Gay Myanmar

From Reuters April 14 (Reuters) - Rubble and ashes, overlooked by a single golden pagoda, are almost all that remain of the wood and brick houses most people had built for themselves in the quiet riverside village of Bin in the Buddhist heartland of central Myanmar. Bin is one of more than 100 villages partially or completely burned by Myanmar's military since the start of this year, its homes among more than 5,500 civilian buildings razed as troops try to suppress opposition to last year's coup, according to media reports collated by activist group Data For Myanmar. Dozens of satellite images reviewed by Reuters, supplied by U.S earth-imaging company Plane…

From AP BEIJING (AP) — China says it will back neighbor Myanmar “no matter how the situation changes,” in the latest show of unequivocal support for the ruling military that seized power last year. China “has always placed Myanmar in an important position in its neighborly diplomacy” and wants to “deepen exchanges and cooperation,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Myanmar counterpart Wunna Maung Lwin on Friday, according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency. Myanmar’s military, which ousted the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, has continued to face popular resistance that amounts to what some U.N. experts have characteriz…

From Chanel News Asia YANGON: Myanmar will resume international passenger flights from Apr 17, the military said on Saturday (Mar 19), lifting a two-year ban on foreign tourists. The Southeast Asian nation closed its borders to visitors in March 2020 at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in an attempt to prevent rising infections. "We will open all international flights on Apr 17, and can fly as regularly," said the National Central Committee on Prevention, Control and Treatment of Coronavirus Disease, citing falling COVID-19 infections. Visitors will be required to quarantine for a week - undergoing two PCR tests - and must be fully vaccinated,…

From Channel News Asia NAYPYIDAW: Myanmar's junta will "annihilate" coup opponents, army chief Min Aung Hlaing said on Sunday (Mar 27) as the military staged a show of force on the anniversary of its bloodiest crackdown so far on democracy protests. The country has been in chaos since a putsch in February 2021, with more than 1,700 people killed in crackdowns on dissent, according to a local monitoring group. Presiding over an annual parade that showcased tanks, truck-mounted missiles, artillery and troops on horseback, Min Aung Hlaing told about 8,000 assembled security personnel that the army would not let up. The military will "no longer negotiate .…

From Channel News Asia Myanmar's currency has lost more than 60 per cent of its value since the beginning of September in a collapse that has driven up food and fuel prices in an economy that has tanked since a military coup eight months ago. "This will rattle the generals as they are quite obsessed with the kyat rate as a broader barometer of the economy, and therefore a reflection on them," said Richard Horsey, a Myanmar expert at the International Crisis Group. In August, the Central Bank of Myanmar tried tethering the kyat 0.8 per cent either side of its reference rate against the US dollar, but gave up on Sep 10 as pressure on the exchange rate mounted…

From Bangkok Post Myanmar will reopen its land borders with China and Thailand from next month due to improvements in its Covid-19 vaccination rate, its information ministry said on Tuesday. The reopening, for which no specific date was set, would be followed by resumption of air travel in the first quarter of next year, the ministry said in a statement. https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/2216471/myanmar-to-reopen-land-borders-with-thailand-china-next-month

Special report from Reuters Air Force chief Maung Maung Kyaw is a key member of the junta that overthrew Burmese democracy earlier this year. His son and nephew are part of a young generation of military families with wide-ranging business interests, including supplying the armed forces. By POPPY MCPHERSON, READE LEVINSON, JOHN GEDDIE, WA LONE, SIMON LEWIS and STEPHEN GREY A week after the Burmese military seized power, a Twitter account that had lain dormant for nearly a decade flickered back into life. The Twitter user mocked anti-coup protesters, hundreds of whom have been killed in a crackdown by security forces since the Feb. 1 coup. After a polic…

