Read on Twitter
I guess I'll be live tweeting a coup now. Things are still pretty quiet for now, though people are awake and scared. I've been fielding calls since 6 am from friends and relatives. The internet is in and out and my sim card no longer works.
Trying to figure out what to wear has never been so high stakes. Do I choose a longyi and sandels and blend in better or do I wear pants and sneakers for better mobility?
ATMs near my apartment are no longer working and there are rumors the banks won't be opening today.
I've walked over 10 blocks now, and every NLD flag I saw in the last couple days is gone. I suppose no one wants to be an easy target. I wonder if there are people frantically scrapping of NLD/ASSK car decals.
The market is busier than usual, but people seem to be buying fairly normal amounts. It doesn't look like panic buying. The increased patronage may be due to a noticable increase in male shoppers. It seems like whole families are out and not just the women.
Snippets of convo I've overheard this morning regarding the coup:
"It can't be helped"
"I told you so. We know them."
"It can't be helped"
"I told you so. We know them."
Things are so "normal" that YCDC is still harassing poor street vendors in the middle of a coup!
This is a small thing, but I haven't gotten any communications from the US Embassy through their safe traveller program (though I was constantly getting COVID updates a while back), nor have they posted anything on their Facebook page.
I've also seen to have been logged out of Signal, Telegram, ect overnight. I can't log in again since I can't get a verification code due to the cell service shut down
My WhatsApp is working though
Military tv is citing 417 and 418 of the 2008 constitution for the coup, stating that there have been wide spread protests against the UCE's handling of the election and the election results. This military control will last 1 year.
People have been at my door for like 5 mins now. No announcement of who they are. I'm not going to open the door or signal that I'm home. But if I go dark, tweet at Joe Biden to save me I guess.
Ok. They are gone now.
The latest rumor is that all internet access will be cut of at noon. So if you stop hearing from us, that's probably why.
So the noon internet cut off seems to have been just a rumor. There's also rumor of a 2 pm one. I'm doubting this now. The Rakhine shutdown was mobile internet only. It makes sense since it neutralizes most citizens without the logistics of figuring which offices use what wifi.
But who even knows. It's Myanmar, anything can happen.
Telenor is back
Three cars with Myanmar just drive past blasting patriotic music. The back of the truck was loaded with men carrying swords.
Another caravan, this time a mix of monks and lay people, some dressed in camo. They are chanting for good health for General Min Aung Hlaing, commander of the armed forces of Myanmar.
I'm with some family. My cousin's friend (a ship captain) just told him that cargo ships that were scheduled to go out tomorrow have been told the schedule is suspended. My aunt called the coup "rude".
More from my aunt, "This is just like when I was a child. These exact tactics."
If I were a better Buddhist, I would possess the chill to nap during a coup like this man.
Now that things are quieter (?) I'm going to take a quick break and have a mild panic attack. Be back soon.
Flights may be suspended until end of May according to this interview resourcing from the BBC. This includes domestic flights. https://www.facebook.com/BBCnewsBurmese/videos/231554118561228/
Good morning. It's day 2 of the #Myanmarcoup There were worries last night that internet and/or electricity would be cut off at midnight. That seems to have been yet another false rumor.
Everyone here is in a state of perpetual uncertainty. No one knows anything for sure, and there are intentional efforts to foster this environment.
Banks were closed yesterday. We all saw this with out own eyes, and yet the state-run newspaper tells us that these were only rumors. We are being gaslit.
I don't know why, especially since so many have already been detained, but seeing this list of terminated ministers in the state-run paper broke something in me.
Adding to the surreal vibe this morning. One of the local news outlets is airing a spot on some vacation town halfway across the world.
Rice prices and exchange rates are stable this morning and gold shops are opening again. There were fears of hyperinflation and people rushing towards currencies they believe would be more stable. This seems not to have manifested. At least for now.
Also, to all of you in my comments talking about how you don't care about what happens to Myanmar because of the Rohingya genocide, fuck you. The same military doing the coup are the ones who committed those atrocities. The civilian gov also sucks...
But things will only be worse for everyone, including and especially the Rohingya, under military rule. 55 million people did not commit a genocide, and even if they did, what we need is accountability and justice, not your messed up idea of "revenge".
Updates since this morning: It looks like those who were arrested yesterday are slowly being moved into house arrest. There was a huge demonstration at People's Park in Yangon of people showing support for the coup. The internet and mobile service has been relatively stable
My grandmother doesn't know about the coup and we won't tell her. She lived through British and Japanese colonization, World War II, the 1962 coup, the 1988 uprising, the 1990 coup, the 2007 Saffron revolution. She's 90 and has dimentia. She deserves to spend her last years free.
Ok. This next set of tweets is not new and more my reactions and emotions to what's been happening on Twitter.
