Myanmar quake: ‘I feel guilty – our people need us the most now’

The next day Soe Ko Ko Ko Naing saw his great-uncle was in July at his residence by the lenders of the Irrawaddy River.

Ko Naing, a follower of Myanmar’s military dictatorship weight, was about to leave the nation. Ko Naing, who resides in Min Kun, a small town in the military enclave of Sagaing, did not have faith in someone enough to inform them of his strategy, aside from his favorite Oo Oo (‘uncle’ in Burmese ).

I explained to him that I was visiting Thailand. He believed it to be a wise decision. He wished me great health and safety, Ko Naing, a 35-year-old labor rights advocate, recalls.

Almost a year later, Thailand’s Ko Naing is secure. However, his Oo Oo was killed by the devastating earthquake that struck Sagaing next Friday, killing at least 2, 000 people.

” I have nightmares.” I’m also dealing with my pain,” Ko Naing said.

” I have no regrets about leaving the country because I had to,” she said. But I’m angry because individuals need us now more than ever. I feel vulnerable.

Ko Naing is one of the millions of people in Myanmar’s community eagerly watching from far as their nation battles following its biggest disaster in a decade.

Some people, like him, experience impotence and survivor guilt. Some people find these emotions even more perplexing because they are unable to quickly go back to aid in recovery efforts or follow up with relatives because they face political oppression.

With about 4.3 million Myanmar citizens living in Thailand, the largest community group there is, despite the possibility that this number will rise even more if illegal immigrants are included.

It has huge drawn individuals from Myanmar, who make up a significant portion of its immigrant labor, because it is a wealthier neighbor. Their rates have only increased since the 2021 defense revolt and subsequent civil war.

Some work in the construction industry, with many of the 400 workers at a Bangkok tower believed to be from Myanmar, while others are employed in Thailand’s agribusiness and seafood sectors.

People in Samut Sakhon, a fishing port close to Bangkok where some personnel from Myanmar work, thronged the streets of a street market on a gloomy Monday morning and women with thanaka daubed on their ears.

Houses had signs in both Thai and Burmese, and there were flags advertising SIM cards with low-cost calls to Myanmar.

” We have seen video of buildings collapsing and citizens trapped beneath the dust online. We are so sorry that we are unable to do anything, said 30-year-old factory employee Yin Yin, who, like many others in the group, is concerned about the situation there.

Thant Zin, 28, a shop owner from a Region area that was intact by the earthquake, lamented the destruction of ancient shrines and pagodas in his location. What a catastrophe, y’all! I feel so bad because we have never seen such a lot of harm.

Ko Naing sat in his company across the street checking for changes on his home in Myanmar. In or around Sagaing and Mandalay, there are at least 150 of his family.

Thailand, India, and China may feel the effects of Friday’s devastating earthquake because it was so large. Ko Naing claimed that he felt the room stir for about 30 seconds as he lay in bed in Samut Sakhon, hundreds of kilometers from the centre that morning.

He went quickly to social media to find out the earthquake had occurred near to Min Kun. Then he discovered a photo of Sagaing’s Ava Bridge, a native location, lying in damaged ruin in the Irrawaddy River. I have many family there, and I was shocked and devastated. I believed that it must be false reports. However, it was real.

Ko Naing simply heard from his family on Saturday due to the sluggish communication in Myanmar during the hurricane’s immediate fallout. Nearly all was safe and accounted for, he was informed, with the exception of a faraway great-aunt who passed away in Mandalay and his Oo Oo.

Min Kun and its surrounding area had been shelled by the military a month prior that targeted the Women’s Defence Forces ‘ weight. Nearly all of Ko Naing’s community members left the town and moved to Mandalay or a military-controlled area.

Oo Oo had refused to leave the village and rather sought refuge in the monastery, knowing that the military may not be able to attack Buddhist sites.

However, the convent totally collapsed on Friday when the disaster struck. On Monday, his body was discovered in the dust.

Oo Oo is remembered as a candid and vocal 60-year-old by Ko Naing. The two bonded over their shared assistance for the weight, particularly after the coup, in a region dominated by the defense.

The two spent days by the creek, eating lunch, and listening to the news on the news. Ko Naing may assist him in keeping up with the latest news about the legal battle because his great-uncle had no smartphone and no social press. He made up jokes that” I was his private information agency.”

Oo Oo had to leave his job as a fisherman after suffering a stroke that left him partially paralyzed. He would still go to his mother’s tea shop every morning to prepare doughsticks known as ee kyar kwe.

He was the only person I could speak to because he was my source of inspiration, particularly during hard times. He taught me that I could persevere,” Ko Naing said.

Ko Naing tapped on that tenacity when he dangerously eluded Myanmar with his wife and five-year-old boy. He was wanted by the defense, which had issued a warrant for his arrest for participating in quiet demonstrations.

His family traveled to the frontier and improperly entered Thailand. The home tripped over a big pipe as they ran in the dark past a Thai border police station and slammed to the ground. His brother slammed against his mind. The worst was feared by Ko Naing.

But to his relief, his brother ejected a loud scream. Ko Naing slammed his hand into the boy’s mouth, picked him up, and drove bicycle toward a waiting people smuggler. They made their way to Samut Sakhon, where they eventually obtained the right to remain in Thailand, before finally settling in the Thai village of Mae Sot.

Ko Naing stated,” To be honest, I’m really depressed at the moment. He is now healthy and has a good job.”

The government has been killing individuals who oppose them since the pandemic first started, followed by the coup, and finally. People have been forced to flee.

The disaster next has increased the pain. The army continues to bomb locations even after the disaster.

” I keep thinking it would be nice if we can be that, if we can do anything,” he said,” It’s depressing dwelling here, seeing the information about my nation.”

He is collaborating with the Myanmar community to obtain funds and provide humanitarian aid to earthquake victims returning house. They are also assisting the Bangkok building’s collapsed building staff in Myanmar.

Nobody will help our people if we’re constantly depressed, so it’s nice that we’re still intact. We can also take action.

” We have to make up our minds about how to repair and how to maneuver forward.”