The military coup in Myanmar came as a shock to Sai Purng, a 36-year-old from Myanmar’s Shan State who works at the Human Rights and Development Foundation in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai.
“Since the 2015 general election, those whom the military mistreated, including political prisoners, said they had forgiven the military so the country could have a new beginning ,” he said. “The people were counting on compromise and democracy.”
That expectation was shattered on Monday when members of the governing National League for Democracy, including its leader Aung San Suu Kyi, were detained after the military alleged there had been irregularities in elections held in November.
Less surprised was Myanmar national Jack, who works as a translator at the Labour Rights Promotion Network Foundation in Samut Sakhon, Thailand. Still, when he heard the news, he said it felt…
