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Myanmar

Latest news, updates and opinion on Myanmar, covering politics, economy, society and the country’s relationships with China and India, and other countries in Southeast Asia.

Capital

Naypyidaw

Head of State

Acting President Min Aung Hlaing

Head of Government

Prime Minister Min Aung Hlaing

A road in Yangon, Myanmar in March. Experts say Myanmar remains far from recovering its previous footing which began with political and economic reforms in 2011 – a period of growth abruptly ended by the coup. Photo: EPA

Asean

Can war-torn Myanmar finally realise its economic potential?

Myanmar’s economy has shown signs of life after years of sky-high inflation and negative growth, but experts say it is far from recovering.

7 Aug 2026 - 9:46PMvideocam

Thailand

Video | Myanmar’s president in first state visit to Thailand since coup

7 Aug 2026 - 2:56PM

Thailand

Myanmar president heads to Thailand amid civil war at home

7 Aug 2026 - 3:04PMvideocam

Aung San Suu Kyi

Video | Myanmar’s Suu Kyi meets Red Cross official

Newly released photographs are among the few images that show the democratic leader since she was detained by the military in 2021.

4 Aug 2026 - 2:12PM

01:06

Aung San Suu Kyi

‘She is alive’: new Suu Kyi photos emerge as Myanmar junta faces pressure

In photos released by the president’s office, Suu Kyi is seen shaking hands with Arnaud de Baecque and cutting a birthday cake.

4 Aug 2026 - 2:40PMvideocam

Malaysia

‘Incomprehensible’: Malaysia’s Rohingya return deal sparks refoulement fears

Rights groups warn returnees to Myanmar could face forced conscription, arbitrary detention, torture and forced labour.

30 Jul 2026 - 8:46PMvideocam

Asean

Justice beyond borders: East Timor’s Myanmar case tests Asean diplomacy

The case, which alleges abuses in Myanmar’s northwestern Chin state, is now under consideration by the courts in Dili.

31 Jul 2026 - 9:15AMvideocam

Fires destroy numerous buildings in the town of Thantlang in Chin state in northwest Myanmar, in December 2021. Photo: Chin Human Rights Organization via AP

Asean

Asian scam gangs snare educated English speakers with fake job ads: UN agency

Victims from over 80 different countries are being trafficked into cross-border scams, the International Organisation for Migration says.

29 Jul 2026 - 12:30PMvideocam

Malaysia

Malaysian police raid online scam centres in Johor, arrest 335 people

Those arrested include 309 Chinese nationals, 19 Indonesians and ⁠three Malaysians, with assets worth about US$245,000 also seized.

28 Jul 2026 - 9:00PM

Crime

Myanmar approves death sentence in crackdown on scam centres

Junta-backed bill targets syndicate bosses with life in prison and capital punishment.

28 Jul 2026 - 2:12PMvideocam

People from China, Vietnam and Ethiopia after being released from scam centres in eastern Myanmar in 2025. Photo: AP

Asean

Myanmar military escalates civilian killings under new command, monitor reports

A conflict monitor records more than a dozen ⁠mass killings in 2026, over 450 civilians ⁠dead.

27 Jul 2026 - 1:41PM

Myanmar Air Force fighter jets perform manoeuvres in 2023. A report by conflict monitor ACLED indicates the junta has intensified its aerial bombing campaign in 2026. Photo: AFP

Thailand

Thailand monastery added to Unesco heritage list, boosting tourism hopes

The Phra Mahathat monastery, the site has served as a regional Buddhist centre since its founding in the 8th century, according to Unesco.

27 Jul 2026 - 2:17AM

Aung San Suu Kyi

‘Defanging’ Aung San: Myanmar’s generals wage war on memory

Removing statues of the country’s founding father appears aimed at stripping democratic legitimacy from his daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi.

26 Jul 2026 - 10:00AM

Bangladesh

Video | Rohingyas risk deadly voyages as trafficking surges

One in seven of the Rohingya people who headed to sea hoping to escape poor conditions of the world’s largest refugee camp in Bangladesh was reported missing or dead in 2025.

26 Jul 2026 - 9:00AM

This photograph taken on June 20, 2026 shows Rohingya refugee Rahela Begum, who spent two days and a night adrift in the Andaman Sea clinging to a wooden plank before being rescued, crying during an interview with AFP at Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar. Thousands of Rohingya have tried in recent years to leave Cox’s Bazar, where more than a million refugees forced to flee war-torn Myanmar’s Rakhine state live in squalid conditions. (Photo by Munir UZ ZAMAN / AFP)

Bangladesh

Video | 500 feared dead in Myanmar smuggler boat tragedy

The UN confirmed many passengers were Rohingya refugees fleeing camps in Bangladesh.

