KTMphil
Senior member
An article in the Myanmar Times about the Shan State struggle
To walk in a snaking path down the middle of Loi Tai Leng's main road is to enjoy a geographic curiosity that only border towns can produce. The middle of the sloping track marks the border between Thailand and Myanmar; a few steps is enough to cross from one side to the other and then back again.
A Shan flag flies in front of Loi Tai Leng, the headquarters of the Shan State Army-South and its political wing, the Restoration Council of Shan State. Photo: Sam Jam
"Fall that way," one Shan State Army-South official said, pointing toward Thailand and laughing, "and we can't help you."
If you can find a map accurate enough it will place the Thai-Myanmar border as running through these densely forested hills. The fiercely independent and ethnically proud residents will tell you, however, that the line does not separate Myanmar from Thailand but the Tai (Shan) and Thais.
Further beyond the mountains is the real Burma - residents reject the use of the name Myanmar - but this mountain outpost, you are constantly reminded by the flags, the chatter of Shan language, and the red and black Shan State Army-South insignias on the soldiers' fatigues, is something different: a place controlled neither by Bangkok nor Nay Pyi Taw.
Since the early 2000s the town has served as the headquarters of the SSA-South and its political wing, the Restoration Council of Shan State. Before the SSA-South arrived "there was just jungle, elephants and tigers", said Yawd Maung, the general secretary of the group's foreign affairs department.
RCSS/SSA-South chair Lieutenant General Yawd Serk said that he chose the area due to its strategic position atop of a mountain ridge. The location also provided space to set up a training area for SSA-South troops, which have proven a constant thorn in the side of the Tatmadaw since the army was founded in 1996.
The mountaintop position proved its military worth in 2005 when the neighbouring United Wa State Army, under the command of Wei Hsueh-kang, launched a major attack on Loi Tai Leng.
According to the RCSS, the UWSA was aided by 1000 Tatmadaw troops. One official with a macabre sense of humour joked that the attackers provided a daily 4am "wake-up call" in the form of exploding 120-millimetre mortar rounds. But the combined UWSA-Tatmadaw forces retreated after 60 days in part, SSA-South officials say, because of the difficulty of fighting on the steep mountainsides.
What started as a rough camp for SSA-South soldiers who broke away with Lt Gen Yawd Serk from Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army after it surrendered to the government in 1996 grew into a collection of small huts. Over the past decade Loi Tai Leng has expanded to include the families of military officials and some civilians.
The exact population is difficult to pinpoint as RCSS members come and go, rotating between representative offices in Shan State and Thailand. SSA-South soldiers are often training or in the field. The army also refuses to publicly discuss its troop numbers, which the Myanmar Peace Monitor estimates at more than 6000.
Houses have crept out along adjoining ridgelines to meet the needs of the growing population. With more residents, touches of civilian life have appeared. AEC Supermarket, a simple cinder block structure, sells household essentials to the wives of army officers.
Off-duty soldiers wear shirts embroidered with the red eagle logo of Freedom's Way, a popular rock band composed of military officers. Among the group's oeuvre of Shan nationalist songs are tunes that denounce the National League for Democracy as Bamar-centric and call for greater respect for human rights in Shan State.
Not short on marketing savvy, Freedom's Way also has its own brand of energy drink.
In addition the RCSS provides social services with the help of some NGOs and volunteers. In the town's clinic, visiting foreign doctors tend to ailing patients. When I visited, the school classrooms were doubling as makeshift dormitories for teachers from other parts of Shan State who had made the arduous overland trip to Loi Tai Leng to take part in a training course.
Some of the additions would not be considered wholly essential. A distillery, one resident boasted, produces rice whisky that despite its formidable potency is so pure that even after a night of overindulging you will be hangover-free in the morning.
The town's existence is still wholly dependent on Thailand, from where residents import essential goods - everything from rice to petrol. The Thai baht is the accepted currency. The clocks are set to Thailand time to avoid confusion, but this puts Loi Tai Leng half an hour ahead of the rest of Myanmar.
Shan State Army-South soldiers parade on Shan National Day. Photo: Sam Jam
A Royal Thai Army post looms over the town. The RCSS built the post but says that it gave it to the Thai army last year as a gesture of friendship.
A large metal flagpole next to the post now flies the Thai national flag but in a bit of patriotic goading the SSA-South has planted the Shan state flag directly in front of the position.
"Tai and Thai: Historically we are relatives of the same race. So our relationship is also like that of relatives," Lt Gen Yawd Serk told The Myanmar Times during a visit to Loi Tai Leng.