Journalists, please don't message me multiple times. And please don't try to contact me on multiple platforms. It gives me immense anxiety to know that I have so many messages I haven't answered. I understand that you are just doing your jobs, but
Those of us on the ground are stressed enough with our own work and deadlines, keeping track of our families and friends, figuring out what the heck is going on, and preparing for an uncertain future. I will respond if and when I have the mental and emotional capacity.
If you want to use my pics or videos though, please message me. There are way too many replies and your requests there are getting buried.
Americans, please don't tweet the state department statement at me or tell me Joe Biden cares. I know you mean well, but it's actually kinda imperialist of you to think that the US can or should have so much power over another sovereign nation.
Other Americans, I'm not talking about Trump or QAnnon?!?!? Other countries exist. Please leave me alone.
Men, please do not message me about my looks or send me porn, and don't do this to any other internet stranger. Stop being a weirdo.
Non-Myanmar nationals stuck here, I know you are scared. Try to stay calm and make sure you have the essentials. Try to keep at least two weeks of water and food on hand at all times. Get power banks and extra sim cards if you can. Stay in contact with your embassy.
If you want to help. Keep any eye out for the civil disobedience movements that are starting to grow and build momentum. See if you can provide support to those. Flow their lead. Don't call for sanctions. They do not hurt those in power.
We have entered the civil disobedience portion of the coup. Tomorrow should be very interesting. (As if every day in a coup isn't). I'm also hearing cars on the larger street blasting their horns as they drive down the main roads.
Alright. It's time for bed. (Hopefully) see you all again tomorrow.
Good morning. It's day 3 of the coup. I slept maybe three hours last night, but who need sleep when you can write in a tea fueled haze. My latest for the @nytimes on my experiences (with a wee bit of historical context sprinkled in) that first day. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/opinion/myanmar-coup-eyewitness.html?smid=url-share
I'll be sharing more later, but be on the look out today for increased pushback against the coup from Myanmar society. Medical workers (many of who are employed in government hospitals) have already begin their protest. Expect to see more from other professional classes.
I expect to see more threats/actions from the military. We've been seeing tanks since before the first day of the coup, but I have a knot in the pit of my stomach today. But this tweet is purely feeling and not analysis. Don't panic. I just wanted to share my fears to someone.
In some personal news, I'm supposed to have a job interview this morning. I reached out to try and reschedule due to the whole coup situation here, but no response. What do I do?!? 
Non-Myanmar nationals, relief flights are running again. If you want to leave, now is a really great time to do it.
I'm bringing a pause to the live tweeting for now. Between this and the articles I've written, I haven't really slept for three days, and now my body is crashing. I'll be publishing and speaking on panels and such in the coming days though and will share that.
In the meantime, keep an eye on the resistance movement. The public had been waiting for formal charges and the 72 hour window of detainment that is laid out in the 2008 constitution to pass. It's very likely things will start really moving on that front in the coming days
Good morning on day 4 of the #Myanmarcoup. My morning has been equal parts picture 1 and picture 2. I can still access FB without a VPN for now (I use Telenor for my service), and I'm checking with my sources for more clarity. I'm the mean time, download and use a VPN.
If you want to help, paying for a Myanmar person to access really high quality VPN (especially those on the front lines -labor organizers, teachers and doctors, activists, journalists, etc), is a concrete way to help from the outside.
I'm really in this tea shop giving a VPN tutorial to a bunch of uncles. Really reminds me of my @Phandeeyar days
The VPN donation tweet was deleted because we are trying to figure out a more anonymous email account to use to protect the people involved.
Anarrest was made in Nyaung U of a one of the people banging pots. The amount of civilian arrests is starting to climb. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=262956951897251&id=100045488436651
Myanmar language resource on how to increase the safety and effectiveness of your protest https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=599503094244048&id=233988970795464
Content warning for gross body stuff.
I'm getting stress hives
I'm getting stress hives
Good morning from day 4 of #Myanmarcoup. I will be stepping back from direct reporting and do more analytical writing soon, because I'm not a Myanmar national and am really not supposed to be at protests, and because I think there are some things missing from the conversation.
For breaking news you can follow @cape_diamond @soezeya @Shoon_Naing @mrattkthu @Myanmar_Now_Eng @hninyadanazaw @FrontierMM and all the amazing others going out and risking their safety to get out the news
Protesters banging on a Myanmar Beer barrel on the same day that Kirin pulled out of their partnership with them.
I'm hearing reports from Naypyitaw that Twitter is down. How is the situation in other locations?
Good morning on day 6* of the coup. The battle going on in Myanmar now is one for legitimacy. The military and the elected officials are vying for the cooperation and good will of the people. The winner will rule Myanmar.
*I said day 4 yesterday but it should have been day 5.
*I said day 4 yesterday but it should have been day 5.
