Myanmar is again the world’s largest illicit opium producer, but a far larger illicit business is industrial-scale methamphetamine – made in Myanmar’s war-torn borderlands and sold across Asia. Myanmar’s drug economy has gone synthetic, as Nyein Chan Aye reports.

In Yangon, a man in his 50s who asked not to be named, said yaba – cheap methamphetamine tablets – has become ‘practically everywhere’ and much cheaper. On a recent trip to Shan State, he said he saw stimulant tablets being pressed inside homes using small, makeshift machines. The Institute for Strategy and Policy–Myanmar reported a similar trend in February, saying small pill presses allow tablets to be made ‘on the spot’ as production technology becomes more accessible.

That street-level abundance reflects a wider transformation. Alastair MacBeath, Southeast Asia coordinator at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, placed Myanmar among the world’s main methamphetamine centres. ‘Myanmar is certainly one of the largest, if not the largest, synthetic meth producers globally,’ he said. He described the market as ‘a massive generator of wealth’ that is ‘completely integrated into governance systems’.

Meth at scale

Regional methamphetamine seizures reached a record 349 tonnes in 2025, up 48 per cent in a year and more than five times the amount seized a decade earlier. Price trends also point to abundant supply: the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) recorded Myanmar as the region’s cheapest crystal-meth market in 2024, at about US$6 a gram.

Patrick Winn, author of Narcotopia, said the economics favour synthetics. ‘From satellites, a methamphetamine lab can look like a barn or a school or anything else,’ he said. ‘Synthetics – namely methamphetamine – are the powerhouse pillar of the narcotics economy in Myanmar and Asia writ large.’

Read Full Article @ https://democracyasia.com/articles/beyond-opium-myanmars-meth-economy-goes-industrial

As ASEAN and China work toward concluding a Code of Conduct (COC) for the South China Sea in 2026, the central question is not simply whether an agreement can be reached, but whether it will meaningfully reduce tensions. A deal is not enough if it does not address the underlying drivers of tension and shape actors’ behaviors. 

The South China Sea is a contested maritime zone, involving China and ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. To address the overlapping maritime claims and disputes, ASEAN and China have been negotiating a COC to establish a rules-based framework to manage maritime disputes, reduce miscalculations, and prevent armed conflict. 

After nearly two decades of negotiations, Manila, as the current ASEAN chair, has recently signaled that agreement on the COC is at hand. A COC would represent an important diplomatic achievement. 

Yet an agreement that lacks credible enforcement mechanisms, preserves ambiguity over compliance, or constrains Southeast Asian countries’ strategic autonomy could do little to address the region’s underlying security challenges.

The substance of the agreement matters more than announcing its completion. A COC that primarily reiterates commitments to dialogue, restraint, and peaceful dispute resolution – like those contained in the existing Declaration of Conduct – would have limited practical value. The COC needs clear procedures for managing incidents, resolving disagreements, and addressing violations. 

https://aje.news/kzhmfu

Their weather naturally cooler or people in these 2 countries don't go start fire in forest?

Living in Southeast Asia means dealing with summer 365 days a year. Sometimes it's great sunny skies, amazing tropical fruits, and never needing heavy winter coats. But honestly, the humidity and midday heat can be brutal sometimes.

For those of you living in the region right now, how are you holding up? Do you love the eternal summer, or are you secretly dreaming of experiencing a real winter (at least for a week)? How do you usually survive the hottest days? Let's hear your thoughts!

today's is his 10th death anniversary

This is horrendous, and it’s been happening for decades now. How can Indonesia pretend to be a good neighbor and still shrug as this “haze” keeps happening year after year??

Min Aung Hlaing has far more to gain from this visit than his hosts. Since appointing himself president earlier this year, he has sought acceptance through a string of foreign visits. An official reception by Malaysia, once among ASEAN’s stronger critics of his regime, gives him exactly what he wants: normalization.

Malaysia is entitled to pursue its national interest. If Anwar wants to talk trade, undocumented migrants or ASEAN diplomacy with Min Aung Hlaing, he should say so. But he should not make the visit look nobler than it is.

Kuala Lumpur must not repeat the failed experiment of three decades ago. The current military ruler of Myanmar has produced a disaster far larger than his predecessors’ and now uses it to justify normalizing dealings with him.

