The streets of Mae Sot, on the Tahi Burma border, are full of stories of loss and death and flight. About two and a half million Burmese have fled their country for Thailand, Burma remains one of the poorest countries in the world, and the protests against the military dictatorship last year did little to change the lives of people. We visit the extraordinary Dr Cynthia Maung's Mae Tao Clinic. It's as much haven as clinic. Funded mainly by foreign donations, Mae Tao Clinic runs the training center for the Backpack Medical Teams and the Free Burma Rangers, both of whom illegally cross the border back into Burma to help the country's ethnic minorities survive the onslaughtt of the Burmese military.
The Clinic is also where people come to vaccinate their babies, to be treated for malaria or cholera, or to receive a prosthetic leg when they've lost theirs to a landmine. Many of the villagers who come to the clinic are fleeing the Burmese military after being forced to act as unwilling porters, or even as human landmine detectors.
We also meet long-time political prisoners from Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, as well as Karen and Shan ethnic Burmese, working to help their own people in their struggle against the military inside Burma. Many of them are children who have crossed the border alone.
Links:
Burma
Learn the facts about Burma
Thailand and Bangladesh Maltreat Refugees
Abuses from Thai and Bangladeshi authorities to Burmese refugees have been reported including sexual violence and forcing some refugees across the border into the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), a pro-Burmese government armed group.
Undercover in Burma
After Cyclon Nargis hit Burma, reports of a lack of aid from the government for those hardest hit surfaced. Journalist Simon Ostrovsky went undercover to report on the current situation.
Burma Issues
The Burma Issues, a Peace Way Foundation funded project, documents events that would garner grassroots activism, generating a movement for lasting peace and justice to Burma.
Books:
 From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey
by: Pascal Khoo Thwe 2003
Thwe details his childhood in Burma including the demise of his community that resulted in him being a guerrilla, and eventually fleeing to England.
 The River of Lost Footsteps: Histories of Burma
by: Thant Myint-U 2006
Thant Myint-U tells the story of modern Burma. Even with its modern day isolatory status, this book shows its contribution to the world's history in more ways than one will ever know. A fun read!
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