Even as the town increasingly comes to resemble a normal settlement, life in Loi Tai Leng is not without its hardships. The fine, choking dust kicked up by the wind and passing trucks is inescapable. During the rainy season the steep rutted roads turn into mud slicks, requiring drivers to put chains around their wheels to gain traction. Water is scarce, especially in the dry winter months. The electricity supply remains sporadic, cutting out most afternoons.
Despite the hardships, for residents like Me Htaung Nge, 73, the town is a safe haven after years in the middle of a war zone elsewhere in Shan State. Land to build homes is given for free and the RCSS provides rice subsides to residents who cannot afford to buy their own food.
Originally from Pannukluk in Mong Pan township, Me Htaung Nge settled in Loi Tai Leng nine years ago after crisscrossing Shan State for years with her four children, trying to flee the fighting between the Tatmadaw and several armed ethnic groups. Scarred by her experiences at the hands of Myanmar soldiers, she said she never plans to return to Myanmar.
"There [in Myanmar], it's not good. Even if I only had clothes, the Burmese military took them away," she said.
Many of the town's younger residents have arrived because their families are too poor to keep them in school.
Sai Tha arrived in 2011 after his parents were no longer able to care for him. Instead, they gave him to an SSA-South patrol, which brought him back to Loi Tai Leng. The diminutive 13-year-old said that after completing school he hopes to be an English teacher.
Sitting in the school's library playing chequers, another student, Kyai Won Maw, 15, said that Tatmadaw soldiers had routinely terrorised his village, stealing food and supplies from residents when they passed through on patrol. His family decided to relocate rather than live in fear.
While some have moved out of necessity, others have come purely by choice, drawn by the chance to help advance the Shan cause.
Taung Mu Shwe, 37, left Shan State to work in Malaysia in his 20s. Though he entered Malaysia legally he quit his job over a wage dispute and lost his legal status. He was arrested and placed in prison but was later resettled in Sydney, Australia, by the United Nations, and lived there for 10 years. He came to Loi Tai Leng last year with a renewed sense of Shan pride - and a deep vocabulary of Australian slang.
"I already tried chasing money, bro," he said of his decision to return to Shan State. "Here, we can study our own language and literature freely."
Among the RCSS and SSA-S leadership there is public support for President U Thein Sein and the ongoing peace process. In December 2011 the RCSS signed a ceasefire for the first time. Lt Gen Yawd Serk has publicly praised the president's efforts to bring about peace and the pair met for the first time in June last year, during the SSA-South leader's first visit to central Myanmar in decades.
Full article:
In Loi Tai Leng, where the battle for Shan State continues
To walk in a snaking path down the middle of Loi Tai Leng's main road is to enjoy a geographic curiosity that only border towns can produce. The middle of the sloping track marks the border between Thailand and Myanmar; a few steps is enough to cross from one side to the other and then back again.
"Fall that way," one Shan State Army-South official said, pointing toward Thailand and laughing, "and we can't help you."
If you can find a map accurate enough it will place the Thai-Myanmar border as running through these densely forested hills. The fiercely independent and ethnically proud residents will tell you, however, that the line does not separate Myanmar from Thailand but the Tai (Shan) and Thais.
Further beyond the mountains is the real Burma - residents reject the use of the name Myanmar - but this mountain outpost, you are constantly reminded by the flags, the chatter of Shan language, and the red and black Shan State Army-South insignias on the soldiers' fatigues, is something different: a place controlled neither by Bangkok nor Nay Pyi Taw.
Since the early 2000s the town has served as the headquarters of the SSA-South and its political wing, the Restoration Council of Shan State. Before the SSA-South arrived "there was just jungle, elephants and tigers", said Yawd Maung, the general secretary of the group's foreign affairs department.
RCSS/SSA-South chair Lieutenant General Yawd Serk said that he chose the area due to its strategic position atop of a mountain ridge. The location also provided space to set up a training area for SSA-South troops, which have proven a constant thorn in the side of the Tatmadaw since the army was founded in 1996.
The mountaintop position proved its military worth in 2005 when the neighbouring United Wa State Army, under the command of Wei Hsueh-kang, launched a major attack on Loi Tai Leng.
According to the RCSS, the UWSA was aided by 1000 Tatmadaw troops. One official with a macabre sense of humour joked that the attackers provided a daily 4am "wake-up call" in the form of exploding 120-millimetre mortar rounds. But the combined UWSA-Tatmadaw forces retreated after 60 days in part, SSA-South officials say, because of the difficulty of fighting on the steep mountainsides.
What started as a rough camp for SSA-South soldiers who broke away with Lt Gen Yawd Serk from Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army after it surrendered to the government in 1996 grew into a collection of small huts. Over the past decade Loi Tai Leng has expanded to include the families of military officials and some civilians.
