Walking out of the minimalist airport into the blazing April heat, I feel my arrival in Mae Sot become solemnly real and engulfing. A taxi driver with a visibly Burmese name takes me to the hotel.
Mae Sot, on Thailand’s western border with Myanmar, has historically hosted refugees and economic migrants from its conflict-ridden neighbour. After the 2021 coup d’état, many more fled into Mae Sot, especially members of the National Unity Government, political dissidents, human rights defenders and activists. Once a hub for goods and migration between Thailand and Myanmar, an influx of Chinese-run entertainment and gambling businesses is also reshaping the socio-demographic ecology of Mae Sot.
We arrive at an elegant hotel, spotless and green. I pull the veil curtains apart and watch Mandarin-speaking kids splash in the leafy garden pool from my room; it feels surreal to be so close to Myanmar, a place I hold very dear to my heart, and to finally get to meet a peace activist I’ve been in touch with for some time.
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Our growing Thai family, now into its fourth generation, has given us plenty of smiles and laughter... and outbursts of anger and stubbornness and exasperation.
- Tags: Issue 32, Myanmar, Peixuan Xie, Thailand