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OPINION The all-or-nothing view of Myanmar contestant Thae Su Nyein and her supporters is born of a siege mentality that pervades the country’s politics. By SAI LATT | FRONTIER Back when Nan Khin Zayyar stood for the 2012 Miss International competition in Japan, Myanmar netizens flooded the internet polls, delivering the then-24-year-old Pa-O woman nearly […]
Wholesalers, retailers and consumers in Myanmar are feeling the pain from a junta campaign to confiscate illegal imports that has raised commodity prices and brought new opportunities for corruption. By FRONTIER From Mandalay to Mawlamyine, and elsewhere in Myanmar, teams of soldiers, police and municipal officials have been inspecting markets and warehouses for illegal imports. […]
Credible reports indicate that the Arakan Army committed crimes against the Rohingya in Buthidaung in May – but the group has managed to silence many of its critics among the resistance and civil society organisations. By FRONTIER Ko Maung Maung hid in his uncle’s house, watching from the window as Buthidaung town went up in […]
A Myanmar tradition of playing card games at funerals has warped into days-long illegal gambling fests organised by gangsters and approved by corrupt officials. By FRONTIER Dozens of people gathered under an iron-framed shelter, a blue tarpaulin shielding them from the early-afternoon sun. The men in the centre of the scrum seemed oblivious to the […]
Myanmar farmers whose crops were devastated by Typhoon Yagi say they have received no help from the military regime, raising questions about the recovery process and the long-term impacts of the disaster. By ANT PWEH AUNG | FRONTIER In their 40 years as farmers, U Win Maung and his wife Daw Kyi Myint had never […]
As the conflict between the military and Kachin Independence Army escalates and both groups face pressure for funds, fighting in Myanmar’s jade mining hub reaches new levels of intensity. By HPAN JA BRANG, EMILY FISHBEIN, JAW TU HKAWNG and ZAU MYET AWNG | FRONTIER Until recently, all had seemed normal at the Lucky Men Hotel. […]
State employees who have fled conflict say they feel betrayed by the regime for failing to reassign or keep paying them, while those still serving in conflict zones go months without salaries. By FRONTIER In late February, Daw Kyawt Kyawt Khin left the village school where she had taught for more than two decades. Fighting […]
The PNLO has joined the war against Myanmar’s junta, prompting a minor leadership crisis, but while that was swiftly resolved, a rival Pa-O group has only grown more powerful. By FRONTIER While members of the Pa-O National Liberation Organization were sitting down for negotiations, their counterparts in the Myanmar military were planning airstrikes on their […]
A journey from the Chin hills to the Sagaing plains with arms dealers and rebel commanders reveals the turmoil of Myanmar’s civil war – and the steep price of victory. By IVAN OGILVIE | FRONTIER The change in mood was as abrupt as the ending of the Chin mountains, which fell suddenly into the flat […]
Myanmar’s military regime is conducting a controversial population count amid intensifying conflict, putting enumerators and respondents at risk. By FRONTIER Morning traffic is common in Yangon, Myanmar’s commercial capital, where motorbikes are banned and roads are often too narrow to accommodate the multitudes heading to work. But on October 1, stalled commuters were treated to […]