Day-to-day life in Myanmar

[simon43]

Well, the spelling bee competition was all good fun!  I learnt that most of the young students at this private school in Mandalay are actually Chinese, with their parents working in Mandalay or north Myanmar (the school also has a boarding section).

 

I also learnt from another teacher at my school that petty theft has been increasing, as the civil war and lack of income begins to bite.  2 foreign teachers have been the victims of motorbike snatch thefts, snatching bags and mobile phones on the main road close to my school in broad daylight.  There was no mugging/violence, just snatch and ride away fast. I've never heard of this kind of activity before, (unless you wander around drunk at midnight with a big gold necklace!)

 

I will make sure that my backpack is secured on both shoulders when I walk, with my mobile phone in an inside pocket....

[zzzzz]

On 11/21/2024 at 7:07 PM, simon43 said:

The only foreigners that I've seen are a few teachers... no tourists

 

@Keeps - she is still in prison, and has been since February 2021.  She is still highly regarded and respected by the Burman majority ethnic group, less so by other ethnic groups who historically have been seeking autonomy for their regions for many decades.  Being in prison and incommunicado, no word or comments are ever heard from her.

the local Burman might respect her, but NOT the international community cause of her stand on the Rohingya issue before 
she is a no issue 
 

Quote

Burma is OK, but damned boring, beer is ok though

Living in Thailand i truly enjoyed/loved my trips over between 2014-2017 ( 1st one was 87) 

I travelled all over the country by trains, boats, motorcycles & flights from the far north to the far south
https://phuket.zenfolio.com/f125862719

Many say it reminded them of Thailand 20-30 years ago
i don't find that at all and have been living in Thailand since 1984

This is a good opinion post from a russian point of view
well worth the read 
https://www.eurasiareview.com/25112024-in-search-of-a-new-approach-to-myanmar-is-an-alliance-between-the-us-and-myanmar-military-possible-analysis/


Simon; enjoy ur time back there, as i have a bad feeling things could go very bad soon

[simon43]

I had time off from school on Friday afternoon, so took a walk up to the copy shop to print some business cards.

 

I passed one of the many temples on the way. Free drinking water is available outside in these clay pots.  (I've never actually drunk this water - not too sure how clean it is!).

 

The sign seems to read 'ရေကျသျိလ်် (the last letter font doesn't seem to display correctly...)

I know ရေ (yay) is water.  This sign seems to say 'water drops', but there is probably a better translation than that.  Anyway, the 'yay' part is the most important.

 

As far as my learning of Burmese goes, I seem to have got over the initial hurdles that most people get when first learning a new language.  Actually, I have been learning this language off and on (mostly off!) for 12 years...  But now, with a good understanding of the grammar rules etc, I'm able to create useful spoken sentences such as:

 

'Hi, I'm Teacher Simon.  I teach Science and English.  I have an educational charity and I donate books to schools and orphanages.'

 

Of course, when I utter those phrases, some assume that I can actually understand fluent Burmese and reply with rapid sentences!  But this 'sharp-end' practice of the language will certainly help me to improve my knowledge of Burmese.  Right now, it is at #5 in terms of my language abilities >> English, Thai, Lao, French, Burmese.

 

[MarcelV]

Nice thread about a country most of us wouldn't visit now.

As a fellow teacher in a "dangerous" area, Narathiwat Province in Thailand's restive deep south, it's good to read about a country I'd love to visit one day. Just not under current circumstances.

[simon43]

Monday is my day off from teaching science at an international school in Mandalay. I'm paid by the hour, so don't have to remain at school when I have no lessons.  This suits me just fine 🙂.  So first it's off to the copy shop to pick up some business cards for my little educational charity.

 

Next, I jump into a yellow tuk-tuk and go across town to the Aye Yeik Mon Girls' Orphanage.  This orphanage houses 127 girls of all age grades.  The young students were all out at the local government school.  So this gave me a chance to practice my appalling spoken Burmese.  Happily, it obviously wasn't that bad, since the chief Nun and local teachers quickly understood why I was there, and one teacher was able to speak English at a level that far surpassed my Burmese!

