Villagers punished for owning Thai coin Human rights

Villagers punished for owning Thai coin
Human rights 

Two Shans, man and wife, who went back to their home village after working in Thailand for over a year, were fined by local authorities for having a five-baht coin in their possessions, said fellow villagers coming to Thailand. 
The two, Wiling, 38, and Nang Yong, 32, were searched after they got back to their village, Teuhoong, Nawng-hee Tract, Kengtawng Township (formerly part of Mongnai) early this month, when the coin was found. They were fined 70,000 kyat (about 2,500 baht). 

"The rest of their Thai currency that they had accumulated as construction workers in Chiangmai were converted into Burmese currency before they crossed the border back into Burma, said the source. 

Village headmen around Tonhoong, the township seat, were then summoned to receive "a lecture" from one of the military officers. "This time we have been easy on you," he was reported to have said. "But let it be the last time. From now on, anybody who still cherishes dreams of leaving the country can expect harsher penalties, from imprisonment to capital punishment." 

The villagers remarked afterwards that it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to restrain those under their charges, especially the young. "From Khun Sarmlaw's days, we Kengtawngians have been used to rambling and roving all over the world," said one. 

Khun Sarmlaw is the hero of one of Shanland's best loved romances, written by Nang Khamku (1853-1918), the celebrated woman poet who flourished in the late 19th century. 

The situation there was just an ironic reverse of what one normally witnessed on the border, observed a trader. "Here in Tachilek, for instance, Burmese officials get offended if you give them Burmese money," he said.