Karen Clothing

The dress of the Karen people varies slightly between its 3 main clans and within each clan. The Bwikleng men wear a gompa, which is usually tied with a towel, with the gompa knot tied in the center of the forehead, slightly exposing the head of the towel. His upper body with a chicken heart collar short-sleeved long hem pullover shirt, shirt collar, cuffs woven with wavy pattern, the top of the shirt is mostly white, embedded with other colors of the vertical stripes, the lower body wearing black pants, slippers, back Maine-style satchel.

Buvikrun women's post bag is mostly white sarongs, blouse for the black bottom short-sleeved chicken heart collar tunic, tunic hem and cuffs, neckline woven with patterns, underneath the Karen sarong. Bukviklen women like to wear earrings, earrings, bracelets, necklace and other jewelry, unmarried women are good to wear dress tube dress.

Keren men, especially the Pokhran men around Paan still have the habit of tattooing. Most of the boys start tattooing when they are 13-14 years old. The tattoos are above the knees and below the waist. The Pokhran people believe that tattoos are a sign of a man's bravery. When a young girl in Pokhran chooses a partner, she mainly looks at whether the other person has a tattoo or not. Karen men tattoo patterns are mostly lions, Taoist immortals. In order to prevent snake bite, Karen people like in the back of the hand, the back of the foot above the spider pattern. In the past, in order to be invulnerable to knives and guns, the Karen people like to tattoo letters and solid objects on their shoulders. Fierce exchanges of fire between Karen forces and government troops

On Nov. 7, Myanmar held its first multi-party national election in more than 20 years, electing more than 1,000 members of the Union Parliament and members of provincial and state legislatures. This is the fifth step in Myanmar's seven-point roadmap to democracy, and an important election for the country to realize its transition from a military government to a democratically elected government. However, in the early morning of the election day, dissatisfied with the possibility of further restrictions on the "autonomy" of ethnic minority areas after the election, more than 300 people from the 902nd Battalion of the 5th Brigade of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), under the command of the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Soe Yatt, attacked Under the command of the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Soe Yath, the battalion suddenly attacked the police station and post office in Myawaddy, a town in eastern Kayin State of Burma, and exchanged heavy fire with the Burmese government troops who arrived later. A number of rifle grenades and mortar shells also landed across the border into Thailand, killing and injuring at least 16 Burmese and Thai borderers.

To retake Myawaddy Township, Myanmar government troops continued to deploy reinforcements from the surrounding area.

By the afternoon of the 8th, government troops had recaptured Myawaddy Township and were once again engaged in a firefight with the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) at the border crossing between Myanmar and Thailand, slightly south of the township.

The concern is that more than 500 DKBA and 900 KNU members could be involved in the fighting at any time if the conflict continues to spread to surrounding areas. In view of this possibility, the Burmese government forces immediately declared a 90-day state of emergency in some areas of the country, including a 90-day ban on political rallies and on military personnel leaving the army. Refugees flood into Thailand, gunfire falls on Thai border

The sudden fighting quickly spilled over into neighboring Thailand.

In the Mae Sot district of Tat Phu, in northwestern Thailand alone, some 15,000 Burmese refugees had gathered by the morning of the 9th. Mae Sot district administrator Ktisakor Temensak said Thailand had closed Thai border checkpoints and expelled some refugees along the Mae Yai River. Preliminary figures from Thailand's 3rd Army show that at least 30,000 refugees have entered Thai territory. Most of these refugees crossed the border on foot with a few valuable belongings, while a few came in pickup trucks to seek refuge. Refugees told Thai soldiers that although the large-scale firefighting had stopped, small-scale exchanges in Myawaddy Township were still occurring from time to time.

According to a Thai official on the Thai-Myanmar border, gunfire landed in Thailand during the clash and caused injuries.

Four rocket-propelled grenades landed in Thailand during the 8-day firefight, one of which hit Mae Sot county in northwestern Thailand, injuring three men and two women***five people.

In addition, television footage showed Thai soldiers on the bridge over the Mae Yai River border at the time of the firefight on heightened alert, taking cover behind bunkers due to stray bullets crossing the border.

