ABOUT US
Asia Pacific Media Services
provides cutting-edge Asian analysis to regional and international publications. Our in-depth articles and papers cover everything from regional security to local culture and social issues.
As well as articles, Asia Pacific Media Services provides books on the region and undertakes special research projects for think tanks and organisations across the globe.
ABOUT
Bertil Lintner
Bertil Lintner, Asia Pacific Media Service's main writer, is a Swede who has lived in Asia since 1975. He is the author of more than twenty books and numerous booklets, and his articles have appeared in more than a hundred newspapers and magazines in Asia, Australia, North America and Europe.
He served as President of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) from January 1993 to January 1995.
Welcome to the new Asia Pacific Media Services website! Through this new platform, we hope to provide access to an extensive archive of articles, papers, and books written by Bertil Lintner over the past 50 years.
Please keep in mind that we are still uploading materials from the archives.
LATEST ARTICLES
Or browse articles by category below!
LATEST PROJECT:
Military Might in Myanmar:
From Youthful Idealism to Repressive Despotism
The longevity of military rule in Myanmar is one of the great enigmas of Asian politics. From 1962 through to the mid-1970s, there were over sixty military takeovers worldwide, the majority involving the overthrow of democratically elected governments. Only one of those military regimes remains in power today: in Myanmar.
Since ousting the elected government in 1962, the Burmese armed forces have encountered several challenges to their solid grip on power, from periodic popular uprisings and ethnic minorities fighting for self-determination to armed resistance movements on the left and right—but this has only entrenched their position. During a decade of relative political openness, from 2011 to 2021, limited space for civilian politicians was created, but direct military rule was reintroduced after a coup in 2021. What is remarkable is that the origins of the current armed forces date back to a meeting of a few young, idealistic nationalists in 1939, who then decided to take up arms against British colonial rule.
Bertil Lintner explores how and why the military developed into a state within a state—and became a repressive institution representing only its narrow self-interests.
Features
Guide to Investigating Organized Crime in the Golden Triangle
An in-depth guide by Bertil Lintner to organized crime in the region and how to approach it as an investigative journalist. Check out the guide on Global Investigative Journalism Network's website.
Illustration: Nodjadong Boonprasert for GIJN
Young Tigers
BOOKS
Chao Tzang Yawnhwe and the Shan Rebellion in Myanmar
Silkworm Books, June 2025
When Myanmar emerged from colonial rule, it promised a united federal future. Instead, the country spiraled into dictatorship, ethnic conflict, and shattered dreams. Young Tigers unravels this gripping history through the life of Chao Tzang Yawnghwe—son of Burma's first president and last Saohpa (prince) of Yawnghwe--who transformed from privileged aristocrat to guerrilla fighter, exiled intellectual, and visionary political thinker.
With meticulous research and riveting storytelling, Young Tigers exposes the betrayal of the 1947 Panglong Agreement, the military's iron grip on Myanmar, and the unyielding struggle of the country's ethnic minorities. At its heart, it is also a battle of ideas—Chao Tzang's dream of a truly federal Myanmar against the relentless forces of dictatorship and division.
A must-read for anyone seeking to understand Myanmar's past, present, and future, this is history told through the eyes of a revolutionary--one who dared to believe in a different destiny.
