One thing that did not fail to fascinate me while I was in Shan State was seeing Buddhist monks driving.

I was on my way from Lashio to Wanhai, headquarters of the Shan State Progress Party / Shan State Army, 100 miles south of Lashio, when I ran into them: some driving cars and others motorcycles, with the tails of their saffron robes flying and flapping behind them in the wind.

My driver, being a conventional believer, was obviously not happy about seeing them and especially about the fact that this unseemly sight took place while he was escorting a distinguished guest to visit the area. “They’re all going to the 4th Lunar Month festival in Keng Lern (a famous tourist attraction near Wanhai),” he said in answer to my question, somewhat gruffly.

As for myself, who had lived for 8 years among Christian missionaries, to whom driving motor vehicles was part of their divine duty to bring enlightenment to the “godless” Shans, the sight of monk motorists was just a novelty rather than a blasphemy.


My friend who used to be a monk later told me that the monastic code, established since the Lord Buddha’s days, had not banned monks from driving, only from any act of conduct that may damage the faith of the followers in the person of the monks and, as a result, in the Lord’s teachings.

Another thing that never failed to amuse me was the availability of Thai products in rural towns outside Lashio, where I thought Chinese products would be the only commodities I would find.

At Hoya, half way to Wanhai, I was served with M 150 and Sprite, both soft drinks from Thailand. How much? I asked. The answer was: 500 kyat (17.5 baht) for M 150 and 800 kyat (28 baht) for Sprite.

Since they are sold in Thailand for 10 baht and 15 baht respectively, I thought they were not too expensive, and decided to accept the hospitality.

One last if not least thing I should not fail to mention is the existence of tax collecting checkpoints along the way. The first one, not far from Lashio, was the land transport checkpoint where my driver handed out 200 kyat (B 7 baht) both on the way to Wanhai and back. “They would have asked for more if I were carrying several passengers or goods,” the driver explained.

Another checkpoint, just before reaching Wanhai, was military, which, according to the driver, charged a lot. However, the driver took a side road which circumvented the checkpoint altogether and I never saw how it looked like. “There used to be several checkpoints before the ceasefire,” he told me.

The only problem was that the fighting was still going on despite the ceasefire. Asked by villagers why it was so, Burmese commanders had reportedly replied: “The government is doing its job, and we are doing ours.” Which makes one wonder: Between the government and the army that are scrambling over each other to become top dog, do the people have a chance?

I felt sure they could despite the overwhelming odds.

At least the country is not short of people who are trying to make it a better place to live.

If so, our fervent hope is that time is running short for the oppressors and long for the people and their fighters.