Pay rise fails to help other ranks

No.02 - 11/2006

3 November 2006

War

Pay rise fails to help other ranks

The annual paddy harvest season around eastern Shan State's capital last month found farmers competing with ordinary soldiers and their family members to get hired for the job: 3,000 kyat ($ 2.3) per day which is one fifth of a private's monthly salary.

"We used to receive rations, such as rice, cooking oil, canned meat and salt before," said one soldier with the rank of lance corporal who came with his wife. "But now we get nothing."

Villages have also posted guards to watch out for burglars day and night, since most of their possessions: bicycles, motorbikes, domestic animals and even washings hung out to dry have gone missing.

On 16 October, the villagers of Quarter # 3 caught 2 men redhanded with a stolen bicycle and, on questioning, found out that both were from the 11^th Combat Training School at Wan Zerng, Monglang tract, 13 miles south of the city limits. "Before April, we had enough to go by without having to buy anything," confessed one of the soldiers. "Now we have to buy everything we need. We also have to bear with the daily bullying of our superiors. That's why we did it. We knew if we got caught, the best penalty we could expect would be being kicked out the army."

Many other culprits caught by the villagers also turned out to be army men. "But when we turned them over to the police, everyone of them was released after we were gone."

Before the pay rise, a private received 4,000 kyat ($4) per month and Senior Gen Than Shwe 200,000 kyat ($200). Since April, a private is getting 15,000 kyat ($ 11.5) and Senior Gen Than Shwe 1 million ($770). The measure was presumably taken to prevent the soldiers from living by their wits.