Insight Myanmar

Episode #344: Dominic Faulder’s decades of reporting on Myanmar began serendipitously in 1981, when a Thai coup disrupted his travel plans and led to an impromptu journey to Burma for Thingyan. He was immediately struck by the atmosphere—enticing yet oppressive—and quickly became fascinated by the country's complexity, secrecy, and resilience. In the 1980s, he uncovered the unreported Mandalay fire, which destroyed a sixth of the city, and found that a similar catastrophe in the town of Taungdwingyi had also gone unnoticed. These early stories revealed the regime’s ability to conceal massive tragedies from the outside world. Faulder reported extensively on the events leading up to the 1988 uprising. He witnessed the bravery of students, the absence of police in early demonstrations, and the eerie silence before the storm. His proximity to key figures—Aung San Suu Kyi, U Nu, Min Ko Naing—gave him unique access as history unfolded in real time.  Faulder eventually conducted a rare interview with General Saw Maung, a junta leader, an extraordinary feat given the regime’s paranoia. Despite Suu Kyi’s frustration that generals would speak to media but not political leaders, Faulder defended the role of journalists in documenting the moment. His reporting emphasized not just the courage of the protesters but the regime’s brutality, the fractures within the opposition, and the impossible balance journalists had to strike between access and truth-telling. Like many other past guests who have described their multi-decade relationship with the country, Dominic reflects on the pull that Burma exerts on those who come to be involved with its story. “Foreigners get involved with Southeast Asia and stay much longer than they ever anticipated. But Burma, it is the one story that you always go back to, [asking] what-ifs and why do you think that is?”

Episode #343: “I literally thought the world was crumbling!”  Chloe, a young woman born and raised in Myanmar’s Inle Lake region, speaks viscerally about the country’s recent, devastating earthquake. The lake, known for its picturesque floating gardens and villages built on stilts, is one of Myanmar’s most iconic cultural landmarks. But the area is now in ruins.  And while the structural damage was severe enough, the people were traumatized.  With minimal outside relief, and an ineffective and corrupt government unwilling and unable to help, Chloe felt she had to do something. So she and some friends launched a grassroots fundraising campaign. They started by giving out small cash donations but quickly realized the biggest need was reliable shelter. In previous disasters, monasteries had served as temporary sanctuaries, but these now lay in ruins, too. Emergency shelters were quickly put up, but they are flimsy and sometimes shared by more than one family. So she and her friends pivoted to the goal of helping families rebuild their homes.   Local initiatives like Chloe’s are driving the recovery, and in her view, it is this decentralized, community-led model that while necessary, is also inspiring. She talks about how a village will help one family with the biggest housing needs in rebuilding, then move onto the next, etc., until the whole village is taken care of. This kind of collective action has lifted spirits.   Yet the material needs and psychological effects of the earthquake remain acute, and in spite of the Burmese people’s famous self-reliance, they were already exhausted after the COVID pandemic, years of political repression and civil strife, last year’s catastrophic floods. So Chloe ends with a call to action for the global community, urging listeners not only to donate but to amplify the voices of those on the ground. “The more people know what’s happening in Inle, the more likely it is that more support and assistance will come, I believe, from inside the country and beyond.”

Episode #342: Dhammaloka, born Laurence Carroll in Dublin around 1856, was a unique figure in the history of Buddhism and anti-colonial resistance. Much of what we know today about Dhammaloka comes from Laurence Cox, Alicia Turner, and Brian Bocking in “The Irish Buddhist.”  Carroll left Ireland as a teenager, becoming a sailor and tramp, living on the margins of society. These experiences shaped his adaptability and led to his connection with Buddhism when he arrived in Burma. Unlike other Europeans, Laurence was not part of the elite—he was a working-class man who resonated deeply with Buddhist principles. Rangoon’s diverse environment enabled Laurence to align with marginalized communities resisting colonial rule. Eventually, he ordained as a monk Tavoy Monastery in Rangoon under the name U Dhammaloka. The monastery was aligned with the Thudhamma sect, known for its strict adherence to the Vinaya and social engagement. This gave Dhammaloka an opportunity for both a spiritual rebirth from his alcohol addiction, as well as a connection to the emerging, pan-Asian Buddhist movement. His commitment to the monastic life became a powerful personal and political act.  Dhammaloka’s activism brought him into direct conflict with British authorities. He was placed under surveillance, charged with sedition, and his trial in Rangoon showed his symbolic role in anti-colonial resistance. Despite attempts to suppress him, his legacy endured. Dhammaloka also fiercely opposed Western missionaries, viewing their work as part of colonial domination. He famously said, “The British came with the Bible, the Gatling gun, and the whiskey bottle,” highlighting colonialism's cultural and territorial aims.   Carroll’s journey—from tramp to influential monk—reminds us of courage, solidarity, and the enduring desire for justice.

Episode #341: As the military has suffered setbacks in the field, its use of indiscriminate aerial bombing has only increased, taking a deadly toll on civilians and leaving a legacy of trauma for survivors.  In this episode, we take you inside a conversation with resistance artists and researchers who have been working with A New Burma, through their exhibitions in Thailand titled “When We See the Planes.” These events shed light on the tragic effects of air strikes – and people’s refusal to succumb to this campaign of terror. By using art, performance, sound, and storytelling, these exhibitions serve as a beacon to highlight violations of international law and establish a record for transitional justice, while remembering those who have lost their lives.   The events showcase the works of about twenty artists, including frontline Myanmar photographers, put together with the help of Thai curators. “When we do this kind of work, we want to it to be empathy-driven,” says Hnin, the founder of A New Burma. “We want to talk about this topic, not to give knowledge, but to speak to your heart.”

Episode #340: Having taught at Payap University in Chiang Mai from 2016–2022, Tony Waters mentored doctoral students grappling with Myanmar’s long history of war, repression, and foreign interference. His students’ pride in their cultures, alongside their questioning of the country’s fragmentation, helped shape his own understanding of Myanmar’s deeper crises and multi-layered history. One dissertation, exploring Ne Win’s Burmanization policy, particularly influenced his thinking. It traced the policy’s roots to the CIA’s Cold War counterinsurgency training, and its evolution into the Tatmadaw’s brutal Four Cuts strategy. Waters further critiques how America’s anti-Communist strategies, enacted covertly by the CIA, indirectly empowered the expansion of the drug trade. Waters argues that Myanmar’s ethnic militias are not reflective of any cultural deficiencies, as some outsiders have implied, but rather rational responses to the absence of a stable, inclusive state. He is also sharply critical of the Western aid sector, particularly USAID, for prioritizing donor interests over local needs, and perpetuating cycles of ineffective development. Skeptical of post-coup “political dialogue” initiatives, Waters asserts that the military junta is structurally incapable of genuine negotiation. Ultimately, he frames Myanmar’s continued suffering as the product of Great Power rivalries, stating that as long as China and the U.S. treat the country as a Cold War playground, real change remains elusive. Waters concludes by stressing the nuance required to better understand and engage in Myanmar, “I'm not looking for good and evil, I'm [just] looking for the story and trying to understand the processes.”