Myat Thura

If you look in the currency exchange rate websites on the internet, you will see the official currency exchange rate for Myanmar kyat at about 6.50 kyats per 1 US dollar. However, if you really try to buy US dollar at this rate, you will not be able to buy anywhere. Try to buy one US dollar at this rate in one of the banks in Yangon, and you will be looked at like a lunatic. In Myanmar, the official currency exchange rate is considered a joke. You can neither buy nor sell US dollar to Myanmar kyat at this rate anywhere in the world (this is not actually true as almost all the people in Myanmar will love to buy US dollar at 6.50 kyats a dollar!). No body knows why this exchange rate exists and why the government doesn’t change this official foreign currency exchange rate to reflect the actual market...... more at Myanmar currency exchange rate . Other articles on Myanmar currency: Myanmar currency - Kyat and Pya Money Exchange in Yangon Weekly Myanmar kyat - US dollar exchange rate Sudd

Here is another song about Chin Land by the same Chin song writer, Salai Thaw Na. This is about the famous flower Rhodendron which is also the national flower of Chin State. This song is also in Burmese.

I recently come across a very informative blog on health in Myanmar (Burma). Written in Myanmar (Burmese) language, this site aims for the Myanmar (Burmese) people, to distribute and educate health problems encountered in Myanmar to the Myanmar people. The site is written by a group of Myanmar (Burmese) health professional, and moderated by an experience doctor from Myanmar (Burma). The aim of the Public Health in Myanmar is (according to the site): To disseminate public health concepts and practices To present contemporary international public health issues To present and discuss public health problems of Myanmar There are already more than one hundred articles in the blog, ranging from common health problems like hypertension, diabetes mellitus, HIV and AIDS, stroke, ischaemic heart diseases, heart attack as well as some medical knowledge like genetics, nutrition, contraception, and recent news and updates on health situation and problems in Myanmar (Burma). The site is very infor

Yesterday, I got an email invitation from one of my friends to use a new online telephone calling service. This low cost VOIP internet telephone calling service is different from other services in that it can be used to call Myanmar (Burma). Apparently intended for Myanmar people inside and outside of the country to call each other at low costs. It uses Gtalk to connect to a phone in Myanmar, or from a gtalk user from Myanmar to outside phone. Although the promotional email said it is free, the reality is, it is not a free VOIP service. Only registration is free, but to use the service, you need to buy credit. Call rate to a phone in Myanmar, either fixed land line phone or mobile phone, is US$ 0.18 (18 cents) per minute. Call rates to other countries differ from one country to another, depending on the country. You can make online payment as well as bank draft and account to account transfer. There are a number of payment methods mentioned on the website. The Bamartalk website explain

The following is my contribution to the blog Myanmar2day . What is Thingyan Sar ? Probably you might never heard of this term before. It might be a strange term and concept for outsiders, even for our South East asian neighbours from Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. Actually, thingyan sar is an integral part of Myanmar people. Thingyan sar literally means words of Thingyan, which is Myanmar counter part of Thai Songkran or water festival. Thingyan is also the Myanmar new year celebration. Essentially, thingyan sar is a written prediction of what would happen in the next Myanmar year. This is usually prepared by Myanmar astrologers most of whom are of Indian Brahmin origin. As there is no official thingyan sar, and many astrologers use different methods of interpretation for the calculated results, thingyan sar from one astrologer might be different from that of another one...... Read more at Thingyan Sar on Myanmar2day blog.

Finally, at last, prepaid GSM mobile SIM cards are available to the general public in Myanmar. With the official price of post paid GSM phone cards at around 1,500 US$ in Myanmar, the new cheaper GSM cards become the hype among the general public. According to one news story, the sale of cheap handsets goes up in recent weeks in Myanmar. However, there are also some draw backs with this cheaper GSM prepaid cards. I have written three articles on this prepaid GSM cards in my other blogs and the blogs I contribute to. Here are the links to these posts. Prepaid GSM mobile phone cards to be available soon in Myanmar According to some internet news, prepaid GSM SIM cards will be available in Myanmar soon. According to unofficial reports, these GSM SIM cards are to be sold in US dollars initially, aiming at tourists coming to Myanmar. Although the price is yet to be confirmed, it is rumoured that ..... Prepaid mobile phone SIM cards available in City Mart Supermarkets in Yangon

If you ever set up your own website with a web hosting service, you will realize how cumbersome and frustrating to upload files and folders onto your server using the web based file manager provided by your web host service. For example, to upload a folder containing a few photos, you cannot simply upload the wholoe folder directly to your server. You first need to create the folder first, and then upload into the folder file by file. Imagine uploading 10 folders containging hundreds of files. It will become a nightmare. Solution? Use file transfer protocol or ftp. How will you use this ftp? How powerful is it? How easy or complicated is it? Will you need any special knowledge and expertise? How much will I need to pay for a program that will handle this protocol? Well, it is very powerful, you don’t need to pay a single cent, and it is so easy that a primary school student can use this protocol. However, you need an ftp client that is easy to use. Don’t worry. Here comes the FileZil

