The Shan girl ponders (Thailand)

In the Thai border town of Mae Aw, people from the nearby Burmese province drop by to shop. They brave a rough trek of a couple of hours — over the mountains — avoiding the Burmese army. Once here, they buy, pack their merchandise, have lunch and rest a little. Then loading the packs on their back they march off again.

The population here largely consists of descendants of former KMT soldiers who fled China following their defeat by the communists. Many individuals from this region have since migrated to Taiwan.

Update

2017: See Taiwan’s ‘Little Burma’, https://thediplomat.com/2017/03/taiwans-little-burma/

A short five-minute walk from the Taipei metro terminal station of Nanshijiao lies Huaxin Street. It is here, nestled away in the concrete jungle that makes up Zhonghe District — one of the most densely populated parts of the planet — that Taiwan’s Burmese population has settled over the past several decades. The roughly 40,000 Burmese immigrants that now call Huaxin Street and the surrounding area home constitute one of Taiwan’s largest immigrant populations.