Just married and returning to live in her new husband's native land, a young Austrian woman arrived with her Burmese husband by passenger ship in Rangoon in 1953. They were met at dockside by hundreds of well-wishers displaying colorful banners, playing music on homemade instruments, and carrying giant bouquets of flowers. She was puzzled by this unusual welcome until her embarrassed husband explained that he was something more than a recently graduated mining engineer - he was the Prince of Hsipaw, the ruler of an autonomous state in Burma's Shan mountains. And these people were his...
Just married and returning to live in her new husband's native land, a young Austrian woman arrived with her Burmese husband by passenger ship in R...
In 1948 Burma was a promising young democracy with a bustling free-market economy and a standard of living that surpassed nearly all of its Asian neighbors. Fifty years later, Burma is one of the poorest nations in the world, with a military dictatorship in Rangoon and 50,000 armed rebels from a myriad of ethnic insurgency groups. In this well-documented and detailed account, journalist Bertil Lintner explains the connection between Burma's booming drug production and its insurgency and counter-insurgency, providing an answer to the question of why Burma has been unable to shake off 35...
In 1948 Burma was a promising young democracy with a bustling free-market economy and a standard of living that surpassed nearly all of its Asian n...
For decades, Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle, where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Burma intersect, has been infamous for its opium and heroin production. But in the 1990s, the drug gangs in the Golden Triangle began to produce methamphetamine, a synthetic narcotic that is not dependent on an unreliable crop like the opium poppy. The drug has become known as ya ba in Thailand - "madness medicine." The drug makes users hyperactive and often aggressive, breaking them down mentally as well as physically. It has led to murders, stabbings, and the kidnappings of innocent people.
Who...
For decades, Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle, where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Burma intersect, has been infamous for its opium and heroin...
Provides poignant descriptions of the efforts of simple ethnic tribes-people to forge lives amid the larger struggles of political antagonists, drug lords, foreign interlopers and assorted other opportunists; a situation that remains painfully relevant to many in diverse locations to the present day.
Provides poignant descriptions of the efforts of simple ethnic tribes-people to forge lives amid the larger struggles of political antagonists, drug l...
For centuries past, often driven by political upheaval or famine, Chinese have migrated to southeast Asia and beyond, to far flung corners of the globe. Large old 'Chinatowns' in cities such as London, Toronto, New York and San Francisco attest to these earlier migrations. Chinese continue to emigrate in large numbers in the 21st century-but this time around circumstances are different. Often encouraged and even facilitated by the Chinese state-officially or otherwise-modern migrants are often well educated and relatively affluent. And China today offers a myriad of opportunities to those who...
For centuries past, often driven by political upheaval or famine, Chinese have migrated to southeast Asia and beyond, to far flung corners of the glob...
A well-documented and extremely engaging account of the Burmese Communist Party that details the development of the Party and the events and forces that led to the 1989 Mutiny and subsequent fall of the CPB. This study explores the ethnic tensions...
A well-documented and extremely engaging account of the Burmese Communist Party that details the development of the Party and the events and forces th...
Since the 1950s, China and India have been locked in a monumental battle for geopolitical supremacy. Chinese interest in the ethnic insurgencies in northeastern India, the still unresolved issue of the McMahon Line, the border established by the British imperial government, and competition for strategic access to the Indian Ocean have given rise to tense gamesmanship, political intrigue, and rivalry between the two Asian giants. Former Far Eastern Economic Review correspondent Bertil Lintner has drawn from his extensive personal interviews with insurgency leaders and civilians in...
Since the 1950s, China and India have been locked in a monumental battle for geopolitical supremacy. Chinese interest in the ethnic insurgencies in no...
