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My copy arrived the other day and I read it through in one sitting over a pot of coffee. This is a book with a serious purpose – to better understand the life experience and mindset of young gay (not the term used in the book) ex-urban Thai guys in order to see if there is a better way to get them up to speed on the risk of HIV and the need for safe sex before they become part of the 30% of gay men in urban centers with HIV. As it is a serious book, it is not written for light reading and there is some academic jargon. However, it is pretty readable, much more so than I would have expected for a book of this type. The book is based around interviews with 25 guys over an 18 month period in which they finish high school and go on to higher education or the job market, usually leaving their home town for a city. What the guys say is quite illuminating and requires a re-read. There is a lot of material and having only read through it once over coffee the precis that follows may need amendment on a second reading. The Thai framing of life in general including sexuality is quite different to the Western framing. There are many strands here, which in combination suggest that a Western approach to HIV outreach (peer-groups, gay-community-based support) will be much less effective than it is in the West because (i) young Thais listen better to someone more senior in the social hierarchy than a peer and (ii) young gay Thais do not see themselves as part of a gay community – creating an identity around being gay makes as much sense to them as creating an identity around a brand of car or a football team. The process through which they and their family and friends recognize their sexual difference is quite different to that of a Western teen. · Thai society places a lot of value on appearances – on behaving correctly and fulfilling the expected role – and less value on factual truth. As long as you fulfill public role expectations, what you do in private is not of much concern as long as it does not hurt anyone. This means that having separate public and private personas is totally acceptable, not hypocritical. · Same-sex attraction is not a sin or bad behavior. It is bad luck. You have been dealt an unlucky hand because achieving a stable same-sex relationship is very difficult, if it is possible at all. Your chance of being happy in love is thus less than a straight persons. In karmic terms it is punishment for being a homewrecker in a previous life. · Sexual roles are defined along gender lines. If you are gay, you are assumed to be more female and it is assumed that acting and being female is what you want. Hence the recognized role of kathoey. Many of the guys interviewed were accepted and socialized as kathoey by their family and community before going to the city. As they gained experience they realized that they were not in fact passive and changed their self-presentation from kathoey to Man. · The fact that same-sex attracted people are accepted – with a slight second-class status as ‘bad luck’ – means they feel part of the broader family and community and creating a separate gay community does not feel so necessary. · The Thai view is that successful long term relationships are built on the combination of the differences that each partner brings to the relationship. Male/female, top/bottom, young/old, rich/poor, attractive/unattractive. The relationship is built on the exchange of these differences. · For teens of both sexes from poor backgrounds, this understanding of ‘exchange of differences’ provides a deeper logic to finding an older, wealthier partner than the logic that is obvious to Westerners. · The obligation to the family, particularly the mother, is life-long. The debt to the mother can never be repaid. You need to be a good son and support your family and particularly your mother. If you cannot provide grandchildren, you can compensate by greater provision of lifestyle support. You still have a role and maintain face. · Entering the bar scene is not loss of face. (i) The separation of public/private personas is not hypocrisy. In your home town you are a good son supporting your family. You do not escort in your home town, that would lose face, but out of sight is fine. (ii) As same-sex attracted you are thought of in a female role framework, so finding a husband to support you is a legitimate objective. To improve the economic status of the family, a wealthy husband would be preferable. Working bars is a way, probably the only way, to meet a wealthy man. · An ex-urban teen arriving in the city is likely to have very little knowledge of HIV and AIDs and safe/unsafe sex. · An ex-urban teen arriving in the city will not seek out a gay community and so will not encounter gay support groups who handle HIV/AIDs education. · A same-sex attracted teen arriving in the city has probably been conditioned to be passive, to seek an older wealthier partner and to follow the lead of this partner who is more senior in the hierarchy. So initially the teen is likely to be the receptive partner not the penetrative one and will take the lead of their partner on safe or unsafe sex practices. This creates a very big risk that they are infected with HIV early in their sexual experience. After some initial experiences, they may realize that they prefer the active role, and if they have contracted HIV and continue to not practice safe sex, they then help to spread it. And there you have the 30% positive rate among gay urban Thai men.

