On December 24th The Best Friend distributed donations to the people on the rubbish dump of Mae Sot.

U Agga Nya Na, now 27 years old, joined the Buddhist Sangha at age 5. He moved to a monastery in Rangoon in 2001 to study foreign languages, and was fully ordained as a monk there. He is one of the many monks who participated in the Saffron Revolution in 2007. In late 2007 he [...]

Shwe Nya Wah Sayadaw told radio Free Asia today that he has collected over 10.000 signatures from monks and lay people yesterday and sent to the Maha Nayaka Sangha Council. The signatures are all in support of him, asking for forgiveness.

The state controlled Maha Nayaka Council sent a directive to Shwe Nya Wah Sayadaw, Abbot of the Sardu Pariyatti Monastery in Kyeemyindine Township. The subject of the directive was headlined as “Action to be taken on U Pyinnya Thiha, Abbot of Shwe Nya Wah”.

On 10 December 2011, International Human Rights Day, a special opening ceremony was held at The Best Friend Library in Mae Sot, Thailand.

Documentary filmmaker Jeffrey Durkin recently spoke to The Best Friend about his new project, “Art as a Weapon”, a documentary about art, politics, and religion, using the closed country of Burma as a case study

While the world is watching Hillary Clinton’s historic visit to Burma with optimism, the restrictive methods of the Burmese regime are still in full effect. Via a very difficult connection, we were able to talk to Ashin Sopaka in Burma today by using a mobile phone and a Skype connection to Thailand, Switzerland and Germany.