24 Jul 2026 - 9:48PM

02:31

Malaysia

Malaysia’s refugee registration halt risks ‘ultimate disaster’ for new arrivals

The asylum seekers would be ‘susceptible to enforcement raids’ and ‘extortion by both authorities and locals’, an activist says.

24 Jul 2026 - 5:12PM

Cambodia

Hun Manet vows to make Cambodia ‘not worth staying’ for scammers

Cambodia has come under significant international pressure over scam compounds, including from both the US and China.

24 Jul 2026 - 11:37AMvideocam

Laos

Myanmar and Laos plan downstream Mekong’s biggest dam yet

A joint study for a 2,790MW hydropower project is more political stunt than power plan, critics say.

22 Jul 2026 - 4:40PM

The Mekong as seen from the intersection of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. Photo: Rivers and Rights

Indonesia

Indonesia’s AI ambitions test US-China balancing act

Analysts warn joining the new body could limit Indonesia’s access to US-made AI models and proprietary technology.

21 Jul 2026 - 6:41PMvideocam

Cambodia

Asia-Pacific cyberscam victims lost up to US$114 billion last year: UN

The losses from online scams, mostly investment fraud, are at least triple that from 2023, reflecting a ‘dramatic scaling’, the report says.

21 Jul 2026 - 12:30PMvideocam

Asean

Opinion | Southeast Asia must write its own trade rules for China’s ‘flying geese’

As Chinese manufacturers migrate south, Asean has the leverage to dictate terms on local sourcing and skills training.

18 Jul 2026 - 12:00PM

A worker inspects fruit at a Chinese-financed mango processing factory in Cambodia’s Kampong Speu province last year. Photo: Xinhua

Rohingya Muslims

Rohingya refugees among over 500 feared dead after Myanmar boats capsize

The UN said the incidents highlighted the plight of Rohingya, calling for enhanced rescue and anti-trafficking efforts.

25 Jul 2026 - 6:36AMvideocam

Rohingya refugees stand on their capsized boat as rescuers throw a rope to them off West Aceh, Indonesia, in 2024. Photo: AP

Crime

Don’t buy brides, China’s Bangladesh embassy warns as trafficking surges

Officials warn Chinese citizens of a spike in international marriage scams and the risk of prosecution.

15 Jul 2026 - 5:42PMvideocam

China trade

China’s power exports to Asean surge 40% in first half of 2026

Myanmar is leading the export surge for China’s power in Asean, with exports to the country nearly doubling in the first five months.

14 Jul 2026 - 7:00PM

Asean

Myanmar edges out of isolation as Asean steps up engagement

Bangkok talks spark warnings that Southeast Asian diplomats are legitimising a military regime still waging a bloody war on its own people.

13 Jul 2026 - 7:00PM

Thailand’s Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow and his Myanmar counterpart U Tin Maung Swe attend talks on Saturday, a day before an informal meeting with Asean foreign ministers in Bangkok. Photo: Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs/AFP

Asean

Aung San Suu Kyi will be looked after, Myanmar envoy tells Asean

Suu Kyi is serving a 27-year sentence, ⁠recently commuted by one-third, on a series of charges that her allies said were fabricated to keep her out ‌of politics.

13 Jul 2026 - 10:34AM

Aung San Suu Kyi, then a Member of Parliament, speaks at the Low Memorial Library at Columbia University in New York on September 22, 2012. Photo: AFP

War and conflict

Outside In | How AI is changing the nature of war and conflict

Latest Global Peace Index reflects a world progressively less peaceful as AI enables armies to kill more people more quickly and more cheaply.

10 Jul 2026 - 4:30PM

Asean

Myanmar has ‘a mountain to climb’ to woo 2 million tourists a year

Myanmar saw 4.5 million tourist arrivals at the peak in 2015, but the numbers have fallen sharply since the military coup in 2021.

9 Jul 2026 - 3:45PMvideocam

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Myanmar

Can war-torn Myanmar finally realise its economic potential?

Myanmar’s economy has shown signs of life after years of sky-high inflation and negative growth, but experts say it is far from recovering.

.css-1f6sr3w{color:#727272;}Video | Myanmar’s president in first state visit to Thailand since coup

Myanmar president heads to Thailand amid civil war at home

Video | Myanmar’s Suu Kyi meets Red Cross official

Newly released photographs are among the few images that show the democratic leader since she was detained by the military in 2021.

