An army column enters a small farming village without warning. The soldiers have been taught that everyone there is a potential enemy. Should any villagers flee in fear, that can only indicate guilt. Punishment is meted out on the spot without pity.
The lower ranks must live off the land, so villagers' food is seized, valuables are confiscated, and, in the event of slim pickings, extortionate taxes levied through the village headman. Perhaps a villager or two will be interrogated or tortured and someone's daughter or wife compelled to provide sexual services. For the military, suspicions can rarely be allayed, but "good behavior" might mean carrying gear and ammunition for the column as it moves on, or perhaps a lengthy labor assignment, at no pay, for the benefit of the officer corps. And the village itself might have to move forthwith and relocate to an area where they can be better watched and fulfill their role as helots.
This is the harsh reality, the fear, for many of the ethnic minorities who try to survive in Myanmar near its 2,401-km border with Thailand, and the reason why they flee. Myanmar has been at war with itself since 1948 and continues to bleed. Arguments over justice, basic freedoms, ethnic diversity and the nature of the state have rarely been conducted in a calm, give-and-take manner. More often than not they have been viewed through the barrel of a gun.