Gunfire, explosions, flames, and death haunted Lee in his internally displaced persons camp almost daily.
“One night, explosions erupted near the camp, along with the sound of fighter jets,” recounted Lee, whose surname is being withheld due to security concerns.
“My parents woke me and we rushed to hide in the ditch outside. When it was over, we learned a bomb had damaged the community center. Worse, someone died that night.”
Lee, 18, became a refugee in his own state of Kayah (Karenni) following Myanmar's Feb. 1, 2021, military coup that toppled the elected National League for Democracy government, and sparked an ongoing civil war.
The result: More than one million internally displaced persons in Myanmar, according to authorities.
A BenarNews photographer was allowed to travel across the border to the camp from Thailand, under an agreement that its location and the date of the visit would not be disclosed to ensure the residents’ safety.
Lee lived in a bamboo hut with a thatched roof built by his father in the camp. The encampment lacks electricity and water and houses more than 100 people in dozens of shelters.
“Every morning, we walk to bathe and collect water from the camp well,” Lee said. “On Friday evenings, we trek four hours to a camp near the Thai border to charge all our devices for the week ahead.”
The camp has a basic clinic and a barebones school sitting on a hillside with bamboo classrooms topped by tin roofs where children can continue their education despite the circumstances. The teachers, refugees themselves, are paid 1,500 baht (US $42) monthly. Most school supplies come from international non-profit organizations.
“I dream of going to university,” Lee said. “I wish for a safe country to welcome my family – any country ready to accept refugees like us.”
Shortly after speaking with BenarNews, Lee’s dream came true. He and his family relocated to a new country where he has a chance to pursue his educational aspirations.
The hut Lee’s father built is occupied by another young man from Kayah state whose mother was killed in the civil war.
He lives there with just his guitar as company.
A Karenni boy plays in the refugee camp near the Thai border in this photo taken in mid-2024. (Nattaphon Phanphongsanon/BenarNews)
Residents walk to and from a well to collect water for their families in the Myanmar refugee camp that has no running water or electricity. (Nattaphon Phanphongsanon/BenarNews)
Students walk to their homes for lunch at the Myanmar refugee camp in mid-2024. (Nattaphon Phanphongsanon/BenarNews)
People are gathered to bathe near the well, the only source of water at the refugee camp in Myanmar near the Thai border in mid-2024. (Nattaphon Phanphongsanon/BenarNews)
A refugee plays the guitar for entertainment at the Myanmar camp for Internally Displaced Persons. (Nattaphon Phanphongsanon/BenarNews)
Some Karenni girls wear traditional skirts as they attend the camp’s only school. (Nattaphon Phanphongsanon/BenarNews)
A woman with a scar on her arm seeks treatment at the camp’s barebones clinic. (Nattaphon Phanphongsanon/BenarNews)
Men play volleyball as they do each evening in the refugee camp. (Nattaphon Phanphongsanon/BenarNews)
A view of the makeshift homes of Myanmar residents who have become refugees in their own country. They built their houses on a hillside to avoid detection by Burmese junta planes. (Nattaphon Phanphongsanon/BenarNews)
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news organization.