From Channel News Asia The coup has upended the plans and dreams of many people in Myanmar. (*Names have been changed to protect the individuals’ identities.) YANGON: Eight months ago, artist Zar Ni* was, in his words, just like every other young man. The 21-year-old was busy making plans and wanted to study abroad after the COVID-19 pandemic was over. “I had so many things I wanted to do,” he said. Then on Feb 1, the Myanmar military seized power from the civilian National League for Democracy (NLD) government and detained its de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others. Zar Ni was shocked, then upset and unsure of what to do next. He …

Fans of John Burdett's Bangkok novels will recall that the jade trade was the major theme of Bangkok 8. From The Diplomat The KIA threat to Hpakant and Myitkyina could cut off the military from the lucrative jade trade With the February 1 coup, the Tatmadaw, Myanmar’s military, sought to turn back the clock on the country’s nascent democratization. They opened Pandora’s box instead. Between the nationwide protest movement paralyzing the economy and the entrenched insurgencies, challenges mount against the military. Analyses so far have considered the likelihood of Tatmadaw defeat in the context of a united front of ethnic armed organizations (EAOs). H…

From Japan Times A Myanmar national soccer goalkeeper who refused to return home after protesting against the February military coup in his country has been granted refugee status in Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday. The government approved Pyae Lyan Aung's application for refugee status because he could face persecution if he returns home, according to the person. He will be formally notified by authorities of his new status on Aug. 20. Pyae Lyan Aung expressed joy at hearing the "good news" and said he had relayed it to his family in Myanmar, adding he misses his country but cannot return home. Refugee status will now allo…

From AFP / BP Members of Myanmar's Karenni People Defense Force take part in military training at their camp near Demoso in Kayah state. KAYAH STATE, Myanmar: In their camp hidden in the forested hills of Kayah state near the Thai border, Myanmar anti-junta volunteers practice firing their homemade weapons, do physical training, and play guitar in between skirmishes with the military. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government in February and launched a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests. In some areas civilians have formed "defence forces" to combat the State Administration Council, as the…

Who is the Australian man currently in jail? Reportedly an advisor to The Lady. Did he live in Chiang Mai and had a hotel in the old city?

An interesting article about the background to the current state of affairs in Myanmar: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/world/asia/myanmar-coup-aung-san-suu-kyi.html?smid=em-share

Hope our friends over there are doing ok. Myanmar woke to the news on Monday that the military was seizing control of the country. "I guess I'll be live tweeting a coup now," former Reuters journalist Aye Min Thant wrote on Twitter shortly before 07:00 local time (00:30 GMT). "Things are still pretty quiet for now, though people are awake and scared. I've been fielding calls since 6am from friends and relatives. The internet is in and out and my sim card no longer works." The takeover was announced in a statement aired on a military-owned television station . It said the top army commander was in charge and a one-year state of emergency had been …

From Channel News Asia YANGON: Outraged over ongoing discrimination in Myanmar, Myo Min Tun decided to stand as the first openly gay election candidate in a country where same-sex relations are illegal. His decision to enter the political fray came after transgender friends told him how they had suffered police harassment. The officers allegedly forced them to remove their bras and kneel in humiliating positions before touching them inappropriately, Myo Min Tun told AFP. "This was a violation of their rights," he said. "And I realised there's no one in parliament to talk about this." So he decided to run for a seat in the regional assembly in his …

From NYTimes Myanmar soldiers tell of Rohingya slaughter By Hannah Beech, Saw Nang and Marlise Simons The two soldiers confess their crimes in a monotone, a few blinks of the eye their only betrayal of emotion: executions, mass burials, village obliterations and rape. The August 2017 order from his commanding officer was clear, Pvt. Myo Win Tun said in video testimony. “Shoot all you see and all you hear.” He said he obeyed, taking part in the massacre of 30 Rohingya Muslims and burying them in a mass grave near a cell tower and a military base. Around the same time, in a neighboring township, Pvt. Zaw Naing Tun said he and his co…

