Panama City, Panama
Yon-Genre Mind-dump, sans edit
Burma: Some of these attacks are less than a day from my office in Thailand. Most of that time is just getting across the river avoiding Burmese forces. One day crossing the Salween River, I photographed a body floating down the river. We believe it was a Burmese Soldier from a reported ambush upstream. Unknown.
KNU is the Karen National Union. One of the KNU villages just got bombed at night — I think this was a village I slipped into over the Salween river with a Marine officer friend.
Free Burma Rangers knows more about this than just about anyone on the planet. A missionary group led by Dave Eubank who was a Green Beret in a previous life.
According to Dave Eubank, that Burmese forces bombed at night is new and significant. New capability supplied by Russians and Chinese. There is video of Dave talking about this on Chuck Holton’s HOT ZONE, but I perpetually have problems posting those Telegram links.
If you have Telegram, follow Chuck Holton here. Chuck is wrapped tight and squared away. A correspondent far above the 1% — Chuck is into the stratosphere of experience: https://t.me/hotzonepodcast
I have many sources in this area of Thailand, and inside Burma. Karen people are beginning to flood into Thailand. Again, my office is just a half day drive from some of the Karen flooding in.
I am not heading back at this time. Too much going on with migrants to America — and U.S. clearly is heading deeper into conflict.
Karen are actual war refugees.
They represent no threat to United States.
Karen are good people. If they end up in America, they may need some help adjusting. Many will speak English. Most are devout Christians. They are not completely dialed into modern living. If they are in cold climates, will need particular help. If they are in Florida, they should do fine but could use some friends.
What they really could use is some help from Americans and others in Thailand. They love Americans, and Czech people. They love Rambo. In one of the movies, Rambo crosses Salween River and fights Burmese Army. You can see Rambo’s photo tacked inside huts in Burma.
If you know Karen people in America, reach out to them. Their families are getting crushed in Burma. They need help in Thailand. The most effective relief I have found are missionaries. Like always.
Said from a non-missionary: I was told during my Green Beret days to always seek out the missionaries. They know more than anybody. Specifically, as Chuck Holton said, go for the LONG TERM missionaries. Not the parachute/photo missionaries. Go for the groups who stick. You don’t have to be Christian or of their denomination or whatever.
I am not making carte blanche endorsement. Just saying the things old Green Berets and others taught me. Turned out to be true. Find the missionaries. They know all the back roads. I know that Karen people trust Free Burma Rangers. I have asked many Karen people about FBR, and I know FBR people. A young Karen woman in Chiang Mai, Thailand, told me that FBR somehow got her a scholarship to university.
I think she came from the village from the photos below that I made inside Burma. I believe this village just got bombed but I don’t know. I will ask FBR. Basically, she’s a jungle-girl but the missionaries had opened thatch school rooms in their village that provide education enough for the next step to university, and then Christians from churches in America send them to university. (You may have noticed over the years that I have gone from luke-warm to missionaries to very supportive. I see the work they do. 10x the benefit from 1/10th the price — and not from taxes but from honest charity.)
I like Karen people. This is very distressing.
See the photos I made from a village I think may have just been attacked. Again, I made these photos. This is real: https://www.michaelyon-online.com/river-of-tears-snapshots-from-the-edge-of-a-war.htm
Sorry — no time to edit. I got some migrant issues to look into here in Central America.
Follow Chuck Holton.