Month: November 2015

I just posted a new reflection, which you can feel free to check out: https://lifeinmyanmar.org/monthly-reflections/month-14-living-today/

I will be departing Myanmar on Dec. 4th and arriving back in the U.S. on Dec. 8th after spending a few days in Seoul. To that end, Month 14 Reflection will likely be my last one for this stint in Myanmar.

Looking forward to seeing family and friends in person back in the U.S.

By now most of you have probably heard about the results of the 2015 elections here in Myanmar. In short, the opposition party (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi won a sweeping victory.

People have been asking me what it’s been like here. It’s actually been pretty quiet overall. I’m sure if I ventured out to the rallies, polling stations, or the party headquarters I’d see much more activity, but there wasn’t widespread celebrations and parades in the streets across the city. Election day itself was actually the quietest day I have ever experienced in Yangon — it was like a ghost town.

This is just the first step in the path toward change. Yes the NLD has won, dethroning the military-backed incumbent, but the military is in fact still in the background. How much are they still holding the strings? Well, we’ll find out over the next 5 years that the NLD has in the coming term.

Here’s an article from the New York Times that sums up the challenges:

Myanmar Military Still Big Power Despite Opposition Victory

I found this map on Facebook, which is kind of janky, but it gives you a broad sense of the results across the country. Red = NLD. Pyithu Hluttaw = House of Representatives.

The below image (I believe from Myanmar Times) is what the House of Representatives (Pyithu Hluttaw) is going to look like. That big block of green on the left is the automatic military presence. Red=NLD.

The below image (from Wikipedia) is what the current setup looks like. The colors are a little misleading.

• In the below image, the 110 dark red spots (just right of center) are equal to the 110 green spots above, which is the military.
• In the below image, the massive green chunk (212) is the USDP (military-backed, but not technically military, party), which is equivalent to the small teal section above (28).
• In the below image, the small lighter red section (to the right of the darker red section) is the NLD (37), which is equivalent to the massive red segment above (217).

 

 

Hope that provides a bit more color, and a summary, to what you may be hearing in the news. There is a ton of additional commentary on the NLD, elections, incumbents, ethnic groups, etc. but I’ll let you all dig into that based on your interest levels.

Note: I pulled these charts at different points in time post elections (from different sources), so the numbers/representations may have changed or may not be totally accurate.

I had tracked my expenses for about 3.5 months, which I compiled for a new post (Cost of Living) that I added to the Info for Visitors section. Feel free to check it out if you’re curious about living expenses in Yangon.

So there’s a peculiar thing if you live in a place like Myanmar. Every once in a while you are supposed to fly out of the country, and then re-enter, in order to renew your visa. I haven’t had to do this before because I’ve either left the country anyway, or had been issued cushy visas through Proximity that bypassed that hassle. This disappointingly short Quora response makes some sense, I guess: “The main reason for this is likely to ensure that, should your visa be denied, you will not have the option of entering/remaining in the country.” However, with Myanmar’s eVisa system, one is able to secure the visa while still being in the country. What gives?

At first I was going to simply overstay my prior-issued work visa ($3/day fee and a light scolding at the airport is the extent of the damage, from what I’ve heard). Turns out that the sponsoring company who issued me the visa wasn’t too excited about that, so I had to make a last-minute pivot, apply for a tourist visa yesterday (buys me another 28 days), book my flights for a same-day trip to Thailand, and here I am, sitting in Don Mueng airport in Bangkok.

So now I have some more time to think about the absurdity of this. I received a visa, but instead of being able to go to some central location like the Immigration Office, and be like, “Hey guys, here’s my visa approval letter, can you stamp my passport and then we can call it day?” Or maybe just go through the departures immigration stands at the airport and walk back through arrivals immigration stand. Nope, $186.50 later, I get to spend the afternoon at Don Mueng airport. [note: there’s a chance there is an easier way, in which case this paragraph will make me sound stupid, but that’s ok]

Glass half full, I got to see a mind-bending display of airport mega-commerce (I think it was 10+ check-out stations for luxury duty-free wares) at the airport:

AND, I got to eat a Subway sandwich (the honey mustard tastes like honey mustard):

If this were to become a more regular ordeal, I’d probably try to see if there is an easier way, despite the daunting complexities and language barriers that seem, at least on the surface, to exist.

It’s also probably good I’m not testing the boundaries on the overstay given that elections (first truly “democratic” ones in ~50 years) happen on Sunday (the day before my visa expired).

Anyway, in other news, I had a chance to go bowling last night with some friends from Proximity. Talk about a throw-back bowling alley:

The grandfather clock is an interesting addition.

Keeping half the lanes off seems to be a power conservation thing.

I actually had the best game that I can remember. All those elementary school bowling classes at Bradley Bowl coming back to me!

Hoping for an uneventful trip back to Yangon this evening. Will plan to post again with more transparency around next steps. This tourist visa has lit a bit of a fire under me now to try and hammer out those plans.