Western leaders proposing sanctions against Myanmar need to examine the nuts and bolts of the Myanmese economy in order to avoid harming ordinary people. They are already suffering from exorbitant living costs, a plummeting currency and isolation since the latest military crackdown on peaceful protesters.
A recent visit to Myanmar's southernmost port town, Kaw Thaung, shows how reliant the locals have become on trade with neighbouring countries. Over the past decade, increasing numbers of Thai traders and gamblers have ventured to a casino on so-called Rich Island and the bustling markets of the town. Many Bangkok-based expatriates and tourists came on 'visa runs'. However, I saw no other foreign visitors during my two-day stay. Many Myanmese say that, even without sanctions, they already feel isolated, because the crackdown is scaring away valuable traders and visitors.
Boat drivers, shop owners, a doctor and even government officers - who won't discuss politics for fear of joining an estimated 2,000 political prisoners - speak openly about their economic hardships. They say border towns are suffering more than the commercial capital, Yangon.
Since most merchandise comes from outside Myanmar, the cost of living in border towns is often higher than in Thailand. Yet workers in Myanmar make only US$1 or US$2 a day - about a third of what thousands of Myanmese exiles and illegal labourers earn in Thailand toiling in rubber plantations, fisheries and factories. The local currency, the kyat, has dwindled from a rate of 200 to the US dollar in 1997 to 900 last year, and now 1,500.
'We don't know where it's going to stop,' said a local shop owner who depends on rice and other foodstuffs from Thailand. 'The lower it goes, the more we have to pay for goods. It's becoming difficult to do things like eat or buy fuel.'
It's also difficult to finish building a market complex to replace one burned down two years ago, or build a road beyond the town. Students and others must travel 12 hours by boat to the nearest college in Dawei, and then 12 hours by road to Yangon.