The exact population is difficult to pinpoint as RCSS members come and go, rotating between representative offices in Shan State and Thailand. SSA-South soldiers are often training or in the field. The army also refuses to publicly discuss its troop numbers, which the Myanmar Peace Monitor estimates at more than 6000.
Houses have crept out along adjoining ridgelines to meet the needs of the growing population. With more residents, touches of civilian life have appeared. AEC Supermarket, a simple cinder block structure, sells household essentials to the wives of army officers.
Off-duty soldiers wear shirts embroidered with the red eagle logo of Freedom's Way, a popular rock band composed of military officers. Among the group's oeuvre of Shan nationalist songs are tunes that denounce the National League for Democracy as Bamar-centric and call for greater respect for human rights in Shan State.
Not short on marketing savvy, Freedom's Way also has its own brand of energy drink.
In addition the RCSS provides social services with the help of some NGOs and volunteers. In the town's clinic, visiting foreign doctors tend to ailing patients. When I visited, the school classrooms were doubling as makeshift dormitories for teachers from other parts of Shan State who had made the arduous overland trip to Loi Tai Leng to take part in a training course.
Some of the additions would not be considered wholly essential. A distillery, one resident boasted, produces rice whisky that despite its formidable potency is so pure that even after a night of overindulging you will be hangover-free in the morning.
The town's existence is still wholly dependent on Thailand, from where residents import essential goods - everything from rice to petrol. The Thai baht is the accepted currency. The clocks are set to Thailand time to avoid confusion, but this puts Loi Tai Leng half an hour ahead of the rest of Myanmar.
Shan State Army-South soldiers parade on Shan National Day. Photo: Sam Jam
A Royal Thai Army post looms over the town. The RCSS built the post but says that it gave it to the Thai army last year as a gesture of friendship.
A large metal flagpole next to the post now flies the Thai national flag but in a bit of patriotic goading the SSA-South has planted the Shan state flag directly in front of the position.
"Tai and Thai: Historically we are relatives of the same race. So our relationship is also like that of relatives," Lt Gen Yawd Serk told The Myanmar Times during a visit to Loi Tai Leng.
Even as the town increasingly comes to resemble a normal settlement, life in Loi Tai Leng is not without its hardships. The fine, choking dust kicked up by the wind and passing trucks is inescapable. During the rainy season the steep rutted roads turn into mud slicks, requiring drivers to put chains around their wheels to gain traction. Water is scarce, especially in the dry winter months. The electricity supply remains sporadic, cutting out most afternoons.
Despite the hardships, for residents like Me Htaung Nge, 73, the town is a safe haven after years in the middle of a war zone elsewhere in Shan State. Land to build homes is given for free and the RCSS provides rice subsides to residents who cannot afford to buy their own food.
Originally from Pannukluk in Mong Pan township, Me Htaung Nge settled in Loi Tai Leng nine years ago after crisscrossing Shan State for years with her four children, trying to flee the fighting between the Tatmadaw and several armed ethnic groups. Scarred by her experiences at the hands of Myanmar soldiers, she said she never plans to return to Myanmar.
"There [in Myanmar], it's not good. Even if I only had clothes, the Burmese military took them away," she said.
Many of the town's younger residents have arrived because their families are too poor to keep them in school.
Sai Tha arrived in 2011 after his parents were no longer able to care for him. Instead, they gave him to an SSA-South patrol, which brought him back to Loi Tai Leng. The diminutive 13-year-old said that after completing school he hopes to be an English teacher.
Sitting in the school's library playing chequers, another student, Kyai Won Maw, 15, said that Tatmadaw soldiers had routinely terrorised his village, stealing food and supplies from residents when they passed through on patrol. His family decided to relocate rather than live in fear.
While some have moved out of necessity, others have come purely by choice, drawn by the chance to help advance the Shan cause.
Taung Mu Shwe, 37, left Shan State to work in Malaysia in his 20s. Though he entered Malaysia legally he quit his job over a wage dispute and lost his legal status. He was arrested and placed in prison but was later resettled in Sydney, Australia, by the United Nations, and lived there for 10 years. He came to Loi Tai Leng last year with a renewed sense of Shan pride - and a deep vocabulary of Australian slang.
"I already tried chasing money, bro," he said of his decision to return to Shan State. "Here, we can study our own language and literature freely."
Among the RCSS and SSA-S leadership there is public support for President U Thein Sein and the ongoing peace process. In December 2011 the RCSS signed a ceasefire for the first time. Lt Gen Yawd Serk has publicly praised the president's efforts to bring about peace and the pair met for the first time in June last year, during the SSA-South leader's first visit to central Myanmar in decades.
Full article:
In Loi Tai Leng, where the battle for Shan State continues