 

 

She explained that since Covid and the military coup, overseas donations and visitors had all but dried up. They had enough government school books and uniforms, but very much appreciated my donation of science books from KG to grade 9 to augment their rather dated government science books.

 

 

I also helped the local teachers to install my free Android learning app on their phones, and they also showed me the computer room (note that 'computer' is singular for a good reason!).  I promised to return the following week to install the Windows English learning software that I wrote a few years ago.  They also asked me if I could buy some common medicines for headaches, fevers, cut and scratches etc.  So my local pharmacy can expect some business from me soon 🙂

 

 

After leaving the orphanage, I stopped off at an electrical shop to purchase some wire to build a weather satellite receiving antenna.  This project is for the school where I teach - I'm getting grades 7 and 8 students to install a school weather satellite image receiving system to receive and display daily images from the satellites as they pass over Myanmar. I build these spiral antennas out of a few bits of wire, tied to some chopsticks that form the supports for the antenna.

 

 

I spotted this wood carver hard at work - excellent work!

 

[Scouse123]

On 11/22/2024 at 1:01 AM, jori123 said:

Burma is OK, but damned boring, beer is ok though

 

Laos is boring but beer is good there.

[Scouse123]

A long time since I was there, and thank you very much for your insights and very interesting photos and updates.

[simon43]

3 hours ago, Scouse123 said:

 

Laos is boring but beer is good there.

So, the general opinion is that Burma and Laos are both boring, but the beer is great in both countries!  I disagree with the first POV, but definitely agree with the second 🙂.  But 'Myanmar Beer' is off the menu nowadays because of its ties to the military.

[Ctkong]

Myanmar is still rustic in many areas compared to other asean countries. Except for North Korea, modernization is far off for this country. I have relatives still living in shan province taungyyi town. A mountain top capital of shan plateau. We travel  there every couple of years for holiday but not recently. I still have some money in the KBZ  bank but the economic value had shrunk by 300% since last year. Myanmar food and utility cost had exploded by three four times with shortages everywhere. 
The military tried to control the flow of imports since they need foreign currencies for trade. Hopefully the country can move on soon following the will of the people. 

[radiochaser]

On 11/25/2024 at 2:22 AM, Mahseer said:

Chin State. Only visited twice and likely will never get the opportunity to visit again but I live in hope. Can be tricky to get there once the rains arrive but so worth the effort. 

 

 

Wow..   A flintlock musket.   I did not know that those were still in use, that wasn't a hobby or as a reproduction firearm. 

 

And are those beer bottles used as a door step?

[Rumpelstilskin]

On 11/23/2024 at 9:00 AM, Card said:

Simon, I'm on a retirement visa in thailand been living here for 20 years but made 4 long trips to Myanmar, the last just before the recent coup. What can I do for kids education in the country, either including visits there or from here?

Schools always need English readers 10 of the same book; Sinbad's voyages, Sherlock Holmes, Alice in Wonderland. I taught in Mandalay for almost 3 years, great place.  White Board markers and refills always appreciated as is chalk.  I took my class on tour of the (then) new airport run by Mitsubushi and a great way to make friends there.  

[simon43]

44 minutes ago, Rumpelstilskin said:

Schools always need English readers 10 of the same book; Sinbad's voyages, Sherlock Holmes, Alice in Wonderland. I taught in Mandalay for almost 3 years, great place.  White Board markers and refills always appreciated as is chalk.  I took my class on tour of the (then) new airport run by Mitsubushi and a great way to make friends there.  

Lol - I taught English to the airport staff about 7 years ago 🙂

[ericbj]

On 11/22/2024 at 1:01 AM, jori123 said:

Burma is OK, but damned boring, beer is ok though

 

Burma is OK for some.

 

But by no means for all.  And scary rather than boring :
https://burmacoupresistancenotes.substack.com/p/burma-coup-resistance-notes-november-802

[ericbj]

On 11/28/2024 at 9:20 AM, zzzzz said:

t
This is a good opinion post from a russian point of view
well worth the read 
https://www.eurasiareview.com/25112024-in-search-of-a-new-approach-to-myanmar-is-an-alliance-between-the-us-and-myanmar-military-possible-analysis/

 

 

Not a bad article, so long as everything is not taken at face value.  Which means informing oneself widely.

