Life in Shan State: Forced Conscription, Check points, Failing Education, and a Collapsing Economy

Antonio Graceffo

The lives of migrants from Burma living in Thailand are often very difficult. Many have no documents and must work sporadic jobs with low pay, a day here, two days there in construction or agriculture. They live in fear of being arrested or deported. Those with proper papers still do not earn very much and are separated from their families. In some cases, their families are in government-controlled areas, which they cannot enter because they would be conscripted. This means that many of the workers and students in Thailand may not see their parents again until after the war. If their families inside Burma are displaced, they may not hear from them for weeks or months at a time. And as difficult as things are for them as documented or undocumented aliens in Thailand, life in Burma is even worse.

Forty-two-year-old Sai Keng Kham, a Shan man from Pong Pa Khem Township in eastern Shan State, explained that he sent his two children to attend school in Thailand because of the worsening educational quality and safety situation in Burma. At the start of each school term, he incurs the costs and dangers associated with crossing the border to deliver his children to school.

Sai Keng Kham works primarily as a garlic farmer. However, rising fuel costs and the low market price of garlic have made it difficult for him to earn a profit this year, and he expects to face financial losses. He explained that his hometown is controlled by multiple armed groups, including the Burmese military, the Shan State Army-South, the Wa Army, and a local militia he referred to as the Lahu group. “In each township, there are more than five checkpoints, and each one demands payment,” he said.

The claim of multiple checkpoints per township, each demanding payment, is corroborated by international observers. The International Crisis Group documented that on a 45-minute drive between two northern Shan towns, travelers must pay fees at four separate checkpoints controlled by different armed groups. The same report went on to say that armed groups also levy annual contributions on communities, vehicle registration taxes, and taxes on businesses. When transporting goods, including his agricultural produce, he must pay fees at these checkpoints. As a result, these additional costs often leave him with little to no profit.

In addition to arbitrary fees and taxes, Sai Keng Kham has been burdened by Myanmar’s conscription law, which requires every household in his area to pay 300 baht per month to authorities. The junta activated the People’s Military Service Law on February 10, 2024, mandating two to five years of military service for men aged 18–35 and women aged 18–27, with evasion punishable by three to five years in prison. In practice, cash payments in lieu of service have become widespread. Additionally, authorities in some areas, such as Namsang, Kunhing, and Karli townships issued notices ordering households to contribute 50,000 kyats ($24) to fund substitute recruits.

Conscription has fueled a cottage industry of graft where families pay administrators the equivalent of hundreds or even thousands of dollars to avoid the draft, with recruits typically coming from poor families unable to pay off officials.

In Sai Keng Kham’s town, there is no access to electricity or a public water system. The World Bank’s Myanmar Economic Monitor and other assessments confirm severe electricity and service shortages outside urban centers, worsened since the 2021 coup. Most households rely on solar panels, but poorer families cannot afford them and instead depend on candles and firewood for light. Daily wages in the area range from 200 to 250 baht (between $6 and $7.50 USD per day), depending on the type of work. So even buying wood for cooking and candles for light reduces the amount of money available for people to buy food.

Deeper in eastern Shan State, local people commonly use Thai currency because it is more stable. Most goods in the area are also imported from Thailand, which adds to the cost. For those earning in Myanmar kyat, the falling exchange rate makes it harder and harder to buy daily necessities.

The education system under the junta has deteriorated. In resistance-controlled areas, schools are often targeted by airstrikes, leaving many villages without a proper school building. Teacher shortages are acute, and many teachers have fled the country. Those who remain often neglect their classroom teaching duties, prioritizing instead private tuition in homes as a means of supplementing their incomes. Schools have increasingly engaged in corruption, charging higher fees under the guise of hidden educational costs. Parents who have the option, like Sai Keng Kham, send their children to school in Thailand. Other families rely more on supplementary tuition to compensate for declining school quality. World Bank survey data shows that household spending on private tutoring increased substantially after the coup. For those who can afford neither option, education often stops after middle school, with the school dropout rate increasing significantly since the coup.

Similar to the situation described by Sai Keng Kham, a 38-year-old Shan man Sai Payti spoke about the difficulties he faced living in Mong Ton Township in eastern Shan State. He is a father of two children and works as a garlic and soybean farmer.

Sai Payti explained that Mong Ton is under the control of the junta, the UWSA, and the RCSS, and that over the past three years these armed groups have increased pressure on villagers by demanding both money and new recruits. His name was included on a list for military service with the junta, but he refused to go, saying, “I knew that if I joined, I might never return home or see my family again.”

He said many of his friends who went to serve in the army have disappeared and never returned. When families ask for information, he explained, the junta claims they are fine but does not allow any contact. Sai Payti added that even families of those who serve are still forced to pay 300 baht per month to the junta. He also noted that while the demand for new recruits has decreased somewhat this year, the authorities continue to demand money from villagers, requiring every family to contribute.

Sai Payti said that when he received the junta’s letter ordering him to report for military service, he hid for several days until the soldiers left the village, after which he returned home.

Speaking about his family, he said, “I worry about my children.” He explained that they are growing up in an environment with widespread problems, including drugs, gambling, and young people frequenting KTVs. He wants to send his children to school in Thailand but cannot afford it. He fears that if they remain in his hometown, “they may fall into bad habits,” adding that he is afraid they could become addicted to drugs or be taken by the military.

Drug addiction, forced conscription, lack of education, and underemployment are the fate of many young people inside Burma. For some parents, sending their children alone to Thailand is like a mother on a sinking ship tossing her baby into a lifeboat. At least there is hope. For those who remain in Burma, the situation is just getting worse and worse.

Antonio Graceffo is an economist and China expert who has reported extensively on Burma.