Myanmar earthquake: “I feel guilty

The last time SOE Ko Naing saw that his old uncle was in July, at his home at the hands of the Irrawaddy River.

Ko Ning, a supporter of Myanmar’s resistance against the Military Council, was about to flee the country. For Min Kun, a small town in the military stronghold of Sagaing, Ko Naing did not trust anyone enough to tell them about his plan – with the exception of the beloved OOO (“Uncle” in Burmese).

“I told him that I was going to Thailand. I think it was a good plan. He wished me good health and safety,” Ko Ning, a 35 -year -old active.

For nearly a year, Ko Naing is safe in Thailand. But Ouo was killed by the strong earthquake that struck the joy near Mandalay last Friday, when he got at least 2000 lives.

“I have nights without sleep. I am still suffering,” said Ko Ning.

“I have no remorse for leaving the country, because I had to do so. But I feel guilty because our people need us now. I am unable.”

Ko Naing is one of the millions of diaspora in Myanmar, which is impatiently monitors from afar while their country is struggling after its largest earthquake in a century.

Likewise, many suffer from the guilt of survivors and a feeling of helplessness. For some, these feelings are exacerbated by the fact that they cannot easily return to help in rescue efforts or verify relatives, because they will face political persecution.

Thailand hosts the world’s largest community in Myanmar, the diaspora with about 4.3 million Myanmar citizens, although it is believed that the number is much higher if it includes uncomfortable immigrants.

As a richest neighbor, long ago, I attracted people from Myanmar who make up a large part of the migratory workforce. The military coup 2021 and the subsequent civil war were inflated only.

Some in the construction sector – it is believed that many of the 400 workers are in a skyscraper in Bangkok that collapsed due to the earthquake from Myanmar – while others work in the agricultural and seafood industries in Thailand.

On Monday morning in Samut Sakhon, a hunting port near Bangkok, which includes many workers from Myanmar, and men who wear traditional bourmiens and women with Thanaka Daubed on their cheeks, mobilized the alleys in the street market.

Signs announces SIM cards at cheap prices to contact myanmar with stickers across buildings, while stores offered in Thai and Burmese.

“We have seen online videos from buildings that collapse and besiege people under the rubble. We feel very sad that the inability to do anything,” said the year of the factory, the general factory, who was like many in the crowd. They are concerned about the situation in the homeland.

The owner of the store, Taf Zain, 28, who is from a town in the epic that was not affected by the earthquake, dug the collapse of temples and temples dating back to his area. “What a catastrophe! I feel very bad … We haven’t faced this extent to be damaged before.”

Throughout Town Ko Naing, he sat in his office, checking updates on his family in Myanmar. At least 150 of his relatives live in or about the epic and the mandalay.

The Friday earthquake was so huge that it could be felt in Thailand, India and China. On that day, while Ko Naing was in bed in Samut Sakhon hundreds of kilometers from the earthquake center, he said he felt that the room was shaking for about 30 seconds.

He immediately went on social media and discovered that the earthquake had occurred near Main Kon. Then it encountered a picture of the Ava’s Sagaing Bridge – a local landmark – dumped in distorted rubble in the Irrawaddy River. “I was shocked and destroyed, and I have many relatives in this field. I thought,” You must be fake news. “But it was real.”

With slow communications in Myanmar in the wake of the direct earthquake, Ko Ning only heard his relatives on Saturday. He was told that everyone was almost safe and calculated, with the exception of the great, distant aunt who died in Mandalay-OOO.

A week ago, Maine Kun and its surroundings had been peeled by the army aimed at resisting the Popular Defense Forces. Almost all Ko Naing family fled in the city to the city of Sagaing or to a military -controlled area in Mandalay.

OOO refused to clarify and assumed in the village monastery instead, knowing that the army will not attack Buddhist sites.

But Friday, the monastery completely collapsed when the earthquake hit. His body was found in the rubble on Monday.

Ko Naing OOO remembers as an open and explicit child of 60 years. In an area dominated by the army, the two are linked to the presence of their joint support for the resistance, especially after the coup.

In the summer, the two were spending after the afternoon next to the river, lunch and caught the news. His old uncle had no phone nor social media, and Ko Naing will help him verify the updates in the civil war. “I was his personal news agency,” he said jokingly.

OOO was forced to retire from his job as a boat man when he was partially paralyzed stroke. However, every morning, he was mixing in the Tea store for his family and frying EE Kyar Kwe, which is Doughsticks.

“It was an inspiration, especially in difficult times … he was the only one I could talk to. I got my flexibility from him,” said Ko Ning.

This flexibility was something Koling had to use it when his dangerous escape from Myanmar with his wife and five -year -old son. It was required by the army, who issued an order to arrest him to participate in peaceful protests.

His family traveled to the border where they illegally crossed to Thailand. While they ran in the dark after the Thai border police station, the family stumbled on a large tube and retreated on the ground. His son fell back on his head. Co Ning’s worst fear.

But for his satisfaction, his son allowed loudly. Ko Ning slapped his hand on the child’s mouth, took it, and ran towards the people’s smuggler waiting for a motorcycle. They first went to the Thai city of May Sut before they finally traveled to Samut Sakhon, where they got the right to stay in Thailand.

Although he is now safe and has a good job, Ko Ning said: “Frankly, I am very depressed.

First, there was an epidemic, then the coup, then the army killed people who oppose them. People were displaced.

Then the earthquake added to the suffering. Even after the earthquake, the army continues in the bombing areas.

“I am still thinking that it will be good if we can be there, if we can do something … it’s frustrating to live here, and seeing news about my country.”

It works with Myanmar DiasPora to collect donations and send humanitarian assistance to the earthquake victims at home. They also help building workers in Myanmar affected by the collapse of Bangkok.

“If we always feel depressed, no one will help in our people … It is good that we are alive. We can still do something.

“We have to put our minds on how to rebuild, and how we can go forward.”