 

This is not a detailed critique, but shall make just a few points:

 

"The coup (or constitutional transition) of 1 February 2021 triggered a sharp upsurge in violence."

 

The coup was not constitutional - even under the military's imposed constitution - since the seizure of power by Min Aung Hlaing required the approval of the President.  Knowing the President would not grant this, he was illegally arrested and imprisoned, so that authorisation could be granted by the Vice-President.

 

The coup did not trigger a sharp upsurge in violence, but a sharp and massive upsurge in peaceful demonstrations.  These were effectively countered by concealed snipers taking out younger demonstrators with head-shots; and then snatch squads grabbed the bodies.  The copses were sometimes never seen again.  But were sometimes returned to their families, minus the saleable organs (perhaps to leverage the terror engendered: this is a terrorist regime).

 

Attempts to defend themselves with home-made weapons proving ineffective, many younger demonstrators began fleeing to EAO-controlled areas, where a proportion of them chose to undergo military training and to form PDFs.

 

"NUG/PDF/EAO: Freedom Fighters or… New Khmer Rouge?"

 

Ridiculous to even suggest the NUG might have similarities to the Khmer Rouge, considering they have made strenuous efforts to discourage, to prevent, and to punish human rights abuses by armed forces (EAOs and PDFs) in areas under their nominal control and beyond.

 

The utterly reasonable aspirations of the people of Burma to have a say in the government of their country, and to enjoy basic human rights, are rejected by many governments and ignored by most others.  It may be instructive to watch this video:

 

[geisha]

Simon43, I think I remember you from,Phuket where you had a hotel near the airport ? I was up there visiting friends from Kata Beach. I absolutely loved my trips to Burma , and I think I was one of the first tourists to enter. I travelled where I could, by train, and bus, and horse and cart. I went many times. I loved Mandalay , I asked a driver to show me special places of interest.He drove me to a hill, and a beautiful old British cottage style home, with a garden and a gate to tie up the horse. Fireplaces . It was empty and abandoned. My dream was to buy it and live there. Impossible of course.  I also fell in love with Bagan, visiting the area by bicycle.  At the Shwezigon toe

ple a little girl offered to be my guide , in English. She was very good, said her mum taught her, they had a shop nearby. I asked what I could buy her, and she said flip flops,  she took a big size , about 40, and I said they’re too big, she answered that big Will fit all the family.  So many stories and photos.  I would love to come back and see the people happy again. My last trip was just before Covid, I left because Thai friends told me to come back as it was getting to be a problem. Sad. 
What happened to Bogyoke  market and the many fashionable restaurants ? How do the people manage for money/ food ? Thanks.

 

 

[simon43]

5 hours ago, geisha said:

Simon43, I think I remember you from,Phuket where you had a hotel near the airport ? I was up there visiting friends from Kata Beach. I absolutely loved my trips to Burma , and I think I was one of the first tourists to enter. I travelled where I could, by train, and bus, and horse and cart. I went many times. I loved Mandalay , I asked a driver to show me special places of interest.He drove me to a hill, and a beautiful old British cottage style home, with a garden and a gate to tie up the horse. Fireplaces . It was empty and abandoned. My dream was to buy it and live there. Impossible of course.  I also fell in love with Bagan, visiting the area by bicycle.  At the Shwezigon toe

ple a little girl offered to be my guide , in English. She was very good, said her mum taught her, they had a shop nearby. I asked what I could buy her, and she said flip flops,  she took a big size , about 40, and I said they’re too big, she answered that big Will fit all the family.  So many stories and photos.  I would love to come back and see the people happy again. My last trip was just before Covid, I left because Thai friends told me to come back as it was getting to be a problem. Sad. 
What happened to Bogyoke  market and the many fashionable restaurants ? How do the people manage for money/ food ? Thanks.

 

 

Geisha, thanks very much for your post. Yes, I used to build/manage those small airport hotels in Phuket.

 

I am in Mandalay, so I'm not sure what has happened to Bogyoke market in Yangon.  I'm sure it's still functioning, but it must be very quiet.

