Mainland Southeast Asia: Turmoil and Peace - Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia - page 418

Rice trade is one of the regime' is most important
sources of foreign revenue. The government monopo-
lizes rice exports. It buys rice from farmers at low prices,
sells it on the world market, and absconds with the prof-
its. Quotas are set for each cultivated area—15 to 20 per-
cent of each farmer' is crop is forcibly purchased for less
than half the market price. Many farmers cannot make
ends meet and wind up losing their land to the govern-
ment or to other, richer farmers.
There are 7,000 “agricultural supervisors” posted
around the country to encourage harder work. Signs such
as “Lazy People Lose Their Land” and “Be Confident in
Y our Ability” are intended to stimulate productivity .
Rice production fell dramatically in 2009 due to the
impact of Cyclone Nargis and a late monsoon. Those
farmers who did have rice to sell were hurt by lowered
prices related to the global economic crisis. There is very
little government support, and most farmers have no
cash for inputs.
In border regions, quotas and inadequate technology
have compelled many farmers to leave their land alto-
gether and migrate to Thailand. Others have been forced
off their land by the military . About a million Burmans
now work in factories and farms in Thailand.
Pests are a serious problem. Insects devour rice be-
cause storage techniques are poor. Moreover, more dou-
ble-cropping with fast-growing seeds means that much
rice is harvested in the rainy season. Without pesticides
and adequate storage facilities, the wet grain is even
more susceptible to pests.

those relying on external elements acting as stooges;
Oppose those trying to jeopardize stability of the
state and programs of the state; Oppose foreign na-
tions interfering in internal affairs of the state; and
Crush all internal and external destructive elements.

ABODE OF KINGS
In 2005, the military junta moved the capital Yangon to
Naypyidaw (Abode of Kings) in the middle of nowhere
and began to build from scratch. New government build-
ings, residential and commercial zones, and a military
sector are set to be completed by 2012. At this point rut-
ted, jam-packed roads funnel into eight-lane highways
going into the capital. However, few outsiders are per-
mitted to go there.
The world wondered why this move was made. The
government explains that Yangon was too crowded and
lacked space for expansion. However, speculation has it
that the paranoid junta wanted to get away from Yangon,
which might be attacked from the sea. A land base is easier
to defend. The locals believe that the decision was based
on the portents of fortune-tellers, who are consulted for
almost every move people make.

THE SAFFRON REVOLUTION
In 2007, Burma experienced the largest protest it had seen
in 20 years. Thousands of students, political activists in-
cluding women, and monks marched in 25 cities to protest
rising consumer prices and government oppression. The
protest is called the “Saffron Revolution” in reference to the
saffron-colored robes worn by most monks in Southeast
Asia (even though Burmese monks wear red).
The army brutalized and killed hundreds of the
marchers and threw many of their bodies into the jungle.
A Japanese reporter was murdered in the street. Both India
and China maintained their policies of non-interference.
Numerous other countries in the European Union along
with the United States, Canada, and Australia exercised
sanctions against Myanmar. Meanwhile, protests continue
to be forbidden, and any inkling of dissent is quickly
quashed.

“BAMBOO DEATH”
Chin State highlands are being devastated by a plague of
forest rats that have devoured nearly 80 percent of the
region' is crops. The catalyst for the rat infestation is an
ecological phenomenon known as mautam, which trans-
lates as “bamboo death.” Once every 50 years, the Melo-
canna baccifera species of bamboo goes into flower and
its fruits attract rats and increase their fertility . An expo-
nentially expanded rat population scourges all fields gob-
bling up rice, maize, and sesame crops. Then they move
on to tea plantations and tamarind orchards. The last cy-
cle in 1958-59 led to the deaths of some 15 thousand
people in Chin State and the neighboring Indian states of
Mizoram and Manipur.
While the Indian government has introduced a num-
ber of programs to stop the plague, the Myanmar govern-
ment has done relatively little. Cat-owning farmers were
lucky until they realized that if the cats killed the rats, they

SCRAPING THE RICE BOWL
Burma was once known as the “Rice Bowl” of Southeast
Asia. Rice production has dwindled during decades of
socialist rule.