From Channel News Asia Social platform helps small eateries survive Wilailak Thanakitwibul, 68, cooks for a customer at Three Aunties', a small eatery on Bangkok's Samran Rat road. (Photo: Pichayada Promchertchoo) BANGKOK: The sound of a metal spatula against a wok was a familiar greeting to visitors at a small eatery on Samran Rat road. Aromatic smoke, sometimes with a spicy note of chillies, and the sizzling of food over hot flames used to fill its little unpretentious space on the ground floor of an old shophouse. For five decades, its occupants - three sisters now in their 60s and 70s - have cooked and served an array of local dishes to generations of customers. Their eatery Three Aunties’ is one of many in Bangkok’s historic neighbourhood known as Pratu Pee or ‘Ghost Gate’ among Thais. Once an exit way for dead bodies from Bangkok’s old city, the area is home to numerous street-food legends, whose culinary fame and mouthwatering dishes such as Phad Thai noodles and Ba Chang sticky rice dumplings had long attracted throngs of foodies. Today, the neighbourhood is unusually quiet. COVID-19 and various lockdown measures have dealt a heavy blow to the restaurants. People stay at home to avoid infections and many have less spending power than before. With hardly any walk-in customers for more than a year, small eateries are struggling to survive. “We used to make 3,000 to 4,000 baht (US$92 to US$122) per day but right now, we can barely make 1,000 baht,” said 68-year-old Wilailak Thanakitwibul from Three Aunties’. Scant income has caused the siblings to slip into debt and dejection. They owe their landlord two months’ rent and have to live sparingly to get by. Knowing they may not have any customers, the three sisters have no choice but to open their eatery every day and hope for the best. “We can’t stop because the rent is more than 500 baht per day,” Wilailak said. “It’s so exhausting to earn some money these days. Still, there have been some lucky days with hundreds of orders, thanks to a community-driven platform called Locall. According to its co-founder Peangploy Jitpiyatham, Locall is a by-product of the pandemic, formed in April last year by a civil society network named SATARANA. Its digital platform allows customers to place orders for select restaurants and cafes in different neighbourhoods, focusing on small and elderly sellers with no access to online delivery services. They also engage unemployed community members who wish to deliver food from local sellers to customers. Continues with photos https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/thailand-covid-19-local-platform-help-eateries-2145106

I am heading back to Rio and São Paulo the first week in October. i was last there in May, but now i will be flying from Miami instead of OC airport so a lot shorter flight!

