When Burma's ruling generals began to build a new capital city on virgin forest land some 240 miles north of Rangoon, the project was so secret that two Burmese reporters were arrested and sentenced to three years in jail for photographing construction work from a passing bus. An inquisitive Westerner who strayed into the half-completed city was hunted down and put on the next bus out.
But advances in technology have caught up with the ageing generals, and now Naypyidaw, the gleaming new city they hoped to close to the outside world, can be visited by anyone subscribing to the Google Earth website. Online tourists can peer from above at the top-security government offices and ministries which troops on the ground have sealed off from public gaze.
Much of Naypyidaw, however,
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Burma’s junta is seeking refuge in a purpose-built city, says edward loxton |
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remains hidden. Construction workers have disclosed that the generals are building a maze of underground bunkers, fearing they may have to go to ground at some stage in an uncertain future.
Having seen the ease with which US forces swept through Iraq, the Burmese generals feverishly sought a site for a remote inland citadel where they hoped to find security, not only against Western invasion (their paranoid nightmare) but also insurrection by their own downtrodden masses.
Finally, ten miles into the jungle north of the provincial city of Pyinmana, they started to build their new capital. They called it Naypyidaw, which means 'Royal City', a nod in the direction of certain Burmese monarchs they admire. Huge statues of three of the kings dominate the army parade ground. Than Shwe, an Asian-style Idi 
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The Burma File
Burma: the cyclone
