Life on the Border: The Karen People of Burma
Migrant Workers Path, Outside Mae Sot, Thailand, 2006
The town of Mae Sot, Thailand lays along the eastern bank of the Moei River, an eight-hour overnight bus journey from Bangkok. Across the Moei from Mae Sot is the military-controlled country of Burma, and the"Friendship Bridge" which spans the river at Mae Sot makes the town an important point for anyone wishing to cross between the two countries. But there is more to this remote border town than first meets the eye. Besides the shops that line the streets and back alleys of Mae Sot, there is also a large, but almost invisible world: that of the Karen People.
Karen Girl Living in the Mae Sot Trash Dump wither her family, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2006
Migrant Worker and her Children, near Mae Sot, Thailand, 2006
The Karen, whose state lies just within Burma across the Moei River from Mae Sot, have been fighting a civil was against the Burmese military junta for control of their areas since 1948. But this continuous warfare has come with a very high price for the Karen People: an uncountable number of dead and wounded, the destruction of countless Karen villages as the Burmese junta tries to put down the Karen, and hundreds of thousands of Karen refugees streaming across the Moei river into Thailand to escape the fighting.
When they arrive in Thailand, the refugees have two options. They can choose to live legally in the various overcrowded UNHCR refugee camps. Or they can risk staying illegally, where they are forced to fight constant battles to hide from the Thai authorities who will deport them if caught, and unscrupulous employers who try to exploit them because of their status as unregistered aliens.
Child Suffering from Cerebral Palsy who has been Abandoned to the care of the Clinic, Mae Tao Clinic, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2006
Cooks, Mae Tao Clinic, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2006
I photographed in and around the town of Mae Sot during February and March of 2006. I had originally planned to focus my work on the Mae TaoClinic, which is run by Dr. Cynthia Maung. Dr Cynthia, a Burmese refugee herself and a Nobel Prize Nominee, runs the clinic to care for her fellow countrymen who have also fled their homeland.
But upon my arrival, with help from my guide and translator, Maung Maung Tinn, I expanded my project to photograph not only the clinic but also the lives of the Karen refugees in and around Mae Sot.
Man and Child in Food Line, Mae Tao Clinic, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2006
Hand-made Prosthetic Leg during production, Mae Tao Clinic, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2006
Karen Men Bathing after a day of Work outside of town, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2006
Karen Girl Seeking Work at a Tea House, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2006
Young Women being fitted for a pair of donated glasses, Mae Tao Clinic, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2006
Man and Boy Riding in a Sontag, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2006
Migrant Farm Worker Sorting Onions, outside Mae Sot, Thailand, 2006
Migrant worker taking a Sontag into town from the fields after work, outside Mae Sot, Thailand, 2006
View of Migrant Workers Houses from School built by a Canadian charity, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2006
Students taking a test to become medical aids at the Clinic, Mae Tao Clinic, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2006
Karen Woodworker Carving a Door, Moei River Market, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2006
Patients Waiting to see a Medic, Mae Tao Clinic, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2006
Retired Karen Fighter suffering with AIDS shows his Tattoos, Mae Tao Clinic, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2006
Karen Women Waiting to see a Nurse, Mae Tao Clinic, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2006
Young Karen Maui Thai Fighter Waiting in Ring for his Opponent, outside Mae Sot, Thailand, 2006
Karen Children in an Orphanage, North of Mae Sot, Thailand, 2006
A Karen Boy stands outside of a house in the Mae La Refugee Camp, North of Mae Sot, Thailand, 2006
10,000 Yard Stare on the face of a Shell-Shocked Young Karen Man, Mae Tao Clinic, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2006
Young Karen Boy Lighting a Candle at a Monastery during the March Full Moon Festival for good luck in the upcoming year, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2006