From BBC Travel flock of birds glided below me as I peered down from the wicker basket of a drifting hot air balloon above the Malaysian city of Putrajaya. The creatures gracefully flapped their grey wings as they passed the city’s nest of skyscrapers en route to their nearby habitat at the Putrajaya Wetlands Park, the largest man-made freshwater wetlands in Malaysia. Nearly 100 bird species reside in this 200-hectare oasis of marshes, ponds and forest, and it's a valuable habitat for 1,800 species of insects, 16 types of amphibians, 22 species of reptiles and 16 types of mammals. It's hard to believe that this serene sanctuary home to macaques, flamingos, otters, boars and civets is just 2km north of the mint-green Islamic dome that decorates Perdana Putra, the colossal office of the prime minister of Malaysia. This sprawling eco-haven was part of the bold vision of the man who long occupied Perdana Putra: Mahathir Mohamad. No politician has left as large an imprint on Malaysia as Mahathir. Malaysia has been an independent nation for 64 years, and Mahathir was prime minister for 24 of those, with his second leadership stint ending in 2020. While his tenures were tinged with controversy, Mahathir’s aggressive development strategies helped Malaysia build one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies in the 1990s. Several of Kuala Lumpur's largest monuments testify to his ambition – chief among them the massive Kuala Lumpur International Airport and the iconic 452m-tall Petronas Twin Towers. But his boldest project of all was Putrajaya, Malaysia's "other" capital city. he airport took flight in 1998; the twin towers rose that same year; and in 1999 Putrajaya became the new seat of the Malaysian Federal Government to help address overcrowding in Kuala Lumpur. The modern, planned city bloomed out of a messy patch of rubber and oil palm plantations. Lying just 25km south of Kuala Lumpur, which remains the national capital, Putrajaya now serves as Malaysia’s administrative and judicial capital, home to many of its government offices. Yet, despite being wedged between one of the world's most visited cities, Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia's historical city of Malacca, Malaysia's "other" capital seems to hide in plain sight. Like countless other travellers, during my first dozen trips to Kuala Lumpur, the most I saw of Putrajaya was a series of quick glances from the expressways that connects Kuala Lumpur's airport with the city centre. My curiosity eventually lured me to explore this overlooked city twice: first in a hot air balloon; and later on foot. The few tourists who do visit Putrajaya are richly rewarded. Putrajaya’s downtown is marked by contemporary architecture infused with traditional Islamic designs. Gleaming skyscrapers are adorned by Arabesque patterns with geometric or floral motifs. The city’s Iron Mosque, meanwhile, boasts the kind of cutting-edge steel-and-glass architecture you’d expect to find in Tokyo or Beijing. Similarly modern is the Putrajaya Convention Centre, an avant-garde creation inspired by the Pending Perak, a silver belt buckle from the royal regalia of Malay sultans. The city is also home to one of the world's only pink mosques, the massive Masjid Putra – as well as impressive museums, a large shopping precinct and one of Asia’s cleanest and greenest cityscapes, with 37% of its land dedicated to parks and open public spaces. Building Putrajaya from scratch also afforded generous opportunities for innovation. Mahathir’s goal was to make Putrajaya Malaysia’s most eco-friendly urban centre and its most modern. Inside a large command centre, Putrajaya city staff monitor a tsunami of digital data from sensors and CCTV cameras placed all over the metropolis, according to Tengku Aina Ismail, director of communications for Putrajaya Corporation, the government entity that runs the federal city. The cameras quickly identify and then alert staff about problems with traffic, crime, pollution or infrastructure; and the command centre also monitors the city’s weather data, its e-government services, its cashless commercial system (which lets residents pay for goods and services using a phone app) and even the health of Putrajaya Lake and the surrounding wetlands. Continues with photos https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210901-putrajaya-the-capital-city-youve-never-heard-of

There's no debating that participating in any sport that requires collision at speed poses physical risks. Any number of studies have confirmed them. What has not been discussed are the social benefits that accrue to those who choose to accept the risks of being a team player. There is certainly oodles of money to be made on the professional golf circuits, tennis tournaments and other solo spots. But only a minuscule number of athletes attain these professional ranks. The overwhelming majority are drawn to amateur team sports. In return for accepting the risks, they come to know the camaraderie that can't be realized in other pursuits. That's why American youths play football, Canadians hockey, British rugby, and much of the rest of the world soccer and a mix of other team endeavors. It's a right of passage for many. Yes, the risks are plain but it's not all that surprising that the need for social acceptance wins out in the end. We can't always exist in a cocoon of total safety. We can--and should--make sports as risk free as possible through the imposition of rules and codes of conduct but never through bans on participation.

