Mongkok is in Monghsat township, opposite Mae Ai and Mae Fa Luang districts of Chiangrai province. Monghsat used to be a frontier outpost for Chiangmai to head off attempts by the Burmese forces to invade it. However, somehow Thailand (Siam at that time) was unable to negotiate with the Shans’ new master the British for possession and, as a result, Monghsat became part of Shan State of Burma. Othenvise, we wouldn’t have been holding this public forum.
Burma and Shan State (Shan States at that time) were separately governed by the British:
- Burma was a colony and did not enjoy self rule
- Shan States was a protectorate and had self rule, in other words, autonomy
After World War II, and British decided they had had enough and offered independence. Due to their desire for Burma, Shan States and other non-Burman territories to unite, the Panglong Agreement was negotiated and signed by all. Frontier Areas, as they were known at that time, were to enjoy the rights of autonomy (in internal affairs), democracy and human rights.
All these promises were broken when the Kuomintang forces, defeated by Mao Zedong’s People’s Liberation Army, retreated to Shan State.
The Burmese government, ostensibly to defend national sovereignty, took advantage of the situation to occupy Shan State. Peaceful and lawful attempts by the people to restore state rights, democracy and human rights were suppressed by force of arms inevitably leading to armed resistance.
The armed resistance by the people of Shan State, instead of serving as a reminder to the Burma Army to mend its ways, provided it with an excuse to increase its presence there. As a result, the Shan State that used to have only 2 infantry battalions during the British days now have more than 160 infantry battalions, not counting the supporting units.
The standing policy of the Burma Army, unlike the Royal Thai Army, is two-fold: First, each unit must feed itself and second, each must have its own common fund. It has led to
- Confiscation of arable lands from the people and renting them back to the former owners
- Raising funds by all means available
- Use of forced labor
When there is a military campaign against resistance movements or a development project, forced relocations of the people follows. All these things have been witnessed in Mongkok and the surrounding areas.
And this is not the first time the Burma Army has done it. There are several precedents:
- Forced relocations of more than 300,000 people from 1,500 villages in 11 townships between 1996-98 when the Tasang megadam project with a Thai company began
- Forced relocations of more than 4,000 people in Yawngkha, just south of Mongkok, when the crop substitution project initiated by the Doi Tung Foundation began in 2002
Actually, forced relocation is merely a civil word for expulsion of the people from their ancestral lands.
So, where do most of these people go, when they are thrown out from their homes? Thailand of course, either as refugees or migrant laborers.
The questions for the Thai company concerned thus are:
- Do you think Burma is better off as a democracy and a land that respects human rights?
- Or do you think if Burma becomes a democracy and a land that respects human rights like Thailand does, you can’t do any mega projects there?
- Do you consider yourself at least partly responsible for the negative impacts that result from your project and you are ready to assume full responsibility for them, such as providing official IDs and jobs to the people coming from the project area?
If so, I would encourage you to do whatever you want there. Our people would rather live under a humanitarian government than a despotic one any way.
As for the Thai government, one thing to consider is whether it wants more migrant labor from Burma? If it does think cheap labor from Burma is good for Thailand, you don’t have to care whether or not Burma is a democracy or champion for human rights.
But if it hopefully decides enough is enough, then it had better started thinking of ways to promote democracy, human rights and ethnic rights in Burma.
Thank you.
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