The Thai official said, "Although the artillery fire from both sides has subsided for the time being, it is feared that the military operations around the town of Mae Waddy have not stopped." Thai army explicitly ordered not to shoot back

A Thai army officer said that the Thai army has been deployed along the Thai-Myanmar border and no one and vehicles are allowed to enter the area, and that the Thai military will keep a close eye on the development of the situation in Myanmar. In response to the current situation, the commander of Thailand's 3rd Army has made it clear: "We also found many unexploded mortar shells and rifle grenades in our territory on the 9th. We are still investigating who fired into our territory. But during the exchange of fire, we explicitly ordered our officers and soldiers not to fire back at the Burmese side."

In the afternoon of Sept. 9, most of the Burmese refugees had begun to consider returning to Burmese territory as the exchange of fire subsided for the time being. But Thai Prime Minister Abhisit said he feared the unrest in eastern Burma could last for months.

Abhisit said, "[The unrest in Myanmar] may continue for the next three months, especially during the period when the current government is transitioning to the newly elected government." Ethnic armed groups join forces against government troops

Abhisit's fears are well-founded, as the clash follows an armed demonstration by ethnic-linked groups against Myanmar's general election and warns that if the military continues to deprive them of their rights, "Myanmar will break out into civil war again." A dissident news website, Democratic Voice of Burma, has reported that six armed groups in Burma's ethnic minority areas have said they would help each other fight back in the event of an armed attack by government forces.

Burmese pro-democracy dissident Khin Nyunt Ma said on Aug. 8, "The firefight sent a clear message to the military government and the world that we don't accept this kind of election." She also added, "This is a golden opportunity for them [the Karen to launch an armed attack] because they know that the junta's plan is to completely eliminate them." Western media speculate on Myanmar's 'national upheaval'

After the armed conflict, Western media were speculating on the possibility of a "national upheaval" in Myanmar and how Thailand would react to the armed conflict. But they were surprised by the Thai army's reticence.

In fact, Thailand and Myanmar's other neighbors are well aware that the conflict between Myanmar's ethnic armed groups and government forces is an "old problem".

The ethnic issue has been a major problem for Myanmar's government since independence in 1948.

After 1962, the ethnic problem deteriorated further, and from the 1970s to the mid-1980s, there were more than 20 ethnic armed groups in Burma, with a force of more than 70,000, and they actually controlled nearly a quarter of the country.

After coming to power in 1988, Myanmar's current government has adopted a two-pronged strategy of development and suppression of ethnic minority regions and armed groups, and has reached peace agreements with 20 armed groups.

In 2009, the Myanmar government intended to integrate the ethnic armies into border security forces. But that caused resentment among the ethnic power groups that hold the arms, erupting into the Kokang conflict last August.

"How to deal with the ethnic armies will be a considerable challenge for Myanmar's future new government." A Burmese military officer admitted: "But it is unlikely that the West expects these kinds of clashes to ignite unrest across Burma." Neighbors mostly hope for stability

Contrary to Western opinion, ASEAN and Myanmar's neighbors hope for stability in the country and mostly welcome the country's 7-day general election.

Vietnam, the chair of ASEAN, issued a statement on Sept. 9, hailing the election as "an important step forward" for the country.

India and Thailand hoped that the election would allow Myanmar to expand its contacts with the outside world.

India and Thailand are currently investing in ports, railroads and oil and gas pipelines in Myanmar, giving the countries a trade route to the Indian Ocean.

Thailand's largest construction company just signed contracts totaling $8.6 billion with the Myanmar government on the 4th of this month *** to build a deep-water port and an industrial park together.

More importantly, ASEAN is an alliance of small and medium-sized countries, and has been pursuing a strategy of "balanced diplomacy" with the big countries in the region, which has made it a major target for the U.S., Japan, India, and Russia to compete for or fight for. As ASEAN's international status improves, its strategic position has become more prominent, and it has been recognized as the "fifth pole" of power in the Asia-Pacific region after the United States, Japan, China and Russia. In the midst of this, any ASEAN member that fails to protect its own interests will directly affect the other ASEAN member states - especially in terms of security and stability. Therefore, ASEAN countries are looking forward to the stability of Myanmar.