 

Here in Mandalay I have seen 1 tourist couple in 3 weeks, (at the pagodas on Mandalay Hill).  There are a few foreign teachers in town, but they mostly seem to be American Christians, who perhaps have a higher purpose for being in town.  I'm not religious, but I do have my 'own god' who directed me yonks ago to help those who are worse off than me, (which means most people!), and that's the reason why I'm in town.

 

There are many more children begging in the street nowadays, and petty crime has increased. The increase in the cost of basic foodstuffs must be hitting the local people very hard.  I mostly eat local kinds of foods, and even I have noticed how things seem to be much more expensive than my previous trips.

 

Next Monday, I have to return to the girls' orphanage to install my Windows learn English app on their computer, then across town to visit another orphanage in west Mandalay.  If I have time, I'll walk up Mandalay Hill again (good exercise!).

[Mahseer]

Bogyoke Market in Rangoon is indeed still open 6 days a week but activity is greatly reduced and a lot of the stalls that are open tend to close early afternoon.

 

The city itself is unaffected by atrocities elsewhere and life goes on with just the occasional barbed wire fence here and there but very little evidence of those that rule on the streets. Just back from 2 weeks staying downtown and thoroughly enjoy being there and found a fabulous hotel between street 31&33 named Yangon Excelsior stunning value for $55. Some of the major hotels such as Shangri La & Pullman remain closed but plenty others open and vast majority of restaurants are operational. 

 

Anyone tempted there is about a dozen flights a day from Bangkok and additional from Chiang Mai. E visa typically issued next day which is valid for 3 months and good for 28 day stay.

 

Safe travels.

[simon43]

2 hours ago, Mahseer said:

Bogyoke Market in Rangoon is indeed still open 6 days a week but activity is greatly reduced and a lot of the stalls that are open tend to close early afternoon.

 

The city itself is unaffected by atrocities elsewhere ...

When I was teaching in Yangon 2 years ago, there were a few bomb and shooting attacks on police/army checkpoints.  I was staying at Star City and the attacks meant that the traffic into town was terrible, thanks to the many resulting checkpoints.

 

Here in Mandalay, my school is located right next to the Chinese consulate, which has already had a bomb chucked at it last month.  So the police/army presence is high.

 

My students asked me if they could build a sugar rocket, (sugar propellant etc), but this is definitely not a good idea 🙂  I had images of me and my students being dragged off to jail, (after being shot at first by the trigger-happy soldiers!).

[Mahseer]

24 minutes ago, simon43 said:

When I was teaching in Yangon 2 years ago, there were a few bomb and shooting attacks on police/army checkpoints. 

Yes I recall and responsibility of a group headed by rapper named Phyo Zeya Thaw who became a politician and was a firm favourite of Aung San Suu Kyi before he became disillusioned after realising that little could be done for change without the nod of those in uniform. He resigned and took up the gun but was rounded up and hung in July 2022. His body was never released to his family. 
 

There is an excellent documentary on his life made by ARTE.tv called 'The Rapper Politician - Myanmar's Zayar Thaw'. You need a VPN to watch in Thailand.

[Mahseer]

44 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Here in Mandalay, my school is located right next to the Chinese consulate, which has already had a bomb chucked at it last month.  So the police/army presence is high.

This was in response to China taking sides by offering the junta a $2billion line of credit.

[simon43]

No new photos yet - tomorrow Monday is my day off from teaching, and I will return to the orphanage to hand over some books and medicines, and hopefully take some more photos of street life.

 

One positive event today, (which is no doubt temporary), is that the 'load-like-a-snail' block on Facebook has been switched off.  Previously since my arrival in the country some weeks ago, Facebook could be accessed without the need to use a VPN, but each webpage would take about 1 minute to load.  Suddenly, that issue has been resolved, with fast access again possible.  WhatApp still needs use of a VPN....

[simon43]

Another sunny Monday and back to the girls' orphanage to hand over some more books, medicine and to install some English games and video software that I wrote onto their computer.

 

I was quite early and caught the young students as they were leaving to attend the local government school.

 

 

Next on my to-do list was to buy some satellite TV coaxial cable.  I needed a reel of this to install my weather satellite antenna above the science lab at the school where I teach.  The previously Monday I had searched high and low for a shop which sold coaxial cable, but only found electrical 3-core.  But today I was able to track down a 100 metre reel of the cable.  So that's off my shopping list.

