A group of students are walking on a hill under the fog of morning. They are on their way to school, which is located in the Ban Don Yan Refugee Camp on the Thai-Burma border.

President Thein Sein seems to be on the right track, when he ordered or instructed the military on December 10 to cease its offensive against the Kachin Independence Organization/Army (KIO/KIA). But reports coming in indicate that either the military is disobeying the presidential order or the instruction has not reached all the units, which according to Aung Thaung, Minister of Industry and head of the Union Level Peacemaking Group, sporadic skirmishes in remote areas occurred, due to the fact that troops there might not have received the instruction due to a lack of a proper telecommunication system.

Alam (not his real name), a twenty-seven year-old Bangladeshi, smuggled Yaba methamphetamine tablets across Bangladesh from the Burmese border without the knowledge of Bangladeshi authorities for over six months. The only reason he decided to stop his involvement with the drug trade was that he was cheated by a partner.

It was cool and crisp in the early morning on Saturday June 11, 2011. The smells brought in by the monsoon winds were very pleasant. As I lay on my bed, I could hear the slow patter of a light drizzle outside. My younger was already stirring about and talking on his cell phone. This was unusual. He never liked to get up early but that day he evidently had.

Twenty-five year-old Abdul (not his real name) and other refugees who have been living in small sheds in Bangladesh for over 20 years had high hopes and dreams that the situation in Burma’s northern Arakan State, their homeland, would be changed after the 2010 elections. However, what they see is ongoing human rights abuses and discrimination against Rohingya people, so the situation is actually becoming worse day-by-day in Arakan State, Abdul said in a recent interview.

Many people visit the street in Shweli where the bars are. Shweli, also known as Ruili, is a Chinese town on the Sino-Burma border. A few years back and as the sun went down, Nwe Ni (not her real name) could be seen at one bar, putting on make-up and waiting for customers to take notice. To pass the time, she would talk with her friends, perhaps sharing a joke or two. Nwe Ni was a sex worker.

(Feature) Kyu Kyu waits for customers in the parlor room of the brothel house after she finishes putting on her make-up in the afternoon. She talks with a friend on her mobile phone.

Many customers are sitting in a teashop owned by a Thai-Muslim businessman in Chiang Mai. Some customers order tea without milk, while others order coffee with milk. Some customers order tea without sugar. Customers are busy talking with each other. Phoe Htoo glimpses children who have come to the teashop with their parents wearing school uniforms.

With Thein Sein government seen as almost bending over backwards to pave way for Aung San Suu Kyi led National League for Democracy (NLD) party re-registration by changing the party registration law, which would enable it to be engaged in parliament by-elections later this year and also lend legitimacy to the regime, it must be hard pressed to come up with a clear-cut decision on whether to join or refuse to participate in Naypyidaw’s political set up.

Wednesday 19 February 1992, the first waning day of Tapoe Twe, was a sunny day. On that day, many people gathered near the Shwe Mawdaw Pagoda waiting to participate in the water pouring ceremony, which is an important Buddhist ritual.