Author: Thomas Kean, The Myanmar Times

There’s a saying in Myanmar that, roughly translated, says you go to Mawlamyine for food, Mandalay for conversation and Yangon to show off. Poor Yangon.

Since the military shifted the seat of government to newly constructed Naypyidaw in late 2005, the city cannot even be described as the top place to display ill-gotten wealth anymore. Many of its crumbling colonial and towering Chinese-style mansions now lie vacant, their owners summoned to the new capital, and the long government motorcades that were once an everyday annoyance are now a rare sight. Read more…