I recently made my trip to Myanmar, a place I’d been wanting to visit for years, and I’ve come back with fond memories that I will keep for a lifetime. Even before the country began opening up to the outside world, Myanmar held a fascination for me, so this trip was an eye-opener for me and the photographer who accompanied me. There was no group, no tour guide, just the two of us.

We spent nine days in Myanmar: six in Yangon and three in Dawei. In the latter city, I experienced some impressive moments with people living there. During our stay in Dawei, we had a chance to experience traditional performances at a temple fair. As Dawei is not a tourism destination, we were the only foreigners, and our dress gave us away.

While I stood alone, thinking of either walking to the front of the stage or waiting for the photographer, a girl smiled and walked up to me. She asked me in Thai if I was Thai. She told me her name was Mi Mi and that she had worked in Thailand for five years, which explained why she was able to converse with me.

No question, Thailand is more developed when compared with Myanmar. I just pray that the development in Myanmar will not change the way people are. We in “advanced” Thailand could learn some valuable lessons from our good-hearted neighbours, funny accents and all. more…