‘She is alive’: new Suu Kyi photos emerge as Myanmar junta faces pressure

In photos released by the president’s office, Suu Kyi is seen shaking hands with Arnaud de Baecque and cutting a birthday cake.

‘Incomprehensible’: Malaysia’s Rohingya return deal sparks refoulement fears

Rights groups warn returnees to Myanmar could face forced conscription, arbitrary detention, torture and forced labour.

Justice beyond borders: East Timor’s Myanmar case tests Asean diplomacy

The case, which alleges abuses in Myanmar’s northwestern Chin state, is now under consideration by the courts in Dili.

Asian scam gangs snare educated English speakers with fake job ads: UN agency

Victims from over 80 different countries are being trafficked into cross-border scams, the International Organisation for Migration says.

Malaysian police raid online scam centres in Johor, arrest 335 people

Those arrested include 309 Chinese nationals, 19 Indonesians and ⁠three Malaysians, with assets worth about US$245,000 also seized.

Myanmar approves death sentence in crackdown on scam centres

Junta-backed bill targets syndicate bosses with life in prison and capital punishment.

Myanmar military escalates civilian killings under new command, monitor reports

A conflict monitor records more than a dozen ⁠mass killings in 2026, over 450 civilians ⁠dead.

Thailand monastery added to Unesco heritage list, boosting tourism hopes

The Phra Mahathat monastery, the site has served as a regional Buddhist centre since its founding in the 8th century, according to Unesco.

‘Defanging’ Aung San: Myanmar’s generals wage war on memory

Removing statues of the country’s founding father appears aimed at stripping democratic legitimacy from his daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi.

Video | Rohingyas risk deadly voyages as trafficking surges

One in seven of the Rohingya people who headed to sea hoping to escape poor conditions of the world’s largest refugee camp in Bangladesh was reported missing or dead in 2025.

Video | 500 feared dead in Myanmar smuggler boat tragedy

The UN confirmed many passengers were Rohingya refugees fleeing camps in Bangladesh.

Malaysia’s refugee registration halt risks ‘ultimate disaster’ for new arrivals

The asylum seekers would be ‘susceptible to enforcement raids’ and ‘extortion by both authorities and locals’, an activist says.

Hun Manet vows to make Cambodia ‘not worth staying’ for scammers

Cambodia has come under significant international pressure over scam compounds, including from both the US and China.

Myanmar and Laos plan downstream Mekong’s biggest dam yet

A joint study for a 2,790MW hydropower project is more political stunt than power plan, critics say.

Indonesia’s AI ambitions test US-China balancing act

Analysts warn joining the new body could limit Indonesia’s access to US-made AI models and proprietary technology.

Asia-Pacific cyberscam victims lost up to US$114 billion last year: UN

The losses from online scams, mostly investment fraud, are at least triple that from 2023, reflecting a ‘dramatic scaling’, the report says.

.css-1pcrwvc{color:#2aa191;}Opinion | Southeast Asia must write its own trade rules for China’s ‘flying geese’

As Chinese manufacturers migrate south, Asean has the leverage to dictate terms on local sourcing and skills training.

Rohingya refugees among over 500 feared dead after Myanmar boats capsize

The UN said the incidents highlighted the plight of Rohingya, calling for enhanced rescue and anti-trafficking efforts.

Don’t buy brides, China’s Bangladesh embassy warns as trafficking surges

Officials warn Chinese citizens of a spike in international marriage scams and the risk of prosecution.

China’s power exports to Asean surge 40% in first half of 2026

Myanmar is leading the export surge for China’s power in Asean, with exports to the country nearly doubling in the first five months.

Myanmar edges out of isolation as Asean steps up engagement

Bangkok talks spark warnings that Southeast Asian diplomats are legitimising a military regime still waging a bloody war on its own people.

Aung San Suu Kyi will be looked after, Myanmar envoy tells Asean

Suu Kyi is serving a 27-year sentence, ⁠recently commuted by one-third, on a series of charges that her allies said were fabricated to keep her out ‌of politics.

Outside In | How AI is changing the nature of war and conflict

Latest Global Peace Index reflects a world progressively less peaceful as AI enables armies to kill more people more quickly and more cheaply.

Myanmar has ‘a mountain to climb’ to woo 2 million tourists a year

Myanmar saw 4.5 million tourist arrivals at the peak in 2015, but the numbers have fallen sharply since the military coup in 2021.

Video | Myanmar’s president in first state visit to Thailand since coup

Opinion | Southeast Asia must write its own trade rules for China’s ‘flying geese’