Since last year I have been writing a weekly column for Mizzima Business Weekly, one of the sharpest publications in Myanmar these days.

In these 650-word salvos, I turn my attention to new issues in the political and social sphere. Some of the essays are on mainstream topics, but increasingly I look to matters that don’t get a lot of media play.

In the current edition there’s a side-by-side analysis of Thailand and Myanmar. Long-time New Mandala readers will appreciate that it’s an approach I’ve pursued for a few years.

Then, this coming week, I have a short piece about the 115-mile rest stop on the road between Yangon and Naypyitaw. Those of us who drive the road regularly come to appreciate that pause in the journey and the chance it offers to take stock of life on the move.

In the months to come I expect to put together a few more pieces of that sort, looking at the remarkable, but often overlooked, aspects of Myanmar’s transformation. Some of these pieces draw on time spent in the far-flung corners of the country. I am particularly pleased to have a chance to write more consistently on Kachin and Rakhine States, and many other places in-between.

Not all of the columns are online but I figured it worth drawing readers to some of the recent ones that are. For a taste of my analysis for Mizzima see:

Of course, 2015 holds every promise of requiring recalibration in the way that analysis about Myanmar is written. That’s one of the obvious outcomes of the “transition”. By the end of the year there’s a good chance that the thoughts in these short articles will already require some revision.