 

Next up was PB board. This is the corrugated plastic sheets that can be used to attach wall posters on.  Well, I again searched high and low in the stationary shops, but had no luck at all in my quest.

 

Finally, back to the book shop to buy some bilingual (English-Burmese) classic story books, such as Charles Dickens etc.  I'll drop these books in to the orphanage on my next day off 🙂

[DonniePeverley]

On 11/21/2024 at 10:12 AM, soi3eddie said:

Sad for the Burmese people. I was in Yangon last year and saw no tourists. The Burmese people are struggling financially and for freedom. Of course, in conflict areas it's even worse. Now I see a number of travel YouTubers going to Myanmar and making clickbait headings such as "travelling Myanmar in 2024 is tough", "Journey into Myanmar's conflict zone" and "Entering Asia's most dangerous country". Not sure what to make of it having travelled the country extensively in the past. 

 

Seeing alot of these.

 

What's prompted a raft of youtubers to head there all at the same time? Can't be a coincidence. 

 

Burma trying to encourage some tourism?

[soi3eddie]

7 minutes ago, DonniePeverley said:

 

Seeing alot of these.

 

What's prompted a raft of youtubers to head there all at the same time? Can't be a coincidence. 

 

Burma trying to encourage some tourism?

 

I've seen a few more Myanmar vlogs recently. Some appear thrill seekers going to country under civil war, others I think, are just in it for the views (and money). I don't expect the Burmese military junta to be same as China, where shills are, allegedly, paid to promote the country and rubbish anything negative.

 

[DonniePeverley]

3 minutes ago, soi3eddie said:

 

I've seen a few more Myanmar vlogs recently. Some appear thrill seekers going to country under civil war, others I think, are just in it for the views (and money). I don't expect the Burmese military junta to be same as China, where shills are, allegedly, paid to promote the country and rubbish anything negative.

 

 

 

A few yotuubers have admitted they are paid to go to China to 'influence'. Some really crap videos. 

 

But i still can't work out how so many youtubers have arrived in Burma at the same time. It's that aspect that confuses me. Unless the Burmese govt wants to begin easing tensions and let people return. 

 

I know these videos are massively edited to make you feel a certain way, but the situation seems pretty at ease, and life pretty normal. 

 

What's the situation in the capital for example ... dangerous?

[soi3eddie]

11 minutes ago, DonniePeverley said:

What's the situation in the capital for example ... dangerous?

 

My GF and I visited Yangon (the biggest city and previous capital - as the official capital is now Naypyidaw) for 3 nights in March 2023. Somewhat subdued but no apparent danger. We walked in the night to areas and were treated nicely by the locals. No hassles or scary moments. Daytimes were fine too. No obvious military presence except around the airport.

 

[KannikaP]

 

[simon43]

One of the (minor) burdens that I have to bear for more than 25 years are somewhat 'weak' lungs. This is the sole reason why I emigrated from the UK 23 years ago to live in more humid and sunnier climes.  This certainly helped, but my lungs are also very 'fussy' and prefer the salty coastal air of southern Thailand.  When I venture too far north, I am plagued with coughs and bronchitis, and enough phlegm to fill a large swimming pool!

 

Of course, I knew all this when I returned to Myanmar.  So I came with various medications and a high quality face mask to try to keep my lungs healthy.  I was realistic to know that I would suffer again in the north Myanmar climate.  So it has been for the past few weeks, and yesterday I was laid low and racked with coughing.  I'm feeling better today, but still with bronchitis and a hacking cough, which is not recommended when you have to teach all day. 🙂

 

Anyway, I know from experience that these problems will subside (until the next flare-up).  A forum member recommended N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine, which definitely improved my ability to cough up 'gunk'  Unfortunately, I bought the last bottle of this wonderful medication in Mandalay, so have ordered some more from AliExpress.

 

Tomorrow afternoon I will visit a rather 'destitute' orphanage in the slum area by a local river.  I last went to that locality 8 years ago and watched the local funeral director washing the dead bodies in said river before encasing them in their coffins.....

 

[simon43]

Friday is a part-time teaching day for me, and I planned to pop home after the morning lessons.  However the young, pretty female teachers (they all seem to be like that in Myanmar!) had other ideas.