Parks, which have been closed due to COVID are now open again There are rumors that Shwedagon Pagoda will be also begin allowing visitors soon after months of closure. The military is (at least for now) giving people the things they want.
The military has won over multiple high profile people from parties in opposition to the NLD to join the new regime. They are courting business leaders. I wouldn't be surprised if they began easing most COVID restrictions. People have been hurting, and this will be pursuasive.
Reliable sources are saying that the whole country may be losing internet access for two days imminently. If true, I hope I will see you all on the other side.
Good morning from day 7 of the #Myanmarcoup. Internet is still down nationwide but there are pockets of wifi. Yesterday thousands took to the street all over Yangon to protest. Later there were rumors that ASSK had been released and people celebrated. This was a rumor.
There are rumored to be more protests today and professors and Min Ko Naing are said to be scheduled to speak. MKN is one of the most well-known leaders from the 1988 uprising after ASSK.
Some pics I took from the protest in downtown Yangon yesterday.
My report from the protest on #WhatsHappeningInMaynmar. Please ignore the terrible grammar and punctuation.
My video from the protest. They are chanting for the well being of the police and "Mother Suu".
Protesters gave the police water, and are telling them to drink it since it is given with "loving kindness".
Media, you can use these pic and videos. I promise I took these on Saturday the 6th in Yangon.
The internet I'm using is Mytel, a telecom company run as a joint venture by the Myanmar military and Viettel, a Vietnamese company. Mytel revenues directly fund military atrocities and crimes. One thing people can do would be to pressure Viettel to pull out of that relationship.
People who have all the guns should not also have control over telecommunicatins. But the problem in Myanmar is not individuals, but systems. No matter who is in charge, we need more democratic solutions, not just a change in leadership.
Remember that this coup has legal clout behind it. The constitution allows for coups, and everything and anything can be criminalized here. War crimes continued under the NLD government too. The civilian government jailed activists and journalists too.
I'm watching the live stream of the current protest here. https://www.facebook.com/khitthitnews/videos/824326478148751/
Also remember that we are still in a pandemic. Myanmar doesn't have enough vaccines atm. New cases had just started to decline before the coup started. Who even knows what the numbers are like now. Who wants to risk a 2 week government quarantine by getting tested now?
There's also a lot of foreigners where I am, mostly Wester, and a some upper-class Myanmar people. When there's more time, we should have a conversation about how differently the coup is being experienced, emotionally and materially, by various segments of society here.
Some rich Burmese family is here swimming. I hate them
I'm going back out to report. Hope to be back online soon..
BREAKING - MPT service is (at least) temporarily back
I'm back online after joining the protesters for the last three hours. Tens of thousands have been marching all over Yangon. My group met up with three other groups outside of City Hall.
Telenor is also back.
The anarchists and punks are here, because of course they are.
Kids too.
The people are organized. Water and food are bing handed out. There are others collecting the trash.
Strange things are happening on texts though. "@" have started appearing after some texts, and some messages took multiple tries to send.
Ooredoo is not back from what I can tell.
Police personnel carriers at Shwedagon Pagoda. Rumors are that the monks will demonstrate there and turn over their alms bowls. This is a powerful symbolic gesture that precipitated the violence against monks during the Saffron Revolution in 2007.
What people are chanting
- Give the people back their power
- Getting democracy is our cause
- Health to Mother Suu
- Release Mother Suu
- The fall of military power is our cause
- Give the people back their power
- Getting democracy is our cause
- Health to Mother Suu
- Release Mother Suu
- The fall of military power is our cause
Scenes from Mogoke from a source. Not my pics
Police at the protest(s) were few and far between. It was mostly traffic police with batons and whistles. I saw a few other police with metal handcuffs and sidearms. There are also few police vehicles. It does not look like a crackdown is planned, at least at the moment.
Corner of Sule right now. The internet is said to go down in another 20 mins. You know the drill.
More video. There's a lot of people marching as well. Though it's unclear to where and the purpose
Also, while the internet is working, tell everyone you can reach to download SMS encryption, like Silence
Once again for the people in the back... Yes, a genocide happened here, and yes, they civilian government and many locals are complicit. But no, a military coup will not help anyone. Accountability happens when the people and justice rule, not men with guns.
To be clear, do not take this to mean I am advocating for a return to the normal under NLD leadership. We need real democracy in Myanmar, not a quasi-civillian government filled with people who are either actively racist or very willing to throw "Others" under under the bus.
Do not valorize or demonize people! We are all humans with flaws. A taxi driver I spoke to this morning asked me my religion before he would speak to me. He clearly has terrible beliefs about non-Buddhist, but he still doesn't deserve to live in a military dictatorship.
Looks like things are winding down and most people have left.
This is a petty thing to feel during a coup, but I'm kinda jealous of the people in other cities who are protesting in their motorcycles. My feet hurt so much.