Got to say I have never heard of it, but after reading the article I do want to visit when I am in Malaysia

Readers are generally of two minds when it comes to just what they would prefer that the superpowers do with all that power they possess. There are those who wish them to do absolutely nothing beyond acting in self defense if attacked, presumably by another superpower. Others would have them take overt action to defend the underdog in places like Myanmar, Taiwan, Ukraine and multiple other locations across the globe. And then there are others who want it both ways (no pun intended). In the wake of reaction to military adventurism noted above over the past few centuries, it seems unlikely that those nations with the most assets will be lining up to dispatch troops to another land regardless of how downtrodden its inhabitants may be. What is likely is the employment of more non-military action such as trade sanctions and embargoes, and perhaps in select places the use of stand off (over-the-horizon) weapons. It's one thing to engage ad infinitum in armchair analysis but another altogether to put forth a system that brings justice without the violence of imperialism. The United Nations, and the League of Nations before it, haven't been able to achieve that lofty goal. In many cases, NATO ended up being the post war default mechanism. We're free to judge for ourselves how well that's served member nations. As I write, there are leaders within the European Union discussing the pros and cons of an EU army to face up to future geopolitical threats there. Generally it sounds like NATO Light and I doubt its supporters envision it in any way well suited for deployment beyond EU geography. So where does that all leave those whose hue and cry demand a better Afghanistan, a humane Myanmar, a secure Taiwan, a non-threatening North Korea, and peaceful places in much of the African continent and beyond? Perhaps it will be ad-hoc contributions like we see taking place now in Afghanistan where Qatar and Turkey have joined efforts to restart the air traffic control system. Neither are superpowers in the military sense but both possess diplomatic leverage beyond their weight class. Maybe, just maybe, we're seeing solutions emerge that were not on the radar just a few months earlier.

Biden could have handled it better, but he was delivered a shit show thanks to Trump. But, I think most of the drama is because nobody likes to admit failure of a mission, and this mission has been a failure for a long damn time. So when that finally became really clear, everybody is mad at Biden. I mostly blame the Neocons, but I also Blame Obama who I think was often naïve, and should have acted in his time in office. I think he was far too timid a president. As blame goes, Biden's is pretty damn small compared to the president who started it and those who sustained it. He just happens to around right now when the plug finally got pulled.

That country is such a tragedy. I fear the power mad generals will only achieve another failed state. Every where we look in the world we see what power mad men have wrought. I wish my superpower was to make them all stop.

Sounds a little complex for my pea brain but I'll give it a go when available. Reviews ‘Karmalink’: Venice Review By Wendy Ide2 September 2021 Jake Wachtel makes his feature debut with this imaginative Buddist sci-fi set in Cambodia’s Pnom Penh Source: XYZ Films Karmalink Dir. Jake Wachtel. Cambodia, US. 2021. 101 mins An inventive if conceptually cluttered Cambodian Buddhist sci-fi, Karmalink starts out as a lively kids’ adventure set against a vividly realised near-future Phnom Penh and ends up wrestling with techno-philosophical conundrums and the realm of the infinite. While the first two acts are more engaging and accessible than the third – the picture does get a little bogged down in its effects and ideas – there’s no question that this is an imaginative and original debut from director Jake Wachtel. As a piece of atmospheric world building, it’s impressive Developed by Wachtel while he was teaching a year-long course in filmmaking within an underprivileged community in the Cambodian capital, the film deftly balances an authentic depiction of the day-to-day grind of Phnom Penh’s struggling poor with futuristic sci-fi elements. The result is a picture which, while more modestly indie in scope than District 9, shares some of that picture’s eye-catching freshness and intriguing blend of sci fi with social commentary. Following on from its premiere in the opening film slot of Venice Critics’ Week, the picture should enjoy further festival interest and could find a home with an independent streaming platform or specialist distributor. Solid US indie credentials within the crew – the score is by Ariel Marx who most recently worked on Shiva Baby; the lithe cinematography is by Rob Leitzell, who shot Black Bear – might help raise the film’s profile with arthouse audiences. The neighbourhood in which Leng Heng (Leng Heng Prak) and his multi-generational family live is threatened by developers: a bullet train service to China is being proposed and its route will slice through friendships and families, annihilating homes and shuttering businesses. Leng Heng believes that he holds the key to changing his family’s fortunes. Each night, in vivid dreams, he revisits past lives. And in each subconscious glimpse, there’s a solid gold Buddha statuette which was filched from a temple by one of his past incarnations. Leng Heng is convinced that his dreams are a treasure trail, leading to the hiding place of the statuette; he recruits enterprising orphan street kid Srey Leak (Srey Leak Chhin) to help with the search after she proves her detective mettle by locating his missing flip flop. The quest is hindered by the fact that, unlike many of the city’s wealthier inhabitants, Leng Heng and Srey Leak are not “augmented” - connected through nano bugs in the bloodstream and a glowing button in the centre of the forehead to a multidimensional virtual world and a seemingly inexhaustible search engine. Fortunately, Srey Leak has light fingers and connections in the underworld. As a piece of atmospheric world building, it’s impressive. The rundown neighbourhood alleys are dwarfed by the monster towers of a nascent hi tech Asian supercity; the colour palette pulses with neons. But the film’s main assets are the two central performances – Prak and Chhin are non-professional actors recruited from one of Wachtel’s filmmaking classes. Both are engaging enough that we invest in the friendship between the two characters, even if the film’s climactic attempts to hack the wheel of karma don’t quite hold together.

