In this episode of OTT Talks, co-hosts Enrique Mendizabal and Samar Verma speak with Napas Thain, inaugural research fellow at the Myanmar Policy and Community Knowledge Hub (MYPAC) at the University of Toronto, about Myanmar’s political crisis since 2021 and how it has reshaped the country’s think tank and research landscape.
The conversation examines the evolution of think tanks from limited information flow pre-2011 to liberalisation-era institutions such as Egress and the Myanmar Peace Center, shifts under the NLD toward advisor networks and smaller issue-based organisations, and the post-coup displacement of research and media into cross-border and diaspora settings.
Napas discusses current challenges—including funding cuts and shifting aid priorities, as well as the legal and operational precarity faced by exiled researchers in Southeast Asia—alongside the role of think tanks in countering misinformation.
About the guest:
Napas Thein is the Inaugural Research Fellow of the Myanmar Policy and Community Knowledge Hub at the University of Toronto, where he focuses on Myanmar’s political transition, diaspora engagement, and regional diplomacy. He currently works as an Associate at McMillan Vantage, providing political analysis, policy research, and strategic government-relations support to clients across Ontario and federal government files. Napas previously served as a Research Fellow with the UBC Myanmar Initiative and Chiang Mai University, conducting extensive field interviews with civil society, ethnic resistance, and governance actors. He has also worked as a global security analyst at Kinross Gold, a research assistant in urban economics, and a constituency assistant in the House of Commons. A graduate of the Munk School’s Master of Public Policy, Napas has written for The Globe and Mail and the C.D. Howe Institute and remains active in Myanmar-related research and diaspora advocacy.
About the podcast:
OTT Talks is a platform for sharing learning among think tanks, funders, and other policy actors on a range of topics, from think tank governance to communicating research.
This episode is part of On Think Tanks’ broader collaboration with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) under the Knowledge for Democracy Myanmar-II (K4DM-II) initiative, which aims to strengthen Myanmar’s policy research ecosystem and support think tank leaders operating in complex and high-risk environments. As part of this project, IDRC supports Myanmar think tank professionals’ participation in the School for Thinktankers, On Think Tanks’ flagship leadership and capacity development programme. Their engagement contributes to a longer-term effort to preserve leadership capacity and institutional knowledge, and to ensure that Myanmar’s think tank community is prepared to contribute to future policy and development opportunities as conditions evolve.
About On Think Tanks:
On Think Tanks focuses on a range of issues relevant to think tanks, their staff, and supporters. We hope that our initiatives and the articles and resources we publish will support think tanks in making short- and long-term decisions more strategically, resulting in better policy advice and policy outcomes for all.