A memoir of the Karen (Kayin) Transgender Woman of Burma

I came to visit Mae Sot during this three day off weekend to pick up my boyfriend who came back from nursing his ailing mother in his hometown.  Mae Sot is a city in Thailand bordered to Myawaddy township in Myanmar.  More than 50% of the population in Mae Sot seems to be migrant workers from Myanmar.  I used to work in Mae Sot for more than two and a half years and I moved to another town in the beginning of this year.  I met my boyfriend in this town and had got lots of friends while working here. I love Mae Sot because it has all the foods and materials that are available in Myanmar.  You don’t need to know Thai to order food in restaurants here.  I never feel lonely while being here with friends.  As usual, as soon as I am back in Mae Sot, I went to the Burmese teashop to taste the wonderful milk tea and all snacks that are very tasty.  I feel home! And this morning, after having my favourite breakfast, Mont Hin Ka, which is rice nood...

Again, it happened to me that I have to come to Mae Sot again.  It took me so long to visit Mae Sot because from Mae Sariang the only transportation available to go to Mae Sot is the red song taew which are small and takes at least 6 hours on the way to arrive Mae Sot!  But I was very lucky this time.  A friend on mine rang me on Friday last week and asked me if I would like to join her as she is driving to Mae Sot for a friend's wedding. Wow!  I happily accepted her offer and joined her. She left Mae Hong Son at 07:30 in the morning and arrived around 10:20. She called me and we left at 10:30 from Mae Sariang.  The road to Mae Sariang from Mae Sot is always under construction.  But we enjoyed the rough road to Mae Sot.  When we passed by Mae La Refugees camp, I looked at the camp and it was such a memory.  Well, I used to work there   almost three years! We arrived in Mae Sot at 2:30 pm, the right time, I would say.  A room was bo...

I made this video clip with the photos to celebrate our two year anniversary on your own :-)

Puppylay! I don't want you to cry. I want you to be strong. You were naughty when I met you in Nov 2009 but you no longer are. We both have walked a road that is not full of joy and happiness for a certain period of time. You have changed. Instead of drinking alcohol, you read so many books to equip your knowledge at night while I was sleeping. You did not switch on the light as you were afraid that I might wake up and scold you in the middle of the night. I did wake up but how can I scold someone who did not get the opportunity to study and even deprived of his primary education, trying to read for his knowledge during the night on the computer screen without light. You know, when I was at school, I had enough books to read, enough light and enough support from my parents. I cried seeing you reading in the darkness. But I did not want to surprise you. If I told you to switch on the light, you would not. Instead you would come back to sleep by my side, and encourage...

This post is reposted here in order to collect all the notes I have written in one place. Change by David Aye Myat Godwiller on Thursday, 24 February 2011 at 00:32 I feel very happy and relieved after I came back from the police station this evening. I got my driving license back which had been kept in the police station since last year November! Thank God! I did not have any accident during this period and I totally forgot that my driving license was not with me. A couple of days ago, I was again stopped by the traffic warden for not putting on the helmet and warned. Only then I was reminded to go to the police station. Since I arrived in Mae Sot, I have been to the police station for more than 5 times. I have been here in Mae Sot for work for almost three years and now I am moving to another place. I have to admit that I am quite careless about driving especially when it comes to wearing the helmet! I know it is not a good practice for the road safety. I need to cha...

This post is a notes that was posted in March 2011. I have reposted here in order to combine all the notes just in one place. A sleepless night by David Aye Myat Godwiller on Tuesday, 22 March 2011 at 01:36 I could not sleep tonight. I do not know why. I could not sleep. Last night I slept around 2330 but tonight I could not sleep. I don't do good to go to bed early on Friday night but last week I was not doing anything and I was perfectly OK with that and could fall asleep in less than half an hour. Then why I cannot sleep tonight? I am still awake with too many mysteries while my friends from Mae Sot are enjoying the biggest party feast ever and uploading pictures on FB. I am not a party animal nor a socialite but I'd go to most of the occasions hosted by colleagues as a courtesy and building teamworks! Now, I missed this big party. Was it the cause of my sleeplessness? No, I have come across missing so many parties but I never felt like this. I was able ...