Showing 1 - 10 of 11
Development drive sees ethnic groups displaced by land grabs
Spectrum, Phil Thornton, Published on 22/04/2012
» At the ramshackle Ei Tu Hta camp more than 4,000 displaced people fear not just the the Myanmar military downstream on the Salween River, but also a constitution that will ''legally'' dispossess them of the land they were forced to flee.
Spreading light in a murky world
Spectrum, Phil Thornton, Published on 23/12/2012
» Bunsiri was 15 when she ran away from home. Despite having only 20% vision she had been doing well at school. With the help of her stepfather Bunsiri had fought for years to go to school and had learned to read and write.
Stranded amid a sea of reforms
Spectrum, Phil Thornton, Published on 10/03/2013
» Recent progress within Myanmar is coming at the expense of ethnic villagers in the country's impoverished southeast, who who are seeing their land expropriated as development steamrollls in. That was the conclusion of ''Losing Ground'', a report released last week in Bangkok by the Karen Human Rights Group featuring the results of field studies undertaken from January, 2011 to November, 2012.
Out of the darkness
Spectrum, Phil Thornton, Published on 22/12/2013
» Not many people would describe Boon's life as a dream. Growing up in rural Thailand is tough, but having only 20% vision to rely on, being denied access to schools, being sexually molested by a drunken stepfather and fighting off an adult neighbour are obstacles only the mentally strong survive.
A complex peace
Spectrum, Phil Thornton, Published on 02/02/2014
» Despite recent reforms, working in Myanmar for international non-government organisations (NGOs) is difficult. Most NGOs are concentrated in the country's urban areas, kept well away from the ethnic regions where health, education and food security is desperately needed. Like in most countries, NGOs are supposed to work in Myanmar with government agreement. This requires either a memorandum of understanding or letter of agreement with the government.
Uncertain fate surrounds Myanmar’s border outcasts
Spectrum, Phil Thornton, Published on 23/02/2014
» It is a difficult time to be a refugee on the Thai-Myanmar border. Last month, the US all but stopped its refugee resettlement programme and many aid agencies have reduced their services.
Tough town endures its latest tragedy
Spectrum, Phil Thornton, Published on 30/03/2014
» Mae Sot is a tough town. It has to be. Located on a remote part of the Thai-Myanmar border it has seen its share of armed conflict, battered refugees, natural disasters and other hurts. Last week the town was thrown into a maelstrom of grief after a bus carrying 53 of its villagers plunged over a cliff killing 30 and seriously injuring another 23.
The deadly cost of breakbone fever
Spectrum, Phil Thornton, Published on 07/09/2014
» Poe Cho lies on the floor of the children’s ward at Mae Tao Clinic, his tiny body stilled by dengue fever. The boy, seven, was infected by dengue when bitten by the Aedes mosquito while living as a novice monk at Myawaddy’s Yaw Bu Temple, across the Moei River that separates Thailand from Myanmar.
Dengue season's extra sting
B Magazine, Phil Thornton, Published on 05/07/2015
» Dr Pipat is a worried man. As head of the paediatric department and deputy director of Mae Sot Hospital, he fears that 2015 is going to be a bad year for dengue cases.
Medicine monk
Spectrum, Phil Thornton, Published on 27/12/2015
» The muscular arm of a saffron-clad monk, propped against the wall of a bamboo hut, draws air pictures to illustrate why his community is in desperate need of an ambulance.