A refugee crisis does not end when a navy ship carries people back to Myanmar. It ends when people no longer have a reason to flee in the first place.

As long as Min Aung Hlaing’s military is bombing towns, conscripting young people and driving civilians from their homes, the refugee-maker cannot be the guarantor of their return.

Malaysia Can’t Trust Min Aung Hlaing to Solve the Crisis He Created

By Nyein Chan Aye

Irrawaddy - English Edition

https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/guest-column/malaysia-cant-trust-min-aung-hlaing-to-solve-the-crisis-he-created.html

Smoke hung over what had been a busy riverside market in Kyauktaw in western Myanmar. Human remains lay among smoldering wreckage and cratered roads as families searched for their dead. The youngest child listed among the confirmed victims was four, according to a casualty list released by the Arakan Army (AA) that controls most of its home state of Rakhine.

As a journalist, I have become all too accustomed to studying photographs of Myanmar’s dead. And yet the pictures from Kyauktaw were difficult to look at.

By Tuesday, at least 50 people had been reported killed and 58 wounded after a Myanmar military aircraft bombed India Market and the nearby Kissapanadi Bridge.

After Kyauktaw, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights again called on governments to halt the supply of arms, aviation fuel, and dual-use materials. Will the call be heeded this time?

To be sure, more condolences will pour in. Diplomats will say they are alarmed. Statements will express concern. Then another aircraft will take off, perhaps the very next day.

The chain of complicity does not end with the willing executioners in the air. Much of the military’s combat-aircraft fleet is supplied by Russia and China. Myanmar’s current Air Force chief, Tun Win, received leadership and military-administration training at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom when he was a colonel in the 2010s, according to the Myanmar Defense and Security Institute. That shows Myanmar’s military did not develop in complete international isolation.

The responsibilities are not identical: a pilot, a fuel supplier and a foreign diplomat do not carry the same legal burden. But each leaves a record of what they did after the consequences became undeniable.

Read Full Article @ The Irrawaddy - English Edition

Who Sustains Myanmar’s Murderous Air Force?

by Nyein Chan Aye

Today, Min Aung Hlaing is again testing how far Washington’s strategic interests can pull policy away from isolation. Rare earths, scam compounds, trade and China all give his government talking points suited to the Trump administration’s more transactional approach.

The lesson is that American strategic interest in Myanmar has persistently survived periods of sanctions, estrangement and political ruptures like the 2021 coup.

For Myanmar’s democratic forces, that means US support cannot simply be assumed to follow automatically from shared democratic language – Washington has always had other interests too.

Min Aung Hlaing’s appearance in Time is, therefore, more than a media moment. Naypyitaw is once again knocking on doors that lead to Washington. In 2011, Washington’s re-engagement came with conditions and a democratic script. In 2026, Naypyitaw is testing whether Washington might reopen political engagement on more transactional terms.

So, are the Americans coming back to Myanmar? The answer is that they never completely left, and yesterday’s terms for re-engagement are not today’s under Trump.

How Myanmar’s Resistance Is Challenging the Junta’s Air Power

 As ground troops fight to retake lost territory, air power remains the military’s most important battlefield advantage. But resistance fighters armed with inexpensive drones are beginning to take the war to the aircraft, airbases, and supply lines behind it.

Article URL:
https://asiatimes.com/2026/09/myanmars-resistance-finally-takes-the-fight-to-juntas-air-power/

Zhongguo was harder to conquer; SEA was easier to seize but harder to retain once Nihon lost command of the sea & air.

Excerpt: In the first eight months of this year, the country received nearly 16 million foreign visitors, an increase of 14.4% from the same period in 2025 and equivalent to 63.6% of the full-year target.

The August figure is notable as the month is usually considered part of the low season for international tourism.

The result shows that the country’s tourism market continued to maintain and expand its appeal. Air travel remained the main mode of entry, accounting for 83% of international arrivals, while arrivals by road continued to increase, particularly from neighboring countries.

By region, Asia was still Vietnam’s largest source market, with about 11.8 million visitors in the eight-month period, making up nearly 74% of the total and increasing 7.4% year-on-year.