Population and trade grow, so do real estate and consumer prices. Government officials live in unfinished housing and are left in the dark as to when their families will be allowed to join them.

Pyinmana (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Until recently Pyinmana was a small, sleepy town surrounded by mountains and forests with perhaps 50,000 residents. Now that it is slated to become Myanmar's new capital it is turning into a boomtown. And not only is it getting new people, but it also getting a new name—Naypyidaw Myodaw—or "Royal City" although the country has no king.

It recently hosted its first important event, the annual Armed Forces Day. "I've never seen so many people in the town and the market's crowded," said Mya Yin, who sells preserved bamboo shoots. "I'm happy because business is very good. I have to expand my shop."

"There was not much business before, but business now is brisk as the population has doubled or even tripled," said Mya Thaung, the 55-year-old owner of a shop selling tableware and kitchen utensils.

Merchants are not the only winners in the capital-relocation game; landowners and construction workers are also benefiting. But not everybody is thrilled about the move. Some residents complain that they had to give up parts of their property to make way for roads. Land prices have skyrocketed, and the cost of consumer goods is up and up. Others are concerned that the boomtown nature of the city will have negative social consequences.

Many miss the relative comfort of the old capital of Yangon, including government workers, who have however been promised the same privileges and a modern fibre-optic telecommunications system. In the meantime, they complain about unfinished housing and inadequate supplies of basic needs like food and water. And they are particularly disturbed that they don't know when their families will be allowed to join them.

The actual move was a state secret, typical of the military junta that runs the country. The official reason was a need for a centrally located national "command and control centre", but the real reasons remain murky. Many believe that it was designed to forestall any coup that might follow popular uprisings.

For years Myanmar's ruling military junta has been criticised by the international community for its constant human rights violations and its unwillingness to transfer power to a democratically-elected government.

• myanmar
• yangon
• new
• capital
• pyinmana
• naypyidaw
• myodaw
• military
• junta