kawlin and ...
Myanmar migrants nickled and dimed in Thailand
Migrant rights groups have slammed the latest strategy to regularise undocumented Myanmar workers in Thailand as a money-making scheme. The current efforts to verify the Myanmar migrants and supply those eligible with passports has yet to even get under way, as the process is still mired in ...
Ethnic groups seek common ground in Myanmar
Ethnic groups under the umbrella of the United Nationalities Alliance have launched their third annual conference in Yangon with the aim of focusing on the peace process and agreeing on a future political dialogue with the government. Political parties, civil society organisations and representatives from invited ...
Mynamar consumer protection to be beefed up
The Myanmar Consumer Union is to set up a branch in Mandalay with the help of academics and technicians. A first meeting was held on 25 July. Union secretary U Maung Maung said the aim was to protect the rights of consumers and people in receipt ...
In Myanmar, doing aid better
Around the world, the way foreign aid works is coming under wider scrutiny. Criticisms of an increasingly privatized international aid “industry” include claims that many of its approaches are too top-down, inflexible and ineffective. Reformers also question the relationships between large international aid organizations and their ...
Proposed minimum wage gains traction with employers
After initial rejection and amid some continued reluctance, most employers are now ready to accept the K3600 a day minimum wage, provided a few conditions are met, the Ministry of Labour said. During a meeting on 25 July with employers who had objected to the government-proposed ...
Report warns industry to prepare for the unsavoury side of tourism
With tourism on the rise in Myanmar, the sector must better prepare for an influx of orphanage and child-sex tourism – problems that are already prevalent in the more travel-worn neighbouring countries, a report by three NGOs has warned. The tourism impact assessment was conducted by ...
No relief in sight for Myanmar's flood ravaged north
Myanmar’s flood-ravaged northern regions are bracing for another deluge, after the Department of Meteorology warned of possible heavy rains due to a storm in the Bay of Bengal. The announcement, issued by the department on 27 July, warned that the storm was gaining strength and was expected ...