I don't remember kangaroo or crocodile, but I'll take your word for it. Personally I don't want to eat kangaroo - ever. As for crocodile, people who have eaten it tell me it tastes just like chicken. In that case, give me a piece of chicken . . .

From Pattaya News Cambodian man rescued after floating for two days in the Gulf of Thailand near Rayong A Cambodian man who was floating in the Gulf of Thailand for two days near Rayong has been rescued by the Royal Thai Navy. The Royal Thai Navy First Area Command reports their team called the ‘We Care, We Protect squad’ rescued a Cambodian man who had previously been working on a Thai fishing boat early yesterday morning (September 3rd). The Cambodian man, who wasn’t named by the Royal Thai Navy, told officers he fell down from the Thai fishing boat ‘Chock Pawin Chai’. He was found in the sea near Rayong Bay. He survived, according to the man, two days in the ocean by hanging onto debris he found. No identification cards were found with him. Due to language barriers, it was difficult to communicate with the Cambodian man. Officers are investigating the incident and have reached out to contact his employer in the fishing industry to determine what happened. The Royal Thai Navy also noted in a statement that small fishing boats were at risk during heavy recent storms and monsoon season and should take regular precautions. Continues with photo https://thepattayanews.com/2021/09/04/cambodian-man-rescued-after-floating-for-two-days-in-the-gulf-of-thailand-near-rayong/ ===================================== Dutch man rescued from forest after four days of being missing in Phetchaburi A Dutchman, who had been missing since Tuesday, August 31st, was found alive and in decent condition in a forest reserve in the Tha Yang district last night. This is, notes TPN media, the second case of an older foreigner lost in the woods in Thailand this week, with a similar case reported by us yesterday here. The man, 79-year-old Francis Kas van Rossum, had gone missing Tuesday after drinking beer, according to his wife Mrs. Rachot Chanwijit, 61-years-old. He had last been seen riding a motorbike near the Khao Noi Monastery in Ban Khong Ta Bang. Rachot had managed to speak with her husband over the phone on the morning of September 2nd, in which he stated he was lost in the woods in the Tha Yang area. It was unclear how or why he had entered this area, which is a dense forest reserve. After this, she lost contact as Francis’ battery on his phone had run out. At 11:00 P.M. last night, September 3rd, 2021, Francis was located about 700 meters from a city road in a thick forest reserve in the Huai Mae Phiang sub-district of Tha Yang. He was found sleeping in a small puddle, wearing a t-shirt and shorts, and other than mosquito bites and some scratches, as well as exhaustion, appeared to be in good physical condition. Rescue workers brought him to his relatives at the Tha Mai Ruak Police Station. Francis had been located by local villagers at a farm nearby who while searching for potential food in the reserve saw Francis’s blue motorcycle parked in the woods and later located him lying in the puddle. The villagers immediately called rescue services and teams for assistance. Continues with photos https://thepattayanews.com/2021/09/04/dutch-man-rescued-from-forest-after-four-days-of-being-missing-in-phetchaburi/

I keep telling the dead horse I'm doing this for my personal edification and not to take it personally. But he just lies there and takes it like a man. OMG, it's a sensual experience I can't get enough of.

