Inside the drug crisis on China's doorstep
Sam Ellis
1,149,668 views
Why this country has the most crime
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Myanmar is in free fall. In just four years, the country has become the nexus of the drug trade, a haven for online scam centers, and a major source of illegal mining, all while a civil war rages. How did this happen? And why is it a huge test for the world's newest superpower: China?
CORRECTION:
6:54 This is footage of the 2025 earthquake, but the building shown is in Thailand not Myanmar.
Welcome to Search Party!
Search Party is a new, independent, video news show that combines experienced journalism and visual design to decode the most complex stories in international sports and geopolitics.
Subscribe and turn on notifications đ so you don't miss any videos: @samellis
Become a Search Party Original member today: @samellis
Check out our other channels:
Johnny Harris: @johnnyharris
Christophe Haubursinâs Tunnel Vision: @christophe
All the music for this video was created by our in-house composer Tom Fox and is available to license or just to listen to on our music channel: @chromatic
About:
Search Party is led and produced by Sam Ellis, a journalist, director, editor, and animator based in New York City. For more than 6 years, Ellis produced the hugely popular video series, Vox Atlas, for which he earned an Emmy nomination. He specializes in breaking down the most complex new stories and presenting them with a refreshing, accessible, and engaging visual style.
Heâs produced explainers on some of the worldâs thorniest geopolitical stories; from corruption scandals in Latin America, conflict in the Middle East, and the rise of China, to the world of sports; the Monaco Grand Prix, the FIFA corruption scandal, and the 100-foot waves of NazarĂŠ, Portugal. Ellis has also directed multiple episodes of TV; notably on Netflixâs âExplainedâ and HBO Sportâs âLevel Playing Fieldâ.
Got story ideas or tips? Reach out to the team at:
Twitter: Twitter: swellis_
Email: sam@searchparty.ch
20 Comments
Our conversations are legendary
What Suu Kyi did was objectively wrong. But the reality is, there was almost nothing she could have done. Myanmar has not been a truly democratic nation for decades. The military has always been in control. Almost every ethnic group in Myanmar has faced oppression just as the Rohingyas the only difference is they managed to get their hands on arms and the Rohingyas couldn't. The reason you donât hear about them is simply because thereâs no international coverage.
As per the constitution, the military automatically holds 25% of parliament seats, and over 75% is needed to pass any bill which anyone with a working brain knows is utter bullshit, hence the 2008 uprising.
The ethnic cleansing was carried out by the military, not the civilian government. Believing the democratic side had real power in this situation shows a lack of understanding. The driving forces behind the genocide were racism, religious propaganda, and disinformation which much of it spread on Facebook. (Johnny Harris has a solid video on this if you want a source.)
Suu Kyi had two options:
1) Publicly condemn the military, put them on the spot at the ICJ (which didnât work anyway), while giving them an excuse to end Myanmarâs fragile âpseudo-democracy.â
2) Play along, entertain, buy time, and try to keep the door open for a civilian government but lose her Nobel Prize, be humiliated internationally, all while knowing a coup could still happen for no valid reason, just like it did in February 2021.
Was she complicit? In a sense, yes. But to assume that a woman who risked her life, who could have stayed safe in the UK but chose to return in 1988 to fight for her people, who spent a total of 19 years under house arrest and counting, actually supported genocide without any context is simply ignorance.
I hope Myanmar manages to sort things out. Peace and prosperity to all Myanmar people! đđđ
And while I realize that the focus on this video was crime in Myanmar, not the war, failing to mention the widespread war crimes and crimes against humanity being carried out by the junta gives off an impression like there isn't obviously one side of the conflict that is guilty of far more than the other side, and fails to mention that the social and economic conditions that led to many people being forced into the drug production/trade industries were all brought about by the junta. Between the countless airstrikes on entire towns and burning villages to the ground, and the myriad of poor decisions made by the junta which prevented the country from every beginning to recover economically after covid, and then sending it even further into collapse since then, not to mention virtually erasing their tourism economy, which some estimates say contributed to up to as many as 10% of all jobs in the country -- all of that makes it very clear that the junta is very clearly the most destructive and heinous force in this situation.
I realize you're trying to be impartial to tell this story, but in order to maintain that appearance of impartiality, you're forced to leave out key details which results in making it look like there isn't a very clear "bad guy" in this crisis.
Inside the drug crisis on China's doorstep
Sam Ellis
1,149,668 views
Why this country has the most crime
Take back your personal data with Incogni! Use code SEARCHPARTY at the link below and get 60% off annual plans: https://incogni.com/searchparty
Join Newpress, our community-driven hub for creator journalism: https://newpress.com/start
Myanmar is in free fall. In just four years, the country has become the nexus of the drug trade, a haven for online scam centers, and a major source of illegal mining, all while a civil war rages. How did this happen? And why is it a huge test for the world's newest superpower: China?
CORRECTION:
6:54 This is footage of the 2025 earthquake, but the building shown is in Thailand not Myanmar.
Welcome to Search Party!
Search Party is a new, independent, video news show that combines experienced journalism and visual design to decode the most complex stories in international sports and geopolitics.
Subscribe and turn on notifications đ so you don't miss any videos: @samellis
Become a Search Party Original member today: @samellis
Check out our other channels:
Johnny Harris: @johnnyharris
Christophe Haubursinâs Tunnel Vision: @christophe
All the music for this video was created by our in-house composer Tom Fox and is available to license or just to listen to on our music channel: @chromatic
About:
Search Party is led and produced by Sam Ellis, a journalist, director, editor, and animator based in New York City. For more than 6 years, Ellis produced the hugely popular video series, Vox Atlas, for which he earned an Emmy nomination. He specializes in breaking down the most complex new stories and presenting them with a refreshing, accessible, and engaging visual style.
Heâs produced explainers on some of the worldâs thorniest geopolitical stories; from corruption scandals in Latin America, conflict in the Middle East, and the rise of China, to the world of sports; the Monaco Grand Prix, the FIFA corruption scandal, and the 100-foot waves of NazarĂŠ, Portugal. Ellis has also directed multiple episodes of TV; notably on Netflixâs âExplainedâ and HBO Sportâs âLevel Playing Fieldâ.
Got story ideas or tips? Reach out to the team at:
Twitter: Twitter: swellis_
Email: sam@searchparty.ch