Articles
Myanmar's kyat hits 4,750 to the dollar
On 15 October the kyat slid to 4,750 per US dollar on the open market. A 9,000 billion kyat budget hole, talk of new banknotes, and a rush into dollars and gold.
Two bombs at lunchtime: how Myanmar's junta is waging an air war on Rakhine's markets
At noon on 28 September, a military jet bombed the main wholesale market in Kyauktaw, killing at least 49 people. Why the junta keeps fighting Rakhine from the air.
Concerts, checkpoints, and trade bans: how the junta keeps control
Approved concerts and cooperative celebrities, a trade order that stops fourteen goods reaching Mandalay, and a draft that forges IDs for minors. Three fronts of the same strategy.
The squeeze: how Myanmar's junta is closing every exit
A troop deal in Moscow, a passport rule that pulls people back across the border, and a banking lockdown that traps the money. Three moves in ten days, and the distraction running underneath them.
When a coup empties the banks: life under Myanmar's new economy
Frozen cash withdrawals, money moved through informal agents, and prices ten times what they were. A first-hand account of Myanmar's economy since the coup.
Living under watch: checkpoints, two phones, and the draft
What daily life looks like under military checkpoints in Yangon and Mandalay: phone searches, two digital identities, tracked payments, and mandatory service.
One person's account of the Myanmar coup
A first-hand account of the 1 February 2021 military coup in Myanmar: how it unfolded, the Civil Disobedience Movement it sparked, and the resistance that followed.