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This study aims to convey the understanding of the ecosystem – how “hundi” works on the border trade between Myanmar and northern Thailand, which is an informal transfer system and is widely used as an alternative banking system. Even though the role of hundi is unable to declare the sources of money under the standard settlement of formal banking system, a failure to operate of its official mechanism are carrying using hundi, as a financial platform across the border between Thailand and Myanmar. This study surveys the best practice mechanism for the regional and international cooperation.

This paper draws on relevant literature, open-source reporting, and interviews with more than 30 interviewees on the border between Thailand and Myanmar. Interviewees includes border-trader, money changer, money transfer operators, business leaders, hundi operators, immigrant labors, government officials and commercial banking staffs.

This study provides a unique insight of hundi system, which work as the alternative mode of formal banking. It is an informal fund transfer payment platform used on the border between Thailand and Myanmar in the past five decades. It insists that hundi plays a significant role in both substitution and complementary on the trade and payment across the border of Myanmar–Thailand. Even though confronting with the barriers of financing of terrorism (anti money laundering AML/combating the financing of terrorism CFT) risk, the competition with the expanding and modernizing formal banking sector, and the introduction of Fintech and mobile money services. In the short term, these are unlikely to eliminate the hundi system completely, but may instead push hundi operators towards adopting these networks and technologies in their own operations.

This paper will be a useful source for academics, development professionals, policymakers, law enforcement agencies and business actors who are seeking to understand Myanmar’s informal payment system, hundi.

This is the latest work for border trade payment or trade financing role of hundi which has hidden under the informal market of the border for several decades. It has few research of hundi on border trade and payment, particularly after the military coup in 2021 which made hundi return to be on the spotlight and simultaneous mechanism of border trade and payment ecosystem of Myanmar. This paper will be a useful source for academics, development professionals, policymakers, law enforcement agencies and business actors who are eager to understand Myanmar’s informal payment system, hundi, especially during the hardship.

This paper aims to examine the USA's policy toward Myanmar or Burma, analyzing the bilateral relationship between the two countries from the pre-colonial period to the present day. It highlights the implications of political shifts in the system of government in Myanmar for the bilateral relationship with the USA, particularly after the 1962 coup and the emergence of rising regional powers like China. The paper also shows how the economic role of Myanmar has increased, leading to more equal relations with the United States of America.

This paper employs a qualitative research design, analyzing data from both primary and secondary sources. The methodology includes a literature review and document analysis to gain a comprehensive understanding of the USA–Myanmar bilateral relationship. The research also analyzes political and economic developments in Myanmar and the region, placing the USA policy in a broader context.

The research finds that the USA has been an influential player in Myanmar's politics and economy. However, with Myanmar's integration into the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative and its accession to Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), its economic role has become more significant, leading to a more balanced relationship with the USA. The paper also shows that the USA's policy toward Myanmar has undergone significant changes, particularly after the 2011 easing of sanctions by former President Barack Obama.

Although many works have traced the history of USA–Myanmar ties, this study provides a fresh perspective by setting past events against the backdrop of contemporary geopolitical upheavals, therefore highlighting the complex evolution of their bilateral dynamics. The paper contributes to the literature on the USA–Myanmar bilateral relationship by providing a comprehensive analysis of the relationship from a historical perspective. The research also adds to the discussion of the implications of political and economic developments in Myanmar for the bilateral relationship with the USA. The findings of this study have important implications for policymakers and scholars interested in the USA's role in Southeast Asia and its relations with rising regional powers like China.

The Ukraine crisis, which began with Russia's military intervention, has violently jolted the modern world. The egregious Russian invasion of Ukraine, on the other hand, has arguably altered the trajectory of the world order. This whiff of war does not exclude any state because all states in the world system are economically, politically, and socially interconnected and dependent on one another. Bangladesh is also feeling the effects of the Ukraine crisis. The crisis has highlighted some challenging aspects of Bangladesh's foreign policy, testing the robustness and independence of its decision-making process regarding United Nations resolutions. Myanmar, like Bangladesh, has appeared befuddled in its response to the crisis. This paper examines how Bangladesh and Myanmar's foreign policy anticipated an unwanted labyrinth by the crisis, which made its moral credibility critical to some extent. Furthermore, the paper discusses how these two countries’ foreign policy trajectories became entangled at a difficult crossroads. We used secondary data sources backed up by scholarly works on Bangladesh and Myanmar foreign policy, relevant books, recent reports, and writings on the subject for this article. This paper also sheds light on Bangladesh's U-Turn in supporting and speaking out in support of the UN resolution on Ukraine's humanitarian crisis.

