{"id":9975,"date":"2026-08-24T21:53:38","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T15:23:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/?p=9975"},"modified":"2026-08-24T21:53:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T15:23:38","slug":"civil-war-misguided-economic-policies-and-the-hardships-facing-the-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/2026\/08\/civil-war-misguided-economic-policies-and-the-hardships-facing-the-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Civil War, Misguided Economic Policies, and the Hardships Facing the People"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"No<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Myanmar Spring Chronicle \u2013 Scenes from August<\/em> 23<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

(MoeMaKa), August 24, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Civil War, Misguided Economic Policies, and the Hardships Facing the People<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Based on the accounts of people who lived through the 1970s up to the 1988 uprising, writings shared on social media, and novels depicting life during that era, one can conclude that misguided economic policies\u2014and their equally flawed implementation at the local level\u2014under military leaders who had changed into civilian clothes and become party and council chairmen helped drive the country toward political unrest and eventually the 1988 uprising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the era of the Burmese Way to Socialism, essential everyday goods such as rice, cooking oil, kerosene, candles, sugar, cigarettes, condensed milk, and soap had to be purchased from government-run \u201cPeople\u2019s Shops\u201d using household cooperative ration books. Supplies were allocated according to household size. A family might receive, for example, ten cigarettes, a small ration of sugar, one packet of candles, one can of condensed milk, and two pieces of soap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kerosene was not necessarily available every month, while items such as sugar and condensed milk might be available only once or twice a month under rationing. During the 26 years of rule by the Revolutionary Council and the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP), people spent more than two decades living under such shortages and restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rice could not freely be transported from one area to another. Farmers were required to sell a fixed amount of paddy per acre to government purchasing centers at prices far below the market rate. Farmers who failed to meet their quotas could even face arrest and detention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rice sold at the People\u2019s Shops was often of very poor quality, mixed with stones, husks, chaff, and incompletely milled grains. In some cases, broken rice reportedly made up around half of what was sold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because many consumer goods were unavailable domestically, a large black market developed. Clothing and fabric, umbrellas, rubber slippers and other goods were carried by porters across the Thai border through Mon and Karen States. But because the goods had to be transported manually and moved through multiple layers of enforcement and possible confiscation, by the time they reached cities such as Yangon and Mandalay, they were too expensive for many ordinary people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the 1988 Four Eights Uprising, the military government that took power expanded border trade with China and Thailand and also permitted imports by sea. As a result, the black-market era gradually faded, and severe shortages of ordinary consumer goods largely disappeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the September 1988 coup until the 2010 election\u2014a period of about 22 years\u2014the government pursued border and maritime trade while exporting timber, gemstones, oil, and natural gas to earn foreign currency. Although inflation affected the Myanmar kyat, wages also increased to some extent. The economy therefore operated, at least partially, under a market-oriented system different from the BSPP era. Economic hardship remained, but the gap between incomes and commodity prices was arguably not as extreme as it is today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time of the 2021 military coup, one U.S. dollar was worth around 1,300 kyat. Within the following five-plus years, the exchange rate rapidly climbed to around 4,500 kyat per dollar, with much of that increase occurring during the first three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the civil war increased demand for foreign currency to pay for weapons, ammunition, fuel and other military expenses, the authorities began seeking foreign currency not only from Myanmar seafarers and other overseas workers but also from remittances sent home by migrant workers in countries such as Thailand and Malaysia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand have been required to pay taxes through the embassy, reportedly at a rate equivalent to about US$5 per month. The military authorities have also introduced various measures intended to channel family remittances through official systems, where conversion rates may be less favorable than outside-market rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over roughly the past two years, Operation 1027 disrupted major border-trade routes, while ethnic armed organizations gained partial control over some of these corridors. The authorities subsequently reduced border trade significantly and pursued policies aimed at cutting imports and conserving foreign currency, effectively pushing the population toward greater austerity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Restrictions have gone beyond luxury products. Import limits have also affected industrial raw materials, supplies needed by small and medium-sized businesses, essential medicines, and fuel. These restrictions have contributed to domestic shortages and sharp price increases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent weeks, reports from Karen State have highlighted another consequence. Because licensing for Thai imports has been tightened, ceasefire armed groups aligned with the military have reportedly been transporting Thai goods under arrangements intended to raise funds for their organizations. Government checkpoints have reportedly seized numerous vehicles carrying such goods. This has created tensions because Karen armed groups risk losing both the value of the merchandise and the income they receive from transporting it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Policies aimed at conserving foreign currency for wartime expenditures are affecting not only areas controlled by the military but also some territories controlled by resistance forces. Even resistance-held inland areas without direct borders with Thailand, China or India are indirectly experiencing shortages and rising prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The economic policies being implemented under military leader Min Aung Hlaing are having severe consequences for much of the population. Daily wages have not increased significantly, while the costs of basic food, transportation, medicine, and medical treatment have risen to levels that many people could hardly have anticipated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This raises the question of whether today\u2019s economic crisis could eventually produce mass public unrest similar to the economic pressures that preceded the 1988 Four Eights Uprising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is, however, another possibility. With the country already engulfed in civil war, forced military recruitment continuing, and prices rising dramatically, these pressures may strengthen the armed resistance rather than produce a predominantly urban mass uprising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, while economic hardship contributed to a nationwide popular uprising in 1988, under today\u2019s very different political and military circumstances, worsening economic conditions could instead become another force driving people toward the armed revolutionary movement.<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Myanmar Spring Chronicle \u2013 Scenes from August 23 (MoeMaKa), August 24, 2026 Civil War, Misguided Economic Policies, and the Hardships Facing the People Based on the accounts of people who lived through the 1970s up to the 1988 uprising, writings…<\/p>\n

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