 

"Teacher Simon, we want to make a movie with you" they chorused!

 

Well, that sounds more fun,and I was ready to strip off my kit and lube up the rusty banana when they explained "The school is making a promo video for our winter sports festival, and the other foreign teachers have nominated you to be the presenter of this promo video".

 

My first thought was that the appearance of the oldest teacher in the whole school to promote a sports video was not a good idea.  However, after briefly considering the apparent health (or lack of it) of my fellow foreign teachers, I decided that I was maybe the better candidate.

 

So myself and 3 lovely young Burmese teachers squeezed onto 2 motor bikes and rode the short distance to the Mandalar Thiri sports stadium to make our movie.  30 or so grade 2 students arrived shortly by bus and they busied themselves in running around the sports hall and generally acting like errant cats, whilst the gym teachers tried to herd them.

 

I was given a sheet of paper with the various phrases and sentences to read out.  We didn't have any professional recording equipment, so one teacher videoed me with her mobile phone and I spoke my lines into my own phone voice recorder, to ensure an adequate sound level.  Videos and audio clips will be spliced together by the highly-skilled post-production facility (that means the computer teacher...).

 

Well, I have to say that the Burmese teachers were suitably 'wowed' by my professional presentation.  Little did they know that they were face-to-face with none other than 'Barry Lancaster', a famous radio DJ from Radio Delmare, from the days of the offshore pirate radio stations in the 1970's!  (Actually I spent most of my stint on that ship being seasick, but I need to keep the illusion going).

 

We completed the promo video by the kids all jumping in the air to a raucous scream.

 

So, the winter sports event will be on the last day of this month.  That gives me plenty of time to 'plot' my revenge on my fellow foreign teachers!

 

Addendum: For anyone interested in my 'radio' career, here are links to information about Radio Delmare:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Delmare

https://www.dxarchive.com/offshore_radio_delmare_english_service.html

 

 

 

[geisha]

3 hours ago, simon43 said:

Friday is a part-time teaching day for me, and I planned to pop home after the morning lessons.  However the young, pretty female teachers (they all seem to be like that in Myanmar!) had other ideas.

 

"Teacher Simon, we want to make a movie with you" they chorused!

 

Well, that sounds more fun,and I was ready to strip off my kit and lube up the rusty banana when they explained "The school is making a promo video for our winter sports festival, and the other foreign teachers have nominated you to be the presenter of this promo video".

 

My first thought was that the appearance of the oldest teacher in the whole school to promote a sports video was not a good idea.  However, after briefly considering the apparent health (or lack of it) of my fellow foreign teachers, I decided that I was maybe the better candidate.

 

So myself and 3 lovely young Burmese teachers squeezed onto 2 motor bikes and rode the short distance to the Mandalar Thiri sports stadium to make our movie.  30 or so grade 2 students arrived shortly by bus and they busied themselves in running around the sports hall and generally acting like errant cats, whilst the gym teachers tried to herd them.

 

I was given a sheet of paper with the various phrases and sentences to read out.  We didn't have any professional recording equipment, so one teacher videoed me with her mobile phone and I spoke my lines into my own phone voice recorder, to ensure an adequate sound level.  Videos and audio clips will be spliced together by the highly-skilled post-production facility (that means the computer teacher...).

 

Well, I have to say that the Burmese teachers were suitably 'wowed' by my professional presentation.  Little did they know that they were face-to-face with none other than 'Barry Lancaster', a famous radio DJ from Radio Delmare, from the days of the offshore pirate radio stations in the 1970's!  (Actually I spent most of my stint on that ship being seasick, but I need to keep the illusion going).

 

We completed the promo video by the kids all jumping in the air to a raucous scream.

 

So, the winter sports event will be on the last day of this month.  That gives me plenty of time to 'plot' my revenge on my fellow foreign teachers!

 

Addendum: For anyone interested in my 'radio' career, here are links to information about Radio Delmare:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Delmare

https://www.dxarchive.com/offshore_radio_delmare_english_service.html

 

 

 

Will, have you heard the latest news bbc? A bloody siege ends Myanmar army control now wholly under AA control. Northern Rakhine state. Report from  J Head and CNN.