AILSA CHANG, HOST:
It has been nearly five years since Myanmar's military generals seized control of the country. The population is now poorer, hungrier and often in the dark - literally - because of the constant blackouts. The military government says a staggered election that begins on Sunday will bring brighter days, but few people believe that can fix Myanmar's shattered economy. Patrick Winn reports from Chiang Rai on the Thai-Myanmar border.
GLORIA: (Singing in Burmese).
PATRICK WINN: Eleven-year-old Gloria has lost a lot lately. Her house, her friends - all sacrificed when her family fled northern Myanmar late last year.
GLORIA: (Singing in Burmese).
WINN: She loves singing because no one can take that away.
Why did you leave?
GLORIA: Because of the war going on.
WINN: Was that scary?
GLORIA: A little bit.
WINN: I visited Gloria at a playground in Thailand, close to its border with Myanmar. The war that Gloria witnessed - that kicked off after the coup deposed an elected government in February 2021. It's a nationwide uprising to take down the power-grabbing military. Gloria's father is a man in his 40s named Aung. He tells me, actually, war isn't the main reason his family had to flee.
AUNG: I think economy in Myanmar is hopeless, very terrible.
WINN: They just couldn't stand the dreadful economy. Aung and his daughter, Gloria, asked NPR not to use their full names to avoid retribution from the military government because they still have family members back home. In a part of Myanmar called Shan State, Aung was a private tutor. The family had a car, smartphones. They were middle class. But under army rule, normal life fell apart.
AUNG: The government, because of fighting every day, everywhere, they cannot care about electricity.
WINN: The electricity would only come on randomly in the dead of night. Aung and his family started sleeping with every light in the on position.
AUNG: We switch on the light and we sleep and we are very ready, you know?
WINN: Ready to jump out of bed if the room lit up to cook, to charge phones, even quench their thirst. Like many families in Myanmar, they used an electric pump to pull water from the ground. With scant electricity, the whole town withered. Businesses shut down. Aung's students couldn't pay him anymore. He had to pawn his car. And once that money ran out, they barely ate.
AUNG: We want to buy some food. We don't have money. So we struggle every day.
WINN: This is a microcosm of life in Myanmar with the military in charge. The war in Myanmar grabs headlines, but economic ruin affects more families, not just those close to the fighting. As many as 3 out of 4 people now live hand to mouth or close to it, according to the United Nations Development Program. An expert on Myanmar's economy, Sean Turnell at Australia's Lowy Institute, says it's almost never been this dire.
SEAN TURNELL: Essentially, the military has to spend all of the country's resources on fighting.
WINN: Fighting its own people - those opposing the military's rule. NPR reached out to the military leadership but got no reply. Turnell, who was an economic adviser to the previous elected government, says the generals tend to see feeding civilians or keeping the lights on as distractions.
TURNELL: They're not particularly interested in economics. They have no expertise in it.
WINN: But those same generals say an election - starting on December 28 - will restore normalcy. Problem is, only pro-military candidates can run. The EU, Australia, Japan and others say the election will not be credible. The United States is an outlier, saying the election will bring more stability and that Myanmar citizens seeking safe haven in America should go home. Sean Turnell says little will change.
TURNELL: I'm afraid it's just going to be the current situation just continuing on. There's no real reason for any rebound.
(SOUNDBITE OF ROOSTERS CROWING)
WINN: Just a few miles across the border in Thailand, life is better for Aung and his family. He and his wife have found work. So while the kids used to skip breakfast, now the morning starts with chicken stew bubbling on the electric stove.
(SOUNDBITE OF STEW BUBBLING)
AUNG: (Non-English language spoken).
WINN: Aung says he's lucky the family could escape.
AUNG: I don't see hope in future inside Myanmar. I don't see anything.
WINN: Aung still checks in with his family and friends back home. Today, he's calling his old neighbor to see how things are going.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Speaking Burmese).
WINN: The man doesn't want to be identified out of fear of the military's reprisal but says they're only getting power every four days.
For NPR News, I'm Patrick Winn, Chiang Rai Province, Thailand. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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