From The Thaiger Myanmar puts a hold on international flights until at least October According to Myanmar’s National Tourism Development Central Committee vice-president, Myanmar’s airports are unlikely to re-open to international commercial flights until at least October this year. There is no guarantee, however, that even if the country opens its skies to international flights, there will be any takers other than airlines offering repatriation flights. Border closures around the world have grounded entire fleets of planes and put smaller airlines in financial peril. Domestic flights are currently operating, as in Thailand, but are restricted to Bu…

From Channel News Asia Myanmar attitudes to sex undressed in textbook row YANGON: Unchaperoned teens, gay partners and sex workers - fictional characters in a new curriculum for Myanmar schools are causing a real-world tussle over morality in a deeply conservative nation. In Myanmar, sex out of wedlock is illegal, teenage dating is frowned upon by censorious elders and same-sex relations are still officially illegal. Yet sex education is urgently needed, say advocates. Nearly 8,000 people died in 2018 from AIDS-related diseases. The country also has the second-highest maternal death rate in Asia after Afghanistan and women's rights group IPAS…

From The Irrawaddy Myanmar Sees Largest COVID-19 Spike as Migrants Deported from Thailand Test Positive ANGON—Twenty-three out of 35 Myanmar migrants who were deported from Thailand tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday in the country’s highest daily increase in coronavirus cases so far. The 35 Myanmar migrants were held at the immigration detention center in the city of Songkhla in southern Thailand before being deported via the Myawaddy-Mae Sot border gate on June 8. The migrants were detained under Thailand’s immigration acts for lacking proper documents. Four of them were arrested for entering Thailand illegally from Malaysia. On Friday, the M…

Hi, any update on Yangon gay stuff maybe? last time been there maybe around 10 years ago.. planning to go again this year. Read in some article that seems quite a lot of "male prostitution" nowadays in Yangon, though apparently someway hidden.. they mentioned a street with lots of massage/male spas which don't really publish as such.. but that "taxi drivers" should know.. Also seems quite some "offer boys" on Facebook.. guess "offer boy" is the Myanmar counterpart for "gogo boy" in Thailand.. but communication seems a bit difficult.. seems not really used to foreign customers.. Any problems taking guys to the hotel nowadays? used still to be some issue…

Yangon Pride runs 17 Jan - 2 Feb More info Facebook

Kaung - local guide who provides tours and arranges photo-session for photographers in Bagan, Burma (Myanmar). Contacts and profile is here: http://siamroads.com/kaung-bagan-burma/ Reports about tours with Kaung from forum's members is here: http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/topic/10750-bangkokyangonbaganmandalay-trip-report-playing-with-fire/ Pictures been taken by Siamroads guide Kaung on his mobile phone few days ago at time of photo-session in the old temple (you can see photographer at 5th pic). Arranged by Siamroads.com : administrative permissions, actors and clothes for them, light and environment (reflectors and smog-emitters), props (candles, Burmese…

Mandalay Visa: e-visa Flight: DMK to Mandalay with Air Asia. Forex: There are several exchange booths in the airport, offering various rates for your USD which appear to be competitive with those in town. Your dollars need to be in immaculate condition for use in Burma. Think brand new notes, with no markings and no folds. That's a contrast with the local currency, which people seem to take no care over at all. I then took the Air Asia shuttle bus into Mandaly, which stopped about 300m up the road from my hotel, which was the 79 LivingHotel. As the hotel sends a taxi driver along to the bus, I didn't even have to walk that far. The trip into town took…

From Reuters Talks between AirAsia Group Bhd (AIRA.KL) and a partner to open an airline in Myanmar have stopped, the group's chief executive told reporters on Tuesday. Chief Executive Tony Fernandes told Reuters in March his budget carrier was in talks with a potential partner to open an airline serving Myanmar, which would help the low-cost carrier to cover up to 95 per cent of the Southeast Asian travel market. But Fernandes told reporters at an AirAsia event in Bangkok,"the negotiations have stopped. We are not moving ahead with Myanmar at the moment... We might revisit that but we've decided not to go into Myanmar just yet." https://uk.mobile.reuters.c…