Propaganda on MRTV. At some point we should talk about how the military uses this kind of imagery to sustain their image as the protectors of the (Buddhist) nation. This is a key component of keeping (some) monks and therefore people on their side.
#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar
#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar
Good morning from day 8 of the coup. Protest leaders have called for a general strike and tens of thousands have already begun marching in Yangon in response to the #Myanmarcoup. I am not out on the streets at the moment, but I can hear the singing and chanting from my flat.
For those keeping track at home, the #CivilDisobedienceMovement now consists of labor unions, students, teachers, doctors, lawyers, taxi drivers and more on top of millions of other Myanmar people.
Yet another way for those on the outside to help - provide mobile top ups. The costs of internet, texts, and calls will add up and we are now entering into a general strike. People will hurting for financial support.
Gift some connectivity here
https://www.ding.com/#
Gift some connectivity here
https://www.ding.com/#
The pictures of snipers on Sakura Tower in Yangon are NOT from today. You can tell based on the state of construction in the buildings in the background. I know it's hard and we want to keep people safe, but please slow down and double-check before you share things!
For the Ding thing, you will need the number of people here. So it's more of a suggestion for people who already know someone in the country.
Myanmar people can use this platform, http://openhluttaw.info/#/ , to contact the people they elected and demand that they reject the coup and help denying the coup any legitimacy or cooperation.
#CivilDisobedienceMovement
#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar
#CivilDisobedienceMovement
#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar
The Civic Manifesto of Free Myanmar - အခက်အခဲများကြားမှ အမြဲရှင်သန်ရပ်တည်နိုင်မြဲဖြစ်သော နိုင်ငံတော်၏ စရိုက် လက္ခ ဏာကို အထူးပြုလျက် မိမိတို့၏ နိုင်ငံသားအချင်းချင်း ကူညီဖေးမခြင်း၊ ရိုင်းပင်းကာကွယ်ခြင်းတို့ဖြင့် ပြည်သူ့ယန္တရားကို အမြဲတစေ အသက်ဝင်လည်ပတ်စေမည်။ https://civicmanifestooffreemyanmar.com/index.html
The Civic Manifesto of Free Myanmar - The legitimate government which can exercise the power by mean of the regular elections does not dwell in a place, a building and a symbol, but in the heart of the people. https://civicmanifestooffreemyanmar.com/en.html
If yesterday was a defiant march today is turning into a parade of style. Fashion is political and the kids have figured out their angles (perfectly posed to avoid having their faces camera).
There is an almost festive mood, and there are packed vehicles. Maybe they are also tired from the many miles of walking yesterday.
The queers want democracy! And they will use @taylorswift13 references to demand it. Remember that there areaws against "unnatural" sex in Myanmar, and people face discrimination and violence from many parts of society.
#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar
#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar
We were even graced by the rock legend, Zaw Win Htut, giving the three-finger salute and taking selfies with the gathered crowd while looking extremely badass on his motorbike (which are not allowed in Yangon city proper).
Well, that didn't last long. Curfews and bans on gathering are bing announced in different townships across the country. It does not seem to be nationwide (yet). We will have to see how this impacts the #CivilDisobedienceMovement and any future street protests.
There are fears of a return to complete martial law, as well as the threat that there will be more mass arrests tonight while people are in their homes under curfew.
The pot banging is starting early. I'm also hearing that some buses have announced that they will not be running tomorrow from workers who work opening shifts.
Things are moving FAST. There are no cars honking on the road anymore though there are way more people banging pots, at least where I am. It is 13 mins past the 8:00 pm curfew in the townships that have it.
Min Aung Hlaing is speaking to the nation on MRTV right now. You can follow along online here - https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=3940748662612466&ref=watch_permalink
He is reiterating the military's accusations of election fraud, in part citing improbably high turnout despite COVID-19. He is laying out a number of points.
This is a very rough summary.
1) The UEC did not properly handle the election
2) The military will get everyone vaccinated for COVID-19
3) They will help businesses hurt by the NLD COVID response
4) They will continue to "pursue peace"
5) They will defend the 2008 Constitution
1) The UEC did not properly handle the election
2) The military will get everyone vaccinated for COVID-19
3) They will help businesses hurt by the NLD COVID response
4) They will continue to "pursue peace"
5) They will defend the 2008 Constitution
Things that happened earlier today - water cannons were used on protestors in the capitol, and the military sent out a threatening letter warning demonstrators they will, "take legal actions to prevent acts that is violating the State stability, public safety and rule of law."
Good morning from day 9 of the #Myanmarcoup. The two largest cities in Myanmar are now under martial law and gatherings of more than 5 people are banned. Extreme physical violence against protestors was never out of the question, but will be especially likely today.
