A brief history of Burma helped us understand the ongoing tragedy endured by these very friendly people. Having been warned by most travel books to avoid discussions about politics, most of what we learned of Burma's history was from the internet and books. Throw me a frickin bone and stay with me here, people. We had to do something academic while wandering across the face of the planet as it hurtles through space.

The ethnic Mon people were the earliest inhabitants of lower Burma. They founded an empire and introduced both writing and Buddhism into Burma. In 573 AD, two Mon brothers, Prince Samala and Prince Wimala, founded the Mon kingdom Hongsavatoi at the present site of modern Pegu (Bagan). This kingdom flourished in peace and prosperity for several centuries until it was occupied by the Burman dynasty.

In 1757, the Burmese invaded and devastated the Mon kingdom, killing tens of thousands of Mon, including Mon priests, pregnant women, and children. Over 3,000 priests were massacred by the victorious Burmese in the capital city Bagan alone. Thousands more priests were killed in the countryside. The surviving priests fled to Thailand and Burmese priests took over the monasteries. Mon people were persecuted, oppressed, and enslaved and countless people were burned in holocausts, like the Jews under the Nazis. Mon property and possessions were looted and burned throughout Burma. Mons fled further south within Burma and east into Thailand. The most amazing part of this story is that it is still going on today except they don't have any possessions left to plunder.

Since it's independence from Britain in 1948 years ago Burma has been racked by civil war and has been ruled by military dictators. The Mon people, as well as other ethnic minorities such as the Karen and Shan, have suffered greatly during the last 50 years. The current rulers are the SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council) (no relation to sleestaks from the Land of the Lost). Basically military generals who took power in a 1988 coup. One of the most notorious actions of the SLORC regime was the Aug. 8, 1988 massacre of thousands of students engaged in peaceful protests against the hard line government. For this the current Burmese government has received worldwide condemnation as well as for its ongoing human-rights violations, especially against the Mon people.

In 1994 The US State Department reported that "despite an appearance of greater normalcy fostered by increased economic activity, in fact the Government's unacceptable record on human rights has changed little. Out of sight of most visitors, Burmese citizens continued to live subject at any time and without appeal to the arbitrary and sometimes brutal dictates of the military. There continued to be credible reports, particularly from ethnic minority-dominated areas, that soldiers committed serious human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings and rape. The use of porters by the army--with all the attendant maltreatment, illness, and even death for those compelled to serve--remained a standard practice and probably even increased. The Burmese military forced hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of ordinary Burmese (including women and children) to "contribute" their labor, often under harsh working conditions, to construction projects throughout the country. The forced resettlement of civilians also continues."

The story sounds vaguely familiar to the Muslim-Christian conflict of the late 90's in Bosnia and unless the military regime shares some power with the Burmese ethnic minorities the tragedy might not change. Burma is a geography shared by many ethnic groups and ideologies and it is necessary to find a system that includes representation for all the people of the country (aka democracy). Of course SLORC's economic strength is supported by its efforts to control the massive amounts of opium produced in the mountainous region shared by Thailand, Laos and Burma, known as the Golden Triangle. And don't think for a second that the US doesn't continue to play a significant role in that game as revealed in the CIA's role in "Air America" during the Viet Nam war. But that's another story.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the lady who advises tourists to avoid Burma, received the Nobel Peace prize for her efforts to bring international attention to this conflict. But her "no tourist" demands are not so popular with the people these days because many of the people benefit from the trickle down effect if the tourist dollar. The people are focused on trying to make a decent lives for themselves. The Burmese are really friendly with tourists and work hard to please them, sometimes a little too hard. We searched for signs of this Draconian government but it is difficult to find because the military presence was extremely discreet. In fact, the government has showed signs of loosening its iron grip on the country by releasing Aung San Suu Kyi in May, 2002 from house arrest. The generals have also mellowed a bit and opened up additional areas of the country to tourism. Although the ethnic groups may desire a democratic government the people we encountered seemed content with their improved living standards and tolerant of the military regime.

There's always hope and the people we met appeared to be well nourished with it.

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