Last week I used some of WikiMapia’s marked-up satellite imagery to point to Aung San Suu Kyi’s residence on University Avenue in Yangon.
Since then I have been playing around with the possibilities of this technology and thought I would highlight a few other interesting areas of Burma for the benefit of New Mandala readers. For starters there are the sprawling Ministries and other government facilities at Naypyidaw and this area with what is apparently Than Shwe’s office, “palace” and “underground bunker”. In Myitkyina the Manau ground (which has been the subject of a fair amount of New Mandala attention over the years) is very clear from above as are the Burmese Army’s fortified positions on the hill overlooking Tachilek/Mae Sai. In Loikaw I noticed that the police station has been marked as the “most stupid place!!” and in Myitkyina the prison is the “monkey house”.
Unfortunately some other interesting parts of the country, such as this one or this one, don’t have the high resolution imagery that allows for these extreme close-ups. Nonetheless, and whatever the current limitations of the technology, I expect there is a great deal that can be learned about Burma by a careful study from above.
Readers with ideas (or interesting cordinates of their own!) can feel free to weigh in here.
Update: And just in case you are intrigued about where New Mandala is hosted you can also zoom right in on the ANU campus. Enjoy leafy Canberra!
1 response so far ↓
1 Charles F. // May 21, 2009 at 6:50 am
The satellite images show just how isolated Than Shwe and his cronies are. Like all dictators, he has built himself a gilded prison in an effort to hide from the people.
If the power ever gets cut, and a few bridges blown, that place will rapidly become a mosquito infested hellhole. Nice.
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