| Editorial_August 2005 |
 How World War II Shaped Burma’s Future When World War II ended in the Asia-Pacific region in August 1945, the future for many Asian nations, including Burma, was by no means assured, as Bertil Lintner notes in a commemorative article. |
 Aung San’s Winning Ways Burma’s nationalist hero Aung San, initially backed by Japan, later changed sides, but the Allied commander Field Marshal William Slim still admired his honesty. Jim Andrews read Slim’s memoirs and reports on “Aung San’s winning ways.” |
 “Skeleton Road” While the story of the “Death Railway” still evokes bitterness in the West, the Japanese had their own horror trail, which they called “Skeleton Road.” Jim Andrews walked part of it. |
 Matsumoto of Merrill’s Marauders Several Japanese-Americans found themselves in action against the country of their ancestors in World War II, and one of them served in Burma with the famous American Marauder Rangers. Mick Elmore tells his story. |
 Just Staying Alive Three decades of persecution have pushed the Hmong of Laos into a desperate corner, and even those that have escaped to neighboring Thailand have found no relief, reports Clive Parker. |
 The Upturned Chair Burma has finally given way to mounting pressure and withdrawn its claim to assume the chairmanship of Asean in 2006, but Aung Zaw sees an ulterior motive behind Rangoon’s decision. |
 Keeping the Censors Sweet Sweeteners are necessary to get newspapers and magazines out on time in Burma, reports Clive Parker after peeping behind the doors of the regime’s Press Scrutiny and Registration Division headquarters in Rangoon. |
 School’s Out in Kachin State Scarcely anywhere else in Asia do so many students fail to complete their secondary education as in Burma, reports Khun Sam in a critical look at the lack of adequate school facilities in Kachin State. |
 Silenced Minorities The ethnic minority languages of Burma are disappearing in refugee and migrant communities in Thailand as a result of assimilation, reports Louis Reh. |
 Kingdom of Conflict Bertil Lintner reads a history of the Malay kingdom of Patani and welcomes its publication in Thailand as the possible start of a “meaningful discussion” on the unrest plaguing the country’s southern provinces. |
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