Myanmar Lost World

In this Feb. 9, 2014 photo, a tourist floats on sparkling clear water next to a newly built jetty on the Chin Kite Kyunn, or Mosquito Bite Island, in Mergui Archipelago, Myanmar. Isolated for decades by the country’s former military regime and piracy, the Mergui archipelago is thought by scientists to harbor some of the world’s most important marine biodiversity and looms as a lodestone for those eager to experience one of Asia’s last tourism frontiers before, as many fear, it succumbs to the ravages that have befallen many of the continent’s once pristine seascapes. The long jetty and two helicopter pads have been built and nine bungalows are under construction on the stunning but rather unwelcomely named Island, leased by Tay Za, believed to be Myanmar’s richest tycoon and closely connected with its power brokers. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)