The journey

There were various routes taken by the settlers to the south. The majority travelled initially on foot from their villages to larger towns, and then were transported in trucks. The main points of assembly were Panghsang, the Wa capital of Pangyang township, and Mong Pauk (where the UNDCP has set up an alternative development program). From there the journey took them to Mong Piang, 100 miles in the south, and to Mong Hsat, 96 miles further south. From Mong Hsat, the settlers were taken to areas further south and east in Mong Hsat township, and south-west to areas in Mong Ton township.

Others came by truck via Mong Yang, Mong Khark, Kengtung and Tachilek, before going on to Mong Hsat.

Some interviewees also spoke of people moving by truck across the Salween to the western part of Shan State, travelling day and night down southward, and then back across the Salween east to the resettlement sites.

During the monsoons of 2001, the area of Paliao-Keng Larp, northeast of Tachilek, along the Mekhong became another relocation area. Further reports in late 2001 indicated that Mong Piang township had also been marked for resettlement of 10,000 - 20,000 families. Many of the settlers had never even seen motor vehicles before in their lives, let alone ridden in them. “After we had been walking for five days, we heard a sound far in the distance. The sound was like a strong wind blowing and thunder. My wife and my daughter asked me what the sound was, but I did not know. Only after I asked one of the soldiers, did I learn that it was the sound of a car. I had never seen a car before. None of the other people in the village had seen one either.” (LNDO interview #1)

Villagers being resettled to the south

Inevitably, cramped together in the trucks under canvas covering, many of them suffered car-sickness.

“500 of us were ordered to get into nine big six-wheel trucks. There was a big rush to get into the trucks. Then the trucks started to move. Before we had even gone beyond shouting distance, all the people, old, young and children started feeling sick, and began crying and shouting. There were three Wa soldiers in each truck. The soldiers threatened those who were shouting. Some of the villagers in the truck begged to go on foot instead of in the trucks. (..) A cover was put over the back of the truck. It became as dark as night, and we could not see where we were going. (...) I had never felt so sick in all my life. I felt like I was being punished in hell. I told my wife that what I prayed for in the next life was never to ride in a car again. I preferred to be killed than to suffer so much.” (LNDO interview #1)

The Shan Herald Agency for News reported deaths on November 30, 2001, of two Wa villagers during the motor-journey down to Mong Ton.

“Both were women, age 61 and 69 (…) The Chinese 6-wheelers were covered with tarpaulin and they must have died from suffocation as a result.” (S.H.A.N news article: “Wa dying on the southbound journey” 4/12/01)

Some of the settlers did not travel by truck, but walked the whole way. One settler mentioned that he and his family were in a group that walked “because most of us were poor.” (LNDO interview #2) However, since many of those who came by truck were also poor, this does not seem to have been the main reason that some ended up travelling entirely on foot.

The journey on foot from the northern Wa area down to southern Shan State took several months. For families with small children, it was a difficult undertaking:

“All my family’s clothes were in one basket. My wife carried the clothes basket on her back and carried our one-year-old daughter too. I carried 1 viss of opium and 150 yuan at the bottom of a basket, and maize and 6 small baskets of rice on these. My three-year-old son was on my basket. My older daughter carried some plates and food. Our second daughter held her younger brother’s hand who was 5 years old. Sometimes we would walk along the roads, and sometimes take short cuts. The way was very rough and often we had to walk in zig-zags up and down the mountains. ..There were many children in our group, so in some places we rested for two or three nights. ..The trip took 69 days.” (LNDO interview #2)