The harrowing experience of routine travel in Myanmar

As passengers sit on a bus waiting to depart from the Aung Mingalar Terminal in Yangon, an attendant recites a list of rules and warnings. Following the announcement, which advises the passengers to have their national identification cards handy and refrain from using their phones at checkpoints to make calls, take photos, or record videos, the bus sets out for Mandalay. For someone who used to travel the same, nearly 400-mile route regularly before the military coup like I did, the most striking change is the need to pass through no fewer than 10 checkpoints manned by traffic police, soldiers, and other junta personnel. Shortly before reaching the zero milepost, the bus attendant made an announcement again. “We’re approaching a checkpoint. Please do not use your phones and keep them stowed away. Prepare your identification cards for inspection.” Military personnel stop express buses on the pretext of security, conducting thorough inspections of passenger lists, identifications, and baggage. They sometimes confiscate water bottles and towels from passengers during the searches. Tourist vehicles seen parked at Aung Mingalar Terminal in Yangon last month (Photo: Myanmar Now) According to local cab drivers, the personnel at checkpoints mainly target cargo trucks and private vehicles, holding them for minor infractions such as failure to wear a seatbelt or having reflective stickers, then citing these as a pretext to extort “fines.” The new normal on Yangon-Mandalay routes Before the coup, the zero milepost checkpoint on the old Yangon-Mandalay road closed down. Having reopened and relocated a short distance away, the checkpoint is now surrounded by barbed wire, and boasts two towers equipped with x-ray scanners and guards watching the road from 10 feet above the ground. Groups of five or more soldiers and police officers stop and inspect all passing vehicles, checking the passengers and their itineraries, with cars and trucks forming queues and waiting at least fifteen minutes. The checkpoint personnel treat any passenger found to be using a phone during the inspections as suspect, and refuse to be assuaged by bribes, according to one backup cab driver. For passengers on express buses, the simple comforts of listening to music or enjoying the scenery to relieve the fatigue and boredom of travel are a thing of the past. While “security” is the usual justification given for the inspections, travellers are far from feeling secure. Inspection at a junta checkpoint this year (Photo: Supplied) Passengers are no longer allowed to board buses between the zero and twentieth mileposts. “If we pick up passengers at the zero milepost, we will be fined,” a bus attendant said. Confiscations of weapons are occasionally reported along this route, reflecting the military’s attempts to contain the anti-junta armed resistance forces. With this mission in mind, checkpoint personnel are stringent in conducting inspections. Soldiers and police search the cargo and luggage compartments of vehicles thoroughly. Passengers underwent identification checks at least 10 times during the trip between Yangon and Mandalay, with either a soldier or a police officer in uniform boarding the buses to verify documents. However, no phone inspections occurred during my trip. There are more than 20 checkpoints, manned by soldiers, police, and armoured vehicles, stretching along the old Yangon-Mandalay Road and connecting routes. The formerly bustling highway stops now stand eerily quiet, with fewer vendors selling local goods than before. Even at Naypyidaw’s 200-milepost stop, there were no more than five private vehicles and buses parked at any time. Row of restaurants at a stop on the Yangon-Mandalay highway last month (Photo: Myanmar Now) Stricter security for young people from conflict areas Young travellers from conflict zones such as Magway Region and Rakhine State often face heightened scrutiny. Last month, there were reports of passengers from these areas being singled out for additional questioning, and often forced to disembark for more extensive searches of their persons and belongings. The Magway-Rakhine border, including Ann Township, has become a hotbed of conflict recently between the military and the Arakan Army (AA) and its allies. The military has ramped up inspections throughout the country to cut off resistance supply routes. A man in his 20s travelling with his parents—civil servants from Magway—was made to get off the bus and subjected to an inspection just past the zero milepost, another traveller said. “They called his name, but he wasn’t listening and didn’t respond immediately, so they started yelling at him. His parents tried to intervene, but they told them, ‘Don’t interfere!’ and continued questioning him for about 15 minutes,” the man recounted. Bus companies now warn passengers, especially young men from conflict areas, to be prepared for extensive questioning. At some points they were forced to get off the buses, according to several bus company employees, and it was unclear what happened to them afterwards. They are less likely to be bothered, however, if they have letters authorising them to travel from junta-appointed ward or township administrators, according to a woman who sells bus tickets. “You can travel with just your identity card, but it is better for passengers to have approval letters from officials,” she said. A military council checkpoint inspecting vehicles this year (Photo: Supplied) The military’s use of checkpoints as sites for forced recruitment, extortion, and intimidation has made travel a harrowing experience for many. Starting March 18 of this year, directives were issued requiring administrators’ written authorisation to travel for civilians from Rakhine State and Magway and Sagaing regions. Since then, travellers from those areas have faced stricter inspections. The buses travelling between cities have mostly empty seats these days as many passengers now avoid using large buses and opt for taking private vehicles less likely to be stopped or subjected to exhaustive searches by junta personnel. Taking small private vehicles with capacities of around four passengers is increasingly common, though the fares are significantly higher, ranging from 40,000 to 50,000 kyat (US $19 to $24) per person. People seen travelling in a small truck near a toll gate on a Yangon-Mandalay road in March 2022 (Photo: AFP) Mandalay under the military’s shadow Despite leaving Yangon at 5pm, my bus did not arrive in Mandalay until after 4am the next morning, on a journey that normally takes less than eight hours. Over four hours of the journey had been spent at checkpoints. A truck on the highway in 2023 (Photo: Myanmar Now) We found the Mandalay Kywel Sel Kan Bus Terminal, which used to bustle with tourists, all but silent. Finding transport within the city required bargaining over highly inflated fares, and one trishaw driver said he feared being robbed by criminals or forced to pay bribes by the military. “If someone tries to stop me on the road, I don’t know if they’re a gang or soldiers. If they’re thieves, they’ll take everything. If they’re soldiers, they could shoot if I don’t stop,” he said. The mood in the city itself is noticeably subdued, with fewer street vendors and a feeling of unease among residents who know that fighting between the military and resistance forces has spread closer to the city and is ongoing only tens of miles away. Resistance troops based in western Bago Region, seen in that region in July 2023 (Photo: Royal Peacock Column) It is common for military junta personnel to stop people on the street and demand their mobile phones for inspection. If gambling apps or messages expressing support for resistance groups are found on their phones, travellers may have to pay a bribe or face detention, the trishaw driver said. “They do whatever they want. By practicing this kind of extortion, these guys in Mandalay are getting rich and driving around in luxury cars,” he said. There are also some foreign tourists in the city—almost all Chinese nationals drawn to the city’s gemstone market—and hotels are still doing a brisk business, but room prices have doubled since the coup, ranging from 60,000 to 80,000 kyat (US $29 to $38) per night. At around 7am, the Shwe Phelan tea shop in central Mandalay was already bustling with patrons, and the streets began to show signs of life as people moved about. However, at famous locations like the Ze Cho market and Mahamuni Pagoda, sites revered by locals and once frequented by international visitors, there were only local regulars and no foreigners. Mandalay in October 2024 (Photo: AFP) By afternoon, an unsettling quiet had descended on the central railway station and surrounding downtown area, as well as Chinatown, a once-thriving commercial hub where the open shops are now visibly scarce. “The streets used to be packed, but now the number of working shops is down, and the streets aren’t as full as they once were. It’s not as vibrant as before,” a vendor noticed. “The station feels deserted now,” remarked a trishaw driver waiting for passengers inside the Mandalay Central Station, where only two people were seen queuing for tickets. In the area near Mandalay Palace, only military personnel and their families could be seen. Local residents and visitors were absent, and public trishaws were not allowed onto routes leading to the palace. On the palace grounds, military families could be seen shopping under the protection of armed soldiers. Mandalay Central Station seen in early July of this year (Photo: AFP) Signs written in bold red letters at the palace entrance warned visitors to register with their identification cards before coming in. However, few people dare or want to visit now that the palace is best known for housing the regime’s notorious military intelligence unit, which has a record of torturing and executing political detainees. One Mandalay resident confirmed that he now felt a strong aversion to the Mandalay landmark, saying he keeps away to avoid the military. “I haven’t been near the palace in years,” he said. “I can’t stand to see those soldiers there.”

The harrowing experience of routine travel in Myanmar

The knowledge that the military continues to perpetrate violence, conscript young men, and extort bribes from civilians throughout the country—along with heightened security between Yangon and Mandalay—has created an atmosphere of anxiety and paranoia in the cities and on the roads

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