Interview

Many workers brought to criminal hubs in Southeast Asia have no idea what they’re getting themselves into, but some are seeking a payday despite the risks. Frontier spoke to two workers – one in online gambling the other in online scams – about their daily lives, working conditions and what brought them to Shwe Kokko.

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Edwin Vanderbruggen has spent the last five years in Myanmar as legal advisor to some of the biggest players in the oil and gas, energy and telecoms sectors. A partner in the VDB Loi network of law firms, he helped to facilitate the ground-breaking joint-venture agreement in September between Myanma Petroleum Products Enterprise and Singapore-based multinational Puma Energy, for jet fuel distribution. Mr Vanderbruggen spoke with Frontier about the challenges of privatisation in Myanmar and how government officials are learning to do business in the global market.
Daw Thiri Thant Mon, 38, left Myanmar in the mid-nineties when the country’s universities were closed, to study economics at William and Mary in the US. She began working in finance at Capital One in the US and the UK before an MBA at the London Business School and joined one of the world’s leading investment banks, Morgan Stanley in London in 2006. Daw Thiri Thant Mon returned to Myanmar in 2013 as Head of Corporate Development for Yoma Strategic Holdings. Since September, she has been running a new company, Sandanila.

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Myanmar enters 2021 with more friends than foes
The early delivery of vaccines is one of the many boons of the country’s geopolitics, but to really take advantage, Myanmar must bury the legacy of its isolationist past.
Will the Kayin BGF go quietly?
The Kayin State Border Guard Force has come under intense pressure from the Tatmadaw over its extensive, controversial business interests and there’s concern the ultimatum could trigger fresh hostilities in one of the country’s most war-torn areas.

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