Regulatory authorities in Myanmar are increasing banks’ independence in providing loans to facilitate better financial resource allocations. On the other hand, not only in the USA but also among European countries, policymakers are designing regulations that could reduce banks’ autonomies in risk management and decrease risk taking behaviour. These governments have made policy interventions in their banking sectors which could be identified as repressive policies. They are commonly justified as macro-prudential regulations rather than financial repression. However, the authors are yet to understand as to what extent regulations need to be tightened or loosened up to reach optimal risk-taking behaviour. Using Myanmar as an example where the extreme form of governmental interventions and prudential regulations exists, this paper aims to identify the effectiveness of such policies.

This paper relies on a case study of the Myanmar’s Banking Sector. The paper adopts of the synthesis of institutional theory and Oliver’s strategic response to identify how banks respond to repressive financial policies. The empirical evidence is collected through conducting 16 interviews including banks’ general managers, deputy chairmen and loan officers. Afterwards, the authors analysed the data using categorical thematic analysis with the assistance of NVIVO.

First of all, the extent to which repressive financial measures enforced on banks differ depending on their political affiliations and ownership structures. Second, though repressive policies were enforced on banks to curb risk taking behaviour among banks and maintain financial stability, Myanmar banks themselves had inherent nature of risk aversion towards lending. Third, in Myanmar, financial repression does not always mean banks need to compromise their efficiency in profit maximisation to achieve legitimacy from the regulatory authorities. If the formal constraints were not in line with economic actors’ internal objectives, a different set of rules of the game were formed.

This paper provides new evidences for the controversial subject on financial repression and liberalisation through analysing micro level data of banks’ lending practice rather than using aggregate macro-level data. Bank-level information provides banks’ concerns, challenges and their loan assessment process while operating under repressive financial policies. This study is also unique in the sense that it is contributing to the limited academic literature on Myanmar’s financial system. It represents the last surviving case of repressed financial system and the presence governmental interventions and prudential regulations. Hence, it was used as an example to identify the effectiveness of such policies.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the prevalence of Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs) among Myanmar male migrant workers (> 15 years) living in Mae Sot, Thailand, and their patterns of drinking.

A cross-sectional survey was administered to 512 participants to measure AUDs and drinking patterns. ANOVA and χ² analyses were performed to assess demographic differences between abstainers, harmful and hazardous drinkers (HHDs) (those showing signs of AUDs) and non-harmful drinkers.

Results showed that 12.3 percent of male Myanmar migrants were HHDs, a rate only slightly higher than in Thai men (9.1 percent), but much higher than in men still living in Myanmar (2.7 percent) (WHO, 2014). Also, 19 percent of alcohol-consuming Myanmar male migrant workers reported patterns of heavy episodic drinking, which is markedly higher than in alcohol-consuming Thai (4.7 percent) and Myanmar men (1.5 percent) (WHO, 2014).

Given the health risks associated with AUDs and heavy episodic drinking, the findings of this study suggest a need for appropriate alcohol-related health education and intervention for Myanmar male migrant workers.

To provide low-cost housing, the Myanmar Government is attempting to use public–private partnership (PPP) to attract private investors. However, there is little information concerning the influencing factors for implementing PPP low-cost housing projects in Myanmar. This paper, therefore, aims to identify and analyse these factors.

A total of 51 in-depth interviews were conducted with interviewees involved in various kinds of housing projects implemented through the adoption of PPP or other approaches. The methods of data collection and the analysis are based on grounded theory (GT) methodology.

Using the GT method to analyse the interviews, five categories emerged from 50 influencing factors regarding the establishment and implementation of the PPP model for low-cost housing in Myanmar: provision of incentives; obstacles in implementing PPP for all stakeholders; barriers to private sector participation; public sector responsibilities and challenges; and attraction factors and challenges for financial institutions. Among 12 newly found factors, the three most important for PPP low-cost housing in Myanmar are the availability of project funding, the resolution of land-acquisition issues and the development of a sound financing system.

Our findings strengthen previous studies by identifying factors affecting PPP low-cost housing either specific to Myanmar or common among other countries. Of the 50 factors identified, 38 factors were found in previous studies, but 12 are likely specific to Myanmar.

Our findings can be used by governments, particularly the Myanmar Government, and financial agencies to understand the low attractiveness of PPP low-cost housing for investors and to develop/improve policies to stimulate PPP low-cost housing, especially in Myanmar.

Many previous studies have been undertaken to identify factors that influence the implementation of PPP for low-cost housing. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, there are no prior studies specific to Myanmar in this context.

