Episode #47: A Risk-Taker at Risk
This was not at all how Thurain had planned to spend the start of 2021. The young entrepreneur had been expecting to build upon his already impressive worldly achievements. From childhood, he had certainly not had it easy by any stretch of imagination, but after a lifetime of hard work and diligent effort, he had come to find himself in a somewhat comfortable position, with an even more promising future.
To understand the incredible circumstances that have befallen him, it would be helpful to go back to his earlier years. “Thurain” (not his real name) grew up in Kayah State and went to school in Myitkyina in Kachin State. Spending his early life away from the bigger cities in Myanmar, not only did he have fewer educational opportunities or professional training, but he was also exposed from an early age to the Tatmadaw’s brutality, which often took place out of sight of the country’s main population centers. For example, he recalls volunteering to teach English at an IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) Camp, and hearing bullets flying just miles away.
Eventually an opportunity presented itself in Yangon and so he came to “the big city,” which was initially overwhelming. As he remembers, “I didn't know how to take the bus. I didn't know how to order breakfast. I'm a rural guy, so when I saw those tall building, I thought it was New York!”
But Thurain adapted and even thrived there, eventually providing himself with real stability. While many people might struggle holding down one successful business, Thurain had managed to have three going simultaneously! This included one offering interpretation and translation services, another providing consultation to large corporate projects, and a third developing software and computer games.
While Thurain’s multiple successes were of course a result of his strong work ethic, his achievements couldn’t have come to fruition without the steady reforms also taking place throughout the 2010s. Reflecting on the growing freedoms that defined these years, he recalls, “We enjoyed it. We loved it. And we wanted to get more. Can you imagine, it was just a few little things we got, when compared with other countries. We got only a little sunlight in the past 10 years. We got just a little, but we enjoyed it a lot.”
But on February 1st, this came to a crashing halt, and Thurain’s mood turned dark. “I felt that it's all black. How dare they just kill the futures of the people in Myanmar? People had put such positive energy, and were trying so hard, working for the country.”
Thurain began attending the nonviolent protests with his friends, joining millions throughout the country. But he eventually decided to lend his skills to the resistance in a different way, because Thurain realized that being on the ground wasn’t his specialty. “My personality is not a frontline person,” he notes, “my skill is more like strategic approach and coordination, and motivating people.”
In the interest of safety, he began working with only a small group of people, so that knowledge of the wider movement wouldn’t rest in any individual who could give up key details. Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough to protect him, as one member was captured, and after being tortured, shared details about the others. The rest of the group quickly dispersed, and Thurain remains in hiding to this day. One other member was caught, and he and the original detained protester were both executed in prison.
While he now takes far greater safety precautions, Thurain is no less devoted to the cause. He is especially active in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), regularly calling civil servants still going to the office and encouraging them to take leave. These are basically cold calls to strangers in which he must find ways to establish immediate trust and rapport, a high-stakes decision-making process that could literally mean life and death for either party. While some workers are keen to leave after a single conversation, others take days or even weeks of persuasion. As Thurain notes, these civil servants “are not risk-takers. Normally, risk-takers would become an entrepreneur, it’s very simple.”
As challenging as it may be to convince risk-averse civil servants to step into the unknown, Thurain has a far more difficult job when encouraging police and soldiers to join the CDM. As far as the police goes, he estimates that a good 70% would like to defect, but corruption is the biggest impediment. And as for the military, he notes that this is a much more insular community that is largely cut off from mainstream Burmese society, and it is quite difficult to break through all the propaganda they have been fed over the years. “They are being controlled so tightly,” he adds, sadly.
Aside from this, Thurain is also focused on preventing the military from installing ward officers at the local level, which he feels is the most critical part of the entire struggle. As he says simply, “Whoever can control that ward level… then they win.” This is because ward officers can more easily develop a detailed understanding of all residents in their area, making movements and activities far more difficult.
For most of us, it would be nearly impossible to imagine how we would respond if our own lives were shaken out of their normal routines like Thurain—and in fact the entire nation of Myanmar—and we were thrust into a world of espionage, terror, battle tactics, and evading capture. Thurain admits that he is often terrified, but that he works to calm himself whenever possible. How does he manage amid such stress and danger? First by practicing vipassana meditation, which he does even when in the middle of important discussions. Whenever he realizes his mental state is not balanced, he works to calm his mind so that his decisions will become better. Then, once he attains some sense of calm, if he has the time, he composes poetry and paints, as those supplies are some of the few luxuries he allows himself while on the run. The paintings below are scans of his work from the past month, in fact. He also encourages this mental calm in his friends, trying to get hold of good food and drink during the most stressful of times, and advising colleagues to rest for a day or two after experiencing trauma.
Still, they are all preparing for worse times. By May, Thurain warns that “things will be devastating. If the military doesn’t go back, there will be war. And the forests, the outskirts of the town, and in the town… there will be people with weapons. The family of the police, a family of soldiers, they will not be safe, if they don't change their action.”
As an activist resisting the military coup, how do you manage the stress of trying go against an organized, professional military? In a protracted conflict like this one that is now into its 8th month and shows no signs of slowing, how do you stay mentally sane and emotionally sound when the dangers and losses are so terrible?
His answer: meditation. His Buddhist background has given him tools for knowing the value in observing his mind, paying attention to his breathing, and focusing on his bodily sensations. Even when he is the midst of a struggle and unable to do formal meditation, these tools have helped him in the most stressful of times.