Thawng Tha Lian works at the Centre for Development and Ethnic Studies in Yangon. He has previously worked at the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung South-East Asia and Business Development Officer at Mekong Economics Ltd in Yangon.

He graduated with a BA (Eng) from Chin Christian University and he was selected as Dr David Van Bik award winner from the Institution in 2011. He recently finished his M.A in International Development Studies from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, with the support of a scholarship from Consortium for Development Studies in South-East Asia.