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Govt Peace Group Needs Fresh Faces
The reformist President Thein Sein has reportedly ordered a re-jig of his peace negotiating committee due to the lack of breakthroughs―especially in northern Burma where violence between the Kachin...
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Mae Sot’s Sudden Role Reversal
The northern Thailand border town of Mae Sot has spent the past two decades serving as a receiving post for Burmese exiles, but now it appears to have flipped to being a departure point for those...
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Thein Sein’s ‘Second Wave’ Requires Help
Burmese President Thein Sein seems to have done a good job again! His straightforward, honest confession and down-to-earth instructions made his fans admire him more and even impressed his critics....
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Burma—Media versus Minitrue
Journalists and writers hate censorship. Everyone despises it when their stories are censored. That’s why a tug of war between Burma’s Ministry of Information, or the censors, and media, or the...
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Suu Kyi’s Thai Trip Signifies Key Moment
Only now does Aung San Suu Kyi really seem to feel free. After more than two decades keeping herself “prisoner” inside Burma, the Noble Peace Prize winner will leave her homeland to visit neighboring...
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Suu Kyi’s Flair Already Causing Rifts
What is the vital factor that is necessary for successful reform in Burma? “National commitment,” says Aung San Suu Kyi. “Our success will depend on how irreversible the reform process is—on national...
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Why is Western Burma Burning?
Western Burma is burning. Why is it burning? One initial incident, of course: On May 28, a 26-year-old Arakanese woman called Thida Htwe was raped and murdered, allegedly by three young Rohingya Muslim...
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Despite the Awards, Suu Kyi Left Wanting
Aung San Suu Kyi is now getting used to receiving deafening standing ovations and emotional greetings on her first trip abroad as a global icon. Finally returning to Europe after 24 years, she...
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Old Burma Meets New in Parliament
It must be the widest, smoothest road in Burma. Yet there is no traffic and not a single pothole to dodge, just a smattering of SUVs and sedans arriving at a huge gate each morning. From a distance,...
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Time for Media to Seize Freedom
The sword of Damocles keeps hovering over publications in Burma forcing many journalists to hesitate over reporting the news. The notorious censorship board is still chopping words, sentences and...
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How to Spot a Reformist?
In Burma today, the most politically trendy word is “reformist.” Many generals-turned-ministers want to be considered as such. More importantly, they crave being dubbed reformist by the public and...
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Blacklisted from Burma’s Reform
Burma seems to have had an impressively longest blacklist—a total of 6,165 names—as the product of its decades-long history of oppressive, dictatorial rule. When the President’s Office published the...
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Suu Kyi Paves the Way for Burma’s Future
Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi this week began yet another landmark trip abroad, this time to the US. Following close behind her, President Thein Sein will also travel to the US next week...
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Burma’s Media Landscape: Better, but Still Far from Free
Sitting in The Irrawaddy’s new office in downtown Rangoon as I write this, I can’t help but feel a strange sense of unreality. A year ago, I could hardly have imagined even being here, much less...
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Arakan Violence Risks Reform U-turn
Violence in Burma’s western state of Arakan is threatening to derail the country’s nascent and unstable reform process. The government and all concerned parties need to take urgent action to end this...
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Letpadaung Protests to Test the Limits of Reforms
Burma’s “reformist” government is under fire for its brutal crackdown on peaceful protests against the copper mining project in Monywa, Sagaing Division. The police action, which left many monks...
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Govt Still Using Prison as a Political Weapon
Less than two weeks after meeting US President Barack Obama, U Gambira is once again behind bars. The former monk, who is still widely known by his monastic name, first came to prominence in 2007 as...
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Rocky Road Home from Exile
“Don’t read The Irrawaddy.” That’s what former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt of Burma’s notorious military regime advised late Karen leader Gen Bo Mya during peace talks in Rangoon in 2004. The powerful...
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2012—The Year in Review
During this year’s monsoon, my colleague and I were sitting in a dilapidated taxi in Rangoon, the former capital of Burma. Our driver was controlling the steering wheel with one hand while clearing...
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Making Friends with Foes?
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (L) meets President U Thein Sein at the presidential palace in Naptyitaw on August 19, 2011.(Photo: Reuters) Making friends with enemies always entails an element of risk that the...
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