After 18 months of mainly positive news for Myanmar, the past couple of weeks brought everyone back to earth with a thud.

Mixing red and yellow is supposed to make orange. In Thailand, it usually makes for political uncertainty and that is certainly the case right now.

What should have been a day for national celebration turns into a flop, leaving the people with unanswered questions.

Not only has the disaster been exacerbated by contradictory statements by local and national elected officials, but the flow of water from north to south has been hindered by politics.

No one would argue now that choosing New Zealand to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup was the right decision. At least that's what Al Jazeera's resident New Zealander thinks.