Interview #36

Shan Farmer
Nam Zarng Township, Shan State, Burma

I came to Thailand in February 2001 because in Shan State the Burmese military soldiers disturbed us all the time. We cannot do our jobs well on our farms. They shoot our cows and other animals. They shoot people sometimes too. I didn't have enough food. . . .

There were soldiers frequently in my village, and the troops changed every three days. The soldiers asked villagers to work in their camp and to work on the road. I had to go to work for the soldiers many times. I was beaten many time by soldiers, and I have seen many other villagers beaten. I was beaten when I went too slow from the heavy load. The last time I worked for them was in January 2001. During that month, I had to go to work three different times. Most people in the village were doing that much work.

Soldiers at the battalion camp called me to work on a road. They sent a letter to the headman, and the headman called us to do the work. One person from every household was ordered to go. The length of the road was not very long, over 300 yards, but we had to clear on one side of the road a width of about 100 yards. I had to trim and cut down the trees, bushes, and grass so that there was nothing obstructing the view. The soldiers would come on bicycles and check our work occasionally and then go back to their battalion camp. I did not want to go to do this work, but I could not stand up to the soldiers. If I refused, they could check the headman's list of who went to do the work. [But] if the headman lies, he will be beaten by the soldiers, and they will also find out who did not go to do the forced labor and beat them also.

A woman did not follow the order to clear the road because she was at her relative's house to get an oxcart. When she returned to her home, everyone was already at the work site. She had to pay 5,000 kyats and was beaten by the soldiers. I saw her beaten. The headman had told villagers that if anyone refused to go, he or she would be punished. The woman did not go, so the soldiers and headman went to her house, which was close to my house. I heard her crying, so I went to the house and saw the soldiers beat the woman. Later we had a meeting in the village, and the headman explained that she was an example of what would happen if anyone refused to go for forced labor.

[Also in January 2001], I had to porter for 12 days. I was helping some other villagers build their house when the soldiers came to get porters. The soldiers chased and arrested us to force us be porters. I did not want to go, but I could not refuse, or they would beat me. We had to carry the load all day, with a break for lunch, sometimes less than one hour. If the moon was bright, we would walk at night and keep going until we find a village where we could spend the night. Usually the porters had only that one meal, but the soldiers would eat three meals. The soldiers gave us the food. Sometimes we ate rice with no curry, sometimes the banana stalk, sometimes the soldiers would give us meat. The rice was military rice and not very good.

I had to carry boxes of bullets and the soldiers' clothes. The load was heavier than 20 viss (about 32 kilograms). In our group, there were three or four porters and around 100 soldiers. I don't know the battalion number. My feet became swollen from the long day's walk and the heavy weight, and I did not have any shoes. Other porters had their skin rubbed off of their shoulders from the weight of the load. Once we arrived, I escaped from the battalion. The soldiers guarding the door were sleeping, so three of us sneaked past them and ran away, back to our village. We moved quietly, sometimes crawling to avoid soldiers and get out of the village. Then we walked back to our village which took three days. We did not eat during the trip back because we were afraid to enter any villages.

About ten days after I returned, the soldiers came into the village and talked to the headman. The headman then told one person from each household, 700-800 people, to go to build the battalion camp. There were elderly people up to 50 years old, boys and girls ages 11 and 12, fewer women than men. The battalion wanted us to build their new camp. I had to cut bamboo in the village for roof beams and carry it to the camp. I also had to build a fence. I had to bring my own knife, and the work was difficult, and I did not get paid. I also had to bring my own food. We ended the work at about 6PM, but we did not complete the camp on that day. But we did not get another order to go back, up to the time I left to come to Thailand about 15 days later. . . .

If there was peace in Shan State, I would go back to the village if my wife also wants to go back. I want the soldiers to go back where they came from. If they leave, there will be no more oppression against the Shan people as they did in the past.