The most Googled person in Myanmar this year was former junta leader Than Shwe

Aung San Suu Kyi had a big year. Hundreds of thousands of people came out to see her campaign ahead of the election on November 8. Her party dominated at the ballot box, ending decades of military-dominated politics. She looks set to lead a new era in Myanmar.
 
But she didn’t do so well on Google.
 
According to a new list compiled by TIME, former senior general Than Shwe, Suu Kyi’s onetime foe who kept her under house arrest for years, won that dubious honor.
 
He was the most Googled person in Myanmar in 2015, even though his only appearances in public were on Facebook.
 
Than Shwe, who moved away from politics after 2010 and the transition to civilian rule, has long been rumored to be pulling strings behind the scenes.
 
He recently met with Suu Kyi after the election, as if to give his blessing for the results and the country’s new leader.
 
The Google search results show that interest in the man has not declined a bit. But it also says something about the level of interest in politics in Myanmar (if not the level of interest at TIME in Myanmar. Than Shwe is weirdly listed as a “politician”).
 
Countries nearby had vastly dissimilar results.
 
Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo was the most Googled in Laos.
 
And in Thailand, which is actually run by a junta, the most Googled prize goes to none other than Taylor Swift.