Rebel tea is born to support the resistance in Myanmar

The People’s Defense Forces needed to generate a steady and regular income to finance the Burmese army’s armed opposition to the regime. The drink is sold mainly among members of the diaspora outside the country. Meanwhile, delegates who had traveled to China were placed under surveillance by the Military Junta itself.

Yangon (/Agencies) – Resistance groups in Myanmar have found a new way to generate income: rebel green tea. Produced from tea leaves grown in the southern areas of Shan State, it is being marketed by the Loikaw People’s Defence Forces (PDF), one of the militias that has been waging civil war against the Burmese army since 2021.

The drink will be sold outside the country and the profits will be invested in the rebel troops, he explained to The Irrawaddy “We appreciate the constant donations to the People’s Defence Forces and the revolution, but the armed resistance cannot survive for long without a regular income,” said Ko Min Thu Kyaw, who came up with the idea for the rebel tea when he was organising a new fundraising project. “Why not start a business?” he thought, instead of continuing to rely on individual donations, which come mainly from Burmese who have fled abroad.

The choice naturally fell on tea: “We chose it from among other options because the dried leaves are a well-known product in the Karenni and Shan areas.” But they had to wait a year for the final product to come to life. On 6 July, the rebels’ tea went on sale in Thailand, where many Burmese refugees reside. Thanks to the diaspora abroad, the drink has also started to be sold in Singapore, Dubai, Australia, the United Kingdom and South Korea.

“All the profits will go to the Loikaw and Ywar Ngan PDFs,” a group from southern Shan, said Ko Min Thu Kyaw. And the rebels’ coffee could soon be introduced, too, she added.

Loikaw, the capital of Kayah State, has been one of the cities hardest hit by the conflict. In recent months, ethnic militias that are part of the resistance, along with the PDF, have regained control of the border areas, while control over central Myanmar remains patchy.

An alliance of three ethnic groups recently launched a new offensive that appears to have led to the conquest from one of the last outposts in Shan State, the city of Lashio, one of the hubs connecting Myanmar’s trade flows with China. Thus, the growing contacts between Beijing and some representatives of the Burmese military junta do not seem to be coincidental. Perhaps that is why, fearing an imminent replacement, the head of the Army, General Min Aung Hlaing, decided put under surveillance to former presidents who traveled to China last month.

Fighting has also intensified in Rakhine State, on the border with Bangladesh. The Arakan Army, the local ethnic militia, is doing everything it can to push back the government army. Here too, the rebels are close to completely recapturing the territory.