By LAWI WENG – It’s normally a one day trip by car to arrive to where the New Mon State Party (NMSP) marked the 64th Mon National Day in Banan Bon village on Saturday, near NMSP headquarters.
But, the trip took two days after our car broke down at the top of the mountain named “Old Mountain,” the highest mountain in Mon State situated in a deep jungle.
The road was bumpy and many accidents occur when drivers veer off the road. Last month there were four accidents in which two people were killed and nineteen were wounded.
Nai Akar, who also traveled to Mon National Day said, “I know it is dangerous to travel on this road. I want to visit Mon National Day because I want to see what the situation will be like, it being the first year after the broken ceasefire agreement in the [NMSP-controlled] area.
He joked, “The ceasefire agreement was broken. Our car also was broken.”
The 64th Mon National Day was held on Feb 19th. Me and four friends left from Sangkhlaburi, Kanchanaburi province on February 17th, and we arrived to Banan Bon on Feb 18th at 4 p.m.
The village is on top of the hill. There is no well. All men, women and children have to take a shower in the river at the village.
The village has no electricity and no paved roads, and everyone uses Burmese currency. Some of the homes were flying a Mon national flag.
The atmosphere was festive. The NMSP invited about a hundred Thai people to join, and the Thai group drove 45 off-road trucks to join in the Mon ceremonies.
Banon Bon consists of around 400 households. Many villagers are former members of the NMSP. This village was set up after NMSP entered into a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese regime in 1995.
When entering the village, one can see a welcome sign saying “Welcome to Mon Land.”
Some villagers wore civilian dress, but also held M-16 guns and providing security in different entry points of the village. I also saw a woman who had a gun on her person while she was selling food at a booth during the ceremony.
It appeared to me that the people feared a fight would break out during the ceremony, and they prepared weapons to protect themselves if a fight occurred. The NMSP also deployed around 100 Mon National Liberation Army (MNLA) troops to provide security at the ceremony.
Though some soldiers wore a new military uniform, walking around the village and talking on their walkie-talkies, other dressed in Thai military uniforms.
The night before celebrating Mon National Day, Mon soldiers released firecrackers and people clapped while admiring the beautiful fireworks. People drank and also listened to Mon bands who played to entertain the soldiers and those villagers who had come to celebrate.
Nai Rai Jai, an officer of the NMSP, said, “I feel very happy. It is like a new year celebration.”
Despite his happiness at the ceremony, he said that he missed his family a lot. He wants to return home to see his son, daughter, and wife, but he does not dare go.
“I sent my lovely son to study Burmese in Sagaing Division. I told him if you want to fight your enemy, you need to be fluent in their language. I want to bring my son here,” he said.
Many of Mon soldiers told similar stories about love and revolution, making the hard decision to leave their families after the end of the ceasefire agreement in June 2010, and returning to army bases in the jungle.
Nai Nyan, another member of NMSP said, “I left my daughter at my parents to study. She is 9 years old.”
Nai Nyan explained further that his wife has gone to work in Mahachai, Samut Sakhon province, in Thailand, because he cannot provide for his family on his salary of 20 baht per month.
Despite leaving family members behind, Nai Rai Jai emphasized, “We need to protect our land. We can not buy our freedom of this land. We need to protect it with our weapons.”
The NMSP provided free food to the villagers and visitors who came to celebrate Mon National Day, which started on February 18th and ended February 19th. 150 viss (Burmese measurement) of pork was cooked according to Nai Akon, the cooking organizer for the ceremony.
Nai Rot Sa, the NMSP vice-chairman, said that “we [Mon people] celebrate Mon National Day because we want our people to remember our Mon National Day [their history].”
“People forget to remember their national day as they have to struggle hard during their daily lives,” he said.
Mon National Day commemorates the day when the first Mon kingdom, Hongsawatoi, was established in 1116 of the Buddhist Era, or 573 CE.
Over 100 members of the Mon National Liberation Army, including women, staged a military parade and sang the Mon national song while saluting the Mon flag.
About 1,000 villagers, male and female, wore traditional red and white clothing, while gathering together to listen to Mon leaders give speeches and join in the ceremony.
The NMSP leaders used their chance on the stage to tell the people about their political stance and how they will fight for the people’s freedom in the future.
A Mon Buddhist abbot Rev.Palita, who is well respected in Mon State, spoke about Mon history at the ceremony, talking about how the Mon kingdom was destroyed by Burman King, Aung Zay Ya (Alaung Phaya) in 1757.
The abbot began his speech by saying “It is difficult to see each other. Today, I feel I have the strength of an invincible elephant because we have the chance to see each other.”
He also said that “the Burmese regime lies, that not only have they lied once, but for many generations.”
“They have already finished the elections, and they have started the new parliament in some parts. We do not know yet the taste of it,” Rev. Palita cautioned.
The NMSP owns a large part of the jungle, which I experienced on my way back to the Thai border, on a secret way, which does not allow Mon villagers to pass through [for hunting or logging]. This secret path took two and a half hours to cross by truck through deep jungle densely filled with tall and thick trees.
Nai Pain, a soldier of MNLA, sitting in the off-road truck next to me, said, “This jungle will be our next place we fight them [the Burmese regime] again.”
