Suraj Shah's Report

Myanmar has only recently deregulated tourism as recently as 2011. For over half a century the country was ruled under military dictatorship with very limited contact with the outside world, and in 2015, the first democratic government was elected under Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy. The people of Myanmar are enjoying political freedoms not seen in generations.

In August 2015, I had visited Myanmar independently. With tourism infrastructure being so underdeveloped, I travelled by motorbike to allow me to reach areas untouched by tourism. My experiences there inspired me to write my history dissertation focussing on the role of Buddhism and nationalism in Myanmar, in relation to the transition to democracy.

Courtesy of the Royal Holloway Travel Award and sponsorship from Santander Bank, I was able to revisit Myanmar in April 2016 to conduct research with the contacts that I had made on my previous trip. I arrived at the perfect time, just as I touched down in Yangon the new government had been unveiled with Htin Kyaw sworn in as president.

I visited universities in Yangon and Mawlamyine, Buddhist monasteries, non-governmental organisations and local businesses. Travelling by motorbike was crucial to allowing me to conduct valuable research, with the mobility to get well away from the tourist areas and come into contact with people who had never seen a foreigner during their life times. With the help of some university students whom I had befriended for translation, I had some very fruitful conversations with local people to understand what the transition to democracy meant for them. Gaining trust was something I had to overcome, but by learning some basic language skills and customs the conversations I had were memorable.

Of particular interest were the people from the Mon ethnic group. They are ethnically distinct from the majority Burman population and are said to be the first Buddhist in the region, with significant populations also found in Thailand. The Mon National Liberation Army have been waging a guerrilla war sporadically against the Burmese military junta over the past fifty years, and I was able to meet former guerrilla fighters and political figures. To understand their take on Buddhist nationalism and Myanmar's transition to democracy was unique, as although they are Buddhist they have a history of conflict with the Buddhist Burman population. Thus their view on whether Buddhist nationalism could unite the conflicted country was critical.

At the end of the trip, I was also lucky enough to be in the largest city Yangon for the Myanmar New Year celebrations, a water festival called Thingyan. The festival coincides with Songkhran in Thailand and the Sinhalese New Year in Sri Lanka. Businesses in the city were closed, and for the next five days we had water fights in the streets throughout the day, and then hearty meals in the evenings. I was also in Yangon when a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit central Myanmar, and the effects were felt quite strongly in the city. I'm happy to say there was minimal damage and no injuries where I was, and the people happily continued celebrating the New Year.

There are extremely limited resources that are accessible in regards to the recent history of Myanmar, so being able to visit the country and learn about developments through the eyes of the local people was invaluable for my thesis. I have delivered a highly original and relevant dissertation, and the Travel Award has allowed me to gain unrivalled and otherwise unobtainable resources for my thesis.

I am now pursuing my Masters degree in MSc Political Economy of the Emerging Markets, and the ability to talk about my first hand experiences in Myanmar has accelerated my opportunities as well as enhancing my profile greatly as a South East Asian analyst.