This study aims to assess current status of innovation and research skill in Myanmar that could contribute to the knowledge-based economy.

This paper suggests a critical review-based methodology that studies the knowledge-based economy of Myanmar, a beautiful country with all potential of practicing innovation and research skill. Employability skills among students and professionals make them professionally competent, thereby contributing the country as a knowledge-based economy (KBE). The KBE can ensure that a country becomes the biggest and sustainable economy in the world. Innovation and research-based skills play the most significant roles in novel contributions and consistent growth in all sectors of economy. Thus, it has been studied and concluded that Myanmar has been doing great to encourage, rather practice, the modern research and innovation skills in making it a KBE country. There are few important challenges that create gaps between skill development and KBE nation, which are identified, and the recommendations have been made to overcome the challenges envisaging Myanmar as a KBE. Quality indicators and a set of skills and viable ways of their development are identified.

The innovation and research-based skills need great attention in this country. However, the sincere efforts have been already initiated by the Government of Myanmar through few important activities.

The critical analysis of the study of status of innovation and research skill is based on an honest and extensive study of important documents and recommendations of various reputed organizations and universities. Thus, the reflections of the current status and recommendations are thoroughly novel.

This qualitative approach study aimed to understand the barriers to accessing a tuberculosis (TB) clinic in a Thai hospital as experienced by TB patients from Myanmar living on the Thailand-Myanmar border.

Twenty-two participants were asked to provide information. In-depth interviews were used to gather the information. Each interview lasted 40 min.

TB patients from Myanmar experience several barriers to accessing TB treatment and care at Mae Sai Hospital, such as language and economic problems, although they are very satisfied with the quality of service and positive attitude of the health care providers. A long waiting time and lack of explanation of the pathogenesis of TB were noted as negative aspects by the patients and their relatives. The medical staff at the TB clinic were negatively affected by the excessive workload and unsuitability of some methods or technologies. Using budgetary subsidies from agencies to fund TB care and treatment was not sustainable. Foreign TB patients are not subsidized by the national universal insurance scheme of Thailand, and sending TB patients back to their home country is sometimes unavoidable.

Thailand and Myanmar should strengthen their collaboration and develop a system to improve the quality of TB patient care and management for those who are living in poverty and lack education, by focusing on reducing language and economic barriers to accessing health care services including support for medicines and laboratory materials related to TB case management among these populations.

The aim of this paper is to examine development failure in Myanmar and explore alternative ways forward.

This research uses a variety of quantitative and qualitative data drawn from sources including newspaper and media accounts from inside and outside Myanmar, reports from NGOs and field observations. The data are analysed using a framework developed by combining the theoretical perspectives of the resource curse and governmentality.

Evidence of developmental failure in Myanmar is found. The nation is in an economic, social and political mess due to the actions of an incompetent and corrupt robber regime that has misused and misappropriated much of the wealth being produced from the nation's large mineral and energy reserves. Action by the international community has so far proved ineffective in improving the situation.

The main limitation of this paper is the difficulty in obtaining accurate and reliable official economic and social indicators. However, it does illustrate the value of combining the resource curse thesis and governmentality for understanding development failure.

This research has practical implications in that by illustrating the unsustainable nature of the “grabber governmentality” and providing an alternative “producer governmentality” it is clear that even the most authoritarian regimes are susceptible to change.

The resource curse thesis and governmentality have so far not been used together in the analysis of development. In this paper these concepts provide a way to critically examine the association between resource richness, poor governance and development failure.

The purpose of this paper is to explain why corruption is a serious problem in Myanmar and why the anti-corruption measures initiated by its military government are ineffective.

The paper describes Myanmar’s unfavourable policy context and analyses the perceived extent and causes of corruption in Myanmar before evaluating the effectiveness of its anti-corruption measures.

Myanmar’s location in a bad neighbourhood surrounded by corrupt countries, its vulnerability to the natural resource curse and ethnic conflict, as well as more than five decades of ineffective military rule have hindered its anti-corruption efforts. Corruption remains a serious problem in Myanmar because of the military regime’s lack of political will and failure to address these causes: low salaries; red tape; weak rule of law; and cultural factors. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC)’s performance during its first two years cannot be assessed because of the lack of information on its budget, personnel and activities. As the ACC is led by two former military generals, it is not perceived to be independent, and has been criticised for focusing on investigating corruption cases and corruption prevention at the expense of corruption education.

This paper will be of interest to those policy-makers, scholars and anti-corruption practitioners, who are interested in learning about the causes of rampant corruption in Myanmar and why the anti-corruption measures initiated have failed to curb it.