The Irrawady has an article on the recent passing of Dr. Nai Pan Hla, a cultural anthropologist who specialised in the Mon language and culture.

Mon Cultural Anthropologist Passes Away
The Irrawady, 21 June 2010

Dr. Nai Pan Hla, one of Burma’s most famous cultural anthropologists who spent his career researching and writing on Mon literature, culture and script, passed away in Rangoon on Friday at the age of 87.

Nai Pan Hla was born in 1923 in Kawkareik Township, Karen State. He received his Bachelors of Science and Ph.D from Pacific Western University in America. In 1953, he became an official of Mon literature and culture at the Archaeological Department of Burma’s Ministry of Culture in Rangoon, where he spent 40 years working for the department. Well known in Burma as a researcher, Nai Pan Hla wrote a paper about the history of Southeast Asia and wrote many books about his ethnic Mon.