I don't think that Moses will mind if I reference a thread from Sawatdee Network where one of my favorite Pattaya posters hangs out. Dodger has written well over many years in his tenure as both a tourist and now an expat. There's something authentic about his earthy style of describing his travels and relationships that sets him apart. In a recent post (Pattaya Update: From the Trenches) he talks again about riding his motorbike around Pattaya and reporting on what and who he sees, and how the boys still in town are getting by--some with no place to sleep but the street. One of the homeless guys he's followed in his weekly forays he locates near Dong Tan Beach, asleep in a makeshift hammock suspended between two trees. The young man awakes with a smile. Dodger banters for a while, gives him some money for food and wishes him well. What stayed with me about the brief encounter is the both the resiliency of the boy in dire circumstances and Dodger's easy way of offering hope and comfort. Dodger is very lucky. He finds himself in a position to bring a little light into the lives of the guys that posters on all the forums comment on from time to time--most of them good times. He doesn't seclude himself in the grip of the pandemic but searches out the down and out. And it's his banter as much as his baht that gives them some respite. That there's at least one foreigner who remembers who you are can makes a big difference when you live hand to mouth. Most of us, of course, can't be there to imitate his way of caring. But perhaps all of us know at least one boy in not dissimilar circumstances. These are among the choices we face in this time of covid.

I know the horse is dead but I feel so macho when I keep beating it.

When I beat the horse I feel better about myself

Let me help everyone. I'm really gay. Like obviously gay. Everyone can see it in me. My keyboard that I am typing on is pink. My monitor I'm looking at has unicorns attached. My clothes are more flamboyant than the contestants on Legendary. My nails are a bit polished. My ass was shaved by the lady who does bikini waxes to the stars. Let there be no mistaking this, when I type, I send all my gay aura through the Internet into the post I'm typing. And, yes, it is as gay as fuck if it comes from me! (hell, even my emoji's are gay (yes, you have access to them as well). PS I have a cute gay boy giving me head as I type this. Seriously. He is insatiable and he said he is gayer than I am (I don't think so).

