Dr. Than Tun - They also had to run for their lives (Than Tun - Crying (Moe Kyaw Shwe Gye))

The soldiers have arrived.

When I was in charge of administering the Kawkareik district, my former deputy governor said, “There are few visitors here, so you don’t have to worry about them. It’s cool. If it’s not too bad, high-ranking officials, including the minister, come here all the time. When I lived here for three years, I could say that I could do anything. It was peaceful and quiet.” When he said that, the military campaign was not as big as it was. Did he know in advance that this part of the campaign would become important?

It's not true that there are no visitors to this place. The law minister came to me within the first month of my arrival, saying that he needed to stay in touch with his people. Even if the officials were to be put aside for a while, Kawkareik had become a Mecca, from the company commander to the battalion commander.

In early 1941, soldiers arrived one by one. There is no record of which troops had arrived before. If they did, it would have been around World War I. It could have been earlier. If they did, they would have been able to hide and hide, and the whole town would have been in chaos. It was one thing to hide young women in the forest, and the shops and vendors would have to buy them and raise the prices of their goods. They would line up to watch the soldiers march through the town. The soldiers were very aggressive. If they saw women, they would try to force them to come in, and they would tell each other stories from the past. Nothing bad happened, and after a week or two, they were happy to see the soldiers arrive. It was true that trade was good, but Kawkareik was a thriving town from the beginning. Although the Burmese Rifles were mostly Karen, their relatives lived in the villages around Kawkareik. They were happy with the situation that had created for their families to come there. Soldiers take short leave and return to their families. They show off the uniforms they are allowed to wear. Grandparents also want to brag about seeing their children and grandchildren grow up. So the people and the military are already friendly. (Where can there be a kind of "Mo So Khap"?

But whispers are a common occurrence in the East. They often talk in excess. The first army that arrived was only about a hundred men. But the people in Mae Sot will say that there are a thousand soldiers at Kok Kea. I have already calculated that Bangkok will say that there are ten thousand soldiers at Kok Kea. Don’t worry about whether this is true or not. Recently, an American missionary has come from over there and has sent ten thousand soldiers to Kok Kea. I told him, “I won’t tell you the truth. The Dona Taung is also covered with thick trees, so it is possible that there are a hundred thousand soldiers hidden there. Soon, the Thai side asked, “Why are the British sending troops to their border like this?”

The troops were lined up for a mile or two along the road from Kawkareik to the third camp. We went to their camp and sat outside with the officers, drinking beer and orange juice by the light of the stars and lanterns hung from bamboo poles. * The commander had served in the Burma Rifles for many years. He loved his unit. He had a special bond with his men. The unit and the men loved him in return in their own way. When we invited him to “lunch, let me serve you dinner,” he always refused. I asked him why he refused. “I don’t let the men go out to eat. I’m included in that.” That’s why they respected and admired him.

In the mountains, villagers often catch baby monkeys and raise them at home. I also got one and raised it in the camp. A villager caught it about a month and a half ago and bought it for sale. At first, he was tied up with a long rope. Now he has taken it off. It doesn't run away. It has become very attached to its owner. If I let them live together, the group will not only not accept it but will also kill them. ,

This monkey is loved by both the officers and the soldiers in the army. Every day, when the tall officer was in line to inspect the troops, he would see a monkey following him, imitating the monkey's posture. It was not difficult to raise this monkey. Since it was not used to being used, it could not go out and urinate on its own. It had to be wrapped in a diaper so that it could urinate wherever it wanted.

The first army arrived and by the end of the summer, new and old troops had come and gone, and they had become accustomed to the natural conditions of the area. At that time, there was no such thing as a military train, so they paid for appropriate vehicles to transport them. One was a car, the other was a cart. The cart was often used as a cart, and people used to say, "The Kokkereik disaster has come."

"The carts for the first arriving army were ordered to come to the Kyongdo Motor Port. From the port, you can see the carts loaded with goods and entering the city in a row, covered in dust. If the next army wants a cart, they don't have to ask me, they can arrange it themselves, I think."

Once, while Doreen and I were in the village, the police chief brought me a petition. He said that a new army had arrived yesterday. They couldn’t rent carts. The carters were on strike. They wanted to increase the rate for a man, an ox, and a cart for a day. (Previously, it was one and a half kyats.) Now they asked for two kyats. The carters assured me that when I joined earlier, the rate had already been set at two kyats. Of course, it was two kyats a day.

