U Hpone Thant (commonly known as Harry) born 1945 talks about his life including his work with the Burma Socialist Programme Party and his involvement with studies of fishermen north of Mandalay where they work cooperatively with Irrawaddy dolphins

Myanmar Oral History Project - life stories

Harry talks about his life story which includes his early education at Lady Paw Tun kindergarten before going on to Methodist English High School (also Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's school). On graduating, as schools and universities were closed after the 1962 coup by General Ne Win, he applied for and won a scholarship to attend Lomonosov Moscow State University and graduated with a Master in Political Economy. He spent from 1963 to 1968 in Moscow and describes his experiences there. On return to Rangoon he joined the Burma Socialist Programme Party, the sole political party at that time and worked there for 20 years until the party was disbanded after the 1988 unrest. During that time he performed many roles, ending as Chief of Staff of the International Affairs and Foreign Relations Affairs Committee. Following this, until he left for Australia in 2009 he worked as a private tuition teacher, started a travel agency (Swiftwinds) and was a founder and General Secretary of the Union of Myanmar Travel Association.
Harry has a keen interest in the history of Yangon and talks about the popularity of horse racing and the Rangoon Turf Club until racing was banned by General Ne Win in 1963 and also discusses the unsafe security situation in Rangoon immediately following independence in 1948.
Harry has also been closely involved with Dr Brian Smith in the study of cooperative fishing by fishermen north of Mandalay where they work with Irrawaddy dolphins - https://global.wcs.org/Resources/Publications/Publications-Search-II/ctl/view/mid/13340/pubid/PUB22844.aspx. Related to this is Harry's work as a consultant to Hsithe Village Based Tourism which has been funded by the Harrison Institute of the UK and which has won a number of awards - https://www.destination-ayeyarwady.com/.

Please feel free to contact me with suggested interviewees at [e-mail].
Thank you for listening .
Peter Church