There is news today about the death of an 18-year old boxer who was knocked out in a professional bout 5 days ago. So what, was my first thought? That fact that it was a woman made no difference. If you elect to become a boxer, your head is going to be battered in countless bouts in the ring. For many fighters that will unquestionably have short, medium or long term affects on the brain. You make your choices and take your chances. How many recall Muhammad Ali in his later decades. Mentally alert but increasingly a physical wreck resulting from Parkinson's Disease. I used to think it was only boxers who are at risk of brain injury. Now we know that this is nonsense. Participants in many sports involving head contact are increasingly coming down with brain injuries. I personally have always disliked American football. To me it is not a sport. It is more akin to all out war. When much of the game involves players crashing into each other, when wearing something akin to body armour is required before you ever get on the pitch, how can that be called a sport? It's more like the trench warfare of World War One! Mind you, the husband of a friend of mine in the USA lives for it, spending 2 or 3 evenings each week, popcorn in hand with the TV tuned to football games. But then some retired players started behaving strangely suffering from a variety of serous ailments which often resulted in aggressive behaviour and even suicide. This was brought home to me in the 2015 movie "Concussion" which showed how many former players were subject to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and how many will do so in the future. Like Alzheimers, CTE gets worse over time. Many studies are presently being undertaken. For the time being, one in 2017 published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that of the 202 brains of players who had died, 177, or nearly 90 percent, were diagnosed with CTE. The NFL has certainly made the game safer, but it remains very dangerous for long term medical consequences. Now, though, a study conducted for Imperial College, London, has shown that up to 25% of rugby players display some form of brain abnormality. The research was limited to elite players who play professionally, but there can be little doubt that damaging effects will be found in schoolboys throughout Britain and other parts of the world where rugby is part of the sports curriculum. Most worryingly for most, if only because it is the world's sport, many major soccer players and their families have come out regarding the dangers of constant heading of the ball. When I first heard this, I assumed it was nonsense. Not a bit of it! At least 5 members of the side which won the World Cup for England in 1966 suffer from or did suffer from dementia. 5 out of 11! One, Ray Wilson, suffered for 13 years. Today Sir Bobby Charlton suffers from it. His brother Jack who died in July last year also suffered from the disease. The son of another, Nobby Stiles, informed the media that his father started showing signs of dementia 20 years before his death. Billy McNeil who led Glasgow Celtic to Britain's first ever European Cup win suffered from it for ten years before his death two years ago. The largest study so far was conducted by the University of Glasgow in 2019. Researchers compared the causes of death of 7,676 former Scottish male professional football players born between 1900 and 1976 against over 230,000 matched individuals from the general population. The study revealed that former professional football players had an approximately three and a half times higher rate of death due to neurodegenerative disease than expected. What the study could not discover were the reasons for the imbalance. Several new studies are underway. In the meantime the Scottish and Irish Football Associations have issued guidelines that children aged 11 and under should not be taught to head the ball in training since children are more vulnerable than adults. This is similar to an existing ban in the USA. UEFA, the European Soccer Association, has confirmed that if ongoing studies find conclusive evidence, it is prepared to ban heading in future. The ban will no doubt be contested but the facts stare us in the face. Of that World Cup eleven, 46% suffered from dementia. The WHO estimates that the worldwide average for the over 60s is 5% to 8% of the general population. Who said some sporta are not war? https://www.bbc.com/sport/boxing/58432013

From Channel News Asia The coup has upended the plans and dreams of many people in Myanmar. (*Names have been changed to protect the individuals’ identities.) YANGON: Eight months ago, artist Zar Ni* was, in his words, just like every other young man. The 21-year-old was busy making plans and wanted to study abroad after the COVID-19 pandemic was over. “I had so many things I wanted to do,” he said. Then on Feb 1, the Myanmar military seized power from the civilian National League for Democracy (NLD) government and detained its de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others. Zar Ni was shocked, then upset and unsure of what to do next. He now feels as if his future has been “snatched away”. “I had so many plans ahead. They’ve destroyed all my dreams,” he told the programme Insight. He is not alone in feeling a sense of loss. Grocery shop owner Ko Toe* said his countrymen have “lost all hope”. Doctors and hospital beds are in short supply as COVID-19 rages. Myanmar has seen many public servants, including healthcare workers, going on strike in protest at military rule, joining a widespread civil disobedience movement. “Our healthcare situation is hopeless. We’re helpless,” said Ko Toe, 49, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “You can’t go to hospitals. You’d be denied entry. You try to treat yourself at home with oxygen. It’s almost impossible to get a doctor to see a patient.” Adding to the pain are the rocketing prices of basic goods such as coffee and detergent, he said. According to journalist Ko Than Lwin*, “there are fights everywhere”. “We’re in a civil war now,” said the 40-year-old, stressing that the people do not accept military rule and armed oppression. On a personal level, he feels his future is “very dim”. “When I look forward, all I see is darkness,” he added. The junta seized power citing allegations of fraud in the November 2020 parliamentary elections won by the NLD. Since the coup, amid the protests and resistance from insurgent groups, the military has killed over 1,000 civilians, according to human rights group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. The country is also battling a third COVID-19 wave. There have been more than 406,000 cases and over 15,000 deaths in Myanmar since the pandemic began. Continues with photos https://www.channelnewsasia.com/cna-insider/under-military-rule-young-burmese-speak-destroyed-dreams-futures-snatched-away-2155591