I returned to Kawkareik and called some of the cart leaders. “The army pays you two kyats a day. Why are you only getting one and a half kyats?” I asked, “The army always pays two kyats a day. The Kala contractor comes in and pays the carters only one and a half kyats a day.” I was surprised. The officer who wanted the carts told the chief. There was no contract. I had to ask again how that happened. “When the soldiers from Mawlamyine arrived, a Kala boss also came. He called the carters individually and said, ‘You need money. If you get three or four, take five kyats each. After the work is done, I will give you the rest of the money you deserve.’ He contracted the work and we became his workers.” I had never heard of a job called a contract. When the army paid two kyats a day, the Kala paid each worker one and a half kyats a day. (That Kala took out two kyats a day for each person and took five kyats each.

That same day, when I told the colonel who had initially asked me to find a cart about the ox carts, he laughed and said, “This contract is even worse than you think. He listed the amount of money he was asking for in the application for the money as six kyats per cart. The headquarters ordered him to pay. So, for one hundred carts and forty kyats, that’s thirty thousand kyats. The cartman was actually paid six thousand kyats. No one at headquarters knows the situation in the villages well. Now that the colonel has come in, it’s a good deal.”

The people in the community are angry about the poor quality of the contract. They are also surprised that a foreigner who has nothing to do with it can intervene and manipulate it. I do the same as my subordinates.

If the (e.g., the mayor) himself asks for the carts, that's fine. The red tape system says that you have to use a contract. In that case, let's give the contract to a local (e.g., the chief) and then ask if the headquarters will hire that guy, trust that guy. It's done. Next time, the carters will not be cheated. In this case, I will not allow this guy to take the money he stole from me.

They talked about this for weeks, and the military was not very happy, but if I needed to rent a cart in the future, I would tell the carter how much I would pay per day. At this time, the contractor would agree on a daily rate and when the work was actually done, he would find and collect as many carts as he needed. The carters are still unhappy about being cheated. I also feel sorry for them. Now that we have established a way to communicate with the carter, since the carter will pay two kyats per day, there will be no more gossip and the relationship will be more fair.

Officers from various armies who travel on special missions such as recruiting troops occasionally visit Kawkareik. Around this area: Many Karen people from the villages join the Burmese army. They are trying to popularize the Tatmadaw. But the army has not yet achieved much popularity (war victories) and so the people have not yet shown much support. There will be moderate contact with government officials. Except for the young people who are quick-witted and have a good attitude, everyone likes to stay. They will have a normal attitude towards the British. With just a little help, they can become good guerrilla fighters.

The Karen are a small population in Burma. We can say that they have good relations with the English. Based on this good relations, a major came to us on a special occasion. We want to form a Levy force in the border areas, not always, but because of the need for it at the moment. Although it is a government-formed force, in times of peace this force will at least protect the isolated places from bandits. If the enemy comes in the future, we have not occupied the eastern part, so this small group can help the real army a lot. For example, we can harass the enemy from the rear. We can also gather people who have lost sight of the food supply stations and the roads are cut off.

The project is good. Everyone who knows about the border wants this project to succeed. Raymond, the steel representative from Mae Pale, who lives on the other side of the Dawna Mountain, is also very good. He strongly supports it. He has chosen his favorite from among the people he trusts and has started military training in Mae Pale. Oh... something has come up. The Yangon headquarters does not like this project. They have issued an order to stop it with a single word, saying that this is a good idea. How can anything done with a simple chain of command be “poured into the sand”? In the future, they will find out that this idea is good, but they cannot fix it.

(28)

Three-legged stool and donation

Just like when the troops arrived in Kawkareik, every field and clearing had three bamboo poles planted. The farmers dug small plots of land and covered them with a little water.

It was made to be safe. Where would an airplane dare to land in a place with so many bamboo spikes? A paratrooper would be able to land. I don't think an airplane would dare to land in every empty space with three bamboo spikes. The bamboo spikes are about six feet long. They are planted firmly in the ground. That's why you don't think an enemy paratrooper would dare to come, but they do come, and it's scary to see them. They are more of a visual distraction than a useful thing. Bamboo spikes can also be very dangerous. If a paratrooper falls on the bamboo spikes, he will be useless.

A Burmese officer in Dawei gave this advice. The first bamboo stakes were erected in that district. By the spring of 1941, when the enemy had advanced, every empty space in Tanintharyi was covered with bamboo stakes.

A meeting was called with the surrounding landowners in Kawkareik. They explained why they had to erect this bamboo pole. They arranged for bamboo to be purchased at a low price for this purpose. They said that the small cost of transporting bamboo was a cost to win the war. They said that they would work hard and soon bamboo poles were erected.

The village elders and parents were not immediately worried, but