One of the places that you must pay a visit in Yangon (Rangoon) is the famous Shwedagon Pagoda. Believed to be the first padoda ever built on Earth, Shwedagon is the centre of worship and devotion for all the Buddhist in Myanmar (Burma). Myanmar (Burmese) Buddhists believe Shwedagon was built around 2,500 years ago, during the time of Lorda Buddha, although archiologists believe the pagoda was built during 6 and 10 century AD by Mons. Whether this claim is true or not nobody knows, Shwegadon remains centre of Burmese and Mon buddhism since ancient time. Many Burmese and Mon kings and queens renovated Shwedagon Pagoda several times in history, many of whom said to have donated gold equal to their body weights. Today, Shwedagon is estimated to be covered in 60 tons of gold plates! Shwedagon Pagoda at night Situated on the highest hill in Yangon, and rising above 326 feet above its base, the pagoda can be seen from up to 50 miles away. It is indeed the most famous and prominent lan

There are quite a number of websites and blogs that offer free download of Myanmar (Burmese) E books, stories and novels. Some of them contain just a few e books while other sites contain quite a lot of e books and novels from extensive range of Myanmar (Burmese) writers and authors for download. Some sites offer download of old Myanmar (Burmese) books by old Myanmar (Burmese) authors in pdf format. Although the following list is not extensive, it would be enough for most visitors. Shwesagar E Books - This wordpress blog contains more than 200 Myanmar novels and stories in E Book (pdf) format for easy download. The list includes famous Myanmar authors like Dr. Than Tun, Akyitaw, Mya Than Tint, Ma Sandar, Dagon Shwe Myar, Paragu, Takatho Phone Naing, Taryar Min Wai, Thaw Tar Swe, Thein Phay Myint, Zaw Gyi, Theitpan Maung Wa, Min Thein Kha, Ni Ko Ye, Juu, Kyi Aye, Min Lu, Moe Moe Inya, Chit Oo Nyo and many others. Download is also easy, with just right click and select save. Myanmar E

Yesterday, I got an email invitation from one of my friends to use a new online telephone calling service. This low cost VOIP internet telephone calling service is different from other services in that it can be used to call Myanmar (Burma). Apparently intended for Myanmar people inside and outside of the country to call each other at low costs. It uses Gtalk to connect to a phone in Myanmar, or from a gtalk user from Myanmar to outside phone. Although the promotional email said it is free, the reality is, it is not a free VOIP service. Only registration is free, but to use the service, you need to buy credit. Call rate to a phone in Myanmar, either fixed land line phone or mobile phone, is US$ 0.18 (18 cents) per minute. Call rates to other countries differ from one country to another, depending on the country. You can make online payment as well as ... Read more about Bamartalk - Low cost phone call to Myanmar at Myanmar Man's Diary .

I recently come across a very informative blog on health in Myanmar (Burma). Written in Myanmar (Burmese) language, this site aims for the Myanmar (Burmese) people, to distribute and educate health problems encountered in Myanmar to the Myanmar people. The site is written by a group of Myanmar (Burmese) health professional, and moderated by an experience doctor from Myanmar (Burma). The aim of the Public Health in Myanmar is (according to the site): To disseminate public health concepts and practices To present contemporary international public health issues To present and discuss public health problems of Myanmar There are already more than one hundred articles in the blog, ranging from common health problems like hypertension, diabetes mellitus, HIV and AIDS, stroke, ischaemic heart diseases, heart attack as well as some medical knowledge like genetics, nutrition, contraception, and recent news and updates on health situation and problems in Myanmar (Burma). The site is very infor

Myanmar Blogger Society is a non-profit organization for Myanmar bloggers all over the world. It promotes friendship and cooperation among Myanmar (Burmese) bloggers worldwide. The group has set up a web site for the Myanmar Blogger Society on Ning. Those Myanmar (Burmese) bloggers can join the Myanmar Blogger Society by signing up at the MBS website. Approval is needed before you could become a full member. The admin will check your blog before approval of your membership application.... Read more about Myanmar Blogger Society at Myanmar Man's Diary .

There are now a number of Myanmar web sites and blogs written in Myanmar language. It is a good thing. I can now read about news, articles, short stories, poems and blogs in Myanmar. However, many a time I feel frustrated with some of the Myanmar blogs and sites. I install Zawgyi-one Myanmar font on my computer. As most Myanmar blogs use Zawgyi font, it is not a problem for me to read these blogs. However, some Myanmar blogs and many Myanmar websites don’t use Zawgyi. Still no problem as long as I can download and install the font from the internet. The problem arises when the website or the blog doesn’t mention the font they use or provide a download link to install the font. It really sucks. If a site is not using a common font, they should mention what kind of font they are using, and should also provide download link for the font, as many of us don’t know where to download some of these Myanmar fonts. The bloggers and web site developers should bear this fact in mind if they want v