Today, I crossed the border into Myanmar. I first met with the Thai Customs official who is in charge of the trafficking division. We couldn't speak much one on one without a translator, but he seemed a bit disenchanted with the whole trafficking fight. I will say, though, that being at the border and seeing the hundreds of people and vehicles crossing made me appreciate how difficult it is to weed out those who are trafficked, those who want to come, those who wanted to come but once they get into Thailand now want to go back home . . . I see how overwhelming and challenging it is. He told me that they are doing all they can but it is very tough.
One thing that he was very excited about was Thailand's plan to start fingerprinting everyone who crosses the border. He thinks this will take place before the end of the year. He thinks that this will really help track them, because as of now, they only have names and documents and "everyone has the same name so it is hard to track." When I asked him what he meant, Khun Julie, who is Myanmar and works for the Thai customs department as a translator, explained that Myanmar people have no last name. They ONLY have first names! So in school, for example, they go by "Arwin 1" "Arwin 2" "Arwin 3". So no wonder the Border police have trouble tracking them! He also told me that what often happens is people come through on temporary 7 day border passes, which allow them to stay in the Mae Sai province only, and not go deeper into Thailand, but instead people disappear, and they might not see them again for years.
Once I finished my interview with the customers official, he arranged for me to be given a VIP stamp on my passport,
which also meant I had to pay 500 baht (charged by Myanmar government - the Thai side has no charge) and I crossed the border, just like thousands of migrants do everyday, some legally and others, illegally. I also realized how easy it is to cross the border illegally - all it takes is wading across a river that is almost small enough to be considered a stream.
My guide was Khun Julie, a Myanmar person of the Shan people who works for the Thai customs department. She speaks excellent English, Burmese, Thai, and Shan. She is also the first Christian I have met from outside of Asean, so it was nice to share that identity and also hears her views on Buddhism. She likes the meditation and concentration aspects of the Buddhist religion and thinks that Christians could stand to benefit from that. We went to check out this Buddhist pagoda:
Julie taught me two fascinating things about Myanmar culture - first that Myanmar people only have first names (still cannot get over that! no family name whatsoever!) and secondly - GET THIS - Myanmar is 30 MINUTES behind Thailand. Not an hour, 30 minutes. So the border closes at 6:30pm Thai time, and 6pm Myanmar time. Whenever they have meetings, they have to ask, "Thai time? Or Myanmar time?" And at New Years, Mae Sai celebrates at midnight, and then half an hour later, Thachileik (the border city in Myanmar) celebrates!
Julie also took me to see a "Hill Tribe village" which is actually just a mini village built by a tourist resort so tourists can come see the "Hill tribe way of life." Oh, the realities of tourism.
But instead of being dismissive, I was happy to see that at least these hill tribe people (who are employed by the resort company) are given a steady job, so that their children will likely not be victims of trafficking.
One thing that he was very excited about was Thailand's plan to start fingerprinting everyone who crosses the border. He thinks this will take place before the end of the year. He thinks that this will really help track them, because as of now, they only have names and documents and "everyone has the same name so it is hard to track." When I asked him what he meant, Khun Julie, who is Myanmar and works for the Thai customs department as a translator, explained that Myanmar people have no last name. They ONLY have first names! So in school, for example, they go by "Arwin 1" "Arwin 2" "Arwin 3". So no wonder the Border police have trouble tracking them! He also told me that what often happens is people come through on temporary 7 day border passes, which allow them to stay in the Mae Sai province only, and not go deeper into Thailand, but instead people disappear, and they might not see them again for years.
Once I finished my interview with the customers official, he arranged for me to be given a VIP stamp on my passport,
which also meant I had to pay 500 baht (charged by Myanmar government - the Thai side has no charge) and I crossed the border, just like thousands of migrants do everyday, some legally and others, illegally. I also realized how easy it is to cross the border illegally - all it takes is wading across a river that is almost small enough to be considered a stream.
My guide was Khun Julie, a Myanmar person of the Shan people who works for the Thai customs department. She speaks excellent English, Burmese, Thai, and Shan. She is also the first Christian I have met from outside of Asean, so it was nice to share that identity and also hears her views on Buddhism. She likes the meditation and concentration aspects of the Buddhist religion and thinks that Christians could stand to benefit from that. We went to check out this Buddhist pagoda:
Julie taught me two fascinating things about Myanmar culture - first that Myanmar people only have first names (still cannot get over that! no family name whatsoever!) and secondly - GET THIS - Myanmar is 30 MINUTES behind Thailand. Not an hour, 30 minutes. So the border closes at 6:30pm Thai time, and 6pm Myanmar time. Whenever they have meetings, they have to ask, "Thai time? Or Myanmar time?" And at New Years, Mae Sai celebrates at midnight, and then half an hour later, Thachileik (the border city in Myanmar) celebrates!
Julie also took me to see a "Hill Tribe village" which is actually just a mini village built by a tourist resort so tourists can come see the "Hill tribe way of life." Oh, the realities of tourism.
But instead of being dismissive, I was happy to see that at least these hill tribe people (who are employed by the resort company) are given a steady job, so that their children will likely not be victims of trafficking.
Finally, on border crossing back from Myanmar to Thailand, my tour guide pointed out the advertisement below, which was written (in both Burmese and Thai), "Do not be too trusting of strangers - or you could end up as a victim of labor trafficking, sex trafficking, or begging" with pictures for each type of trafficking. The posters were huge, so I was very pleased to see at least this one. They need more, but this is a promising start, praise God!
WOW no last names!! That is amazing. Is there any particular reason for that?
ReplyDeleteAlso, is Myanmar the place where the woman have the long necks? I saw it in National Geographic and it looked like that in one of your photos of the "Hill Tribe Village" people.
I did a quick search, YES!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayan_people_(Burma)