A special three-part podcast series by Waso’s Ideas, which hears from people who have experienced love and found relationships amid Myanmar’s conflict since the 2021 military coup. This podcast is one of the 25 winners of the 2026 Gwen Robinson Fellowship.
Welcome to War and Love: Stories of Love in Times of Conflict.
I’m Waso, your host. This is a special three-episode podcast where we hear from people who have experienced love and relationships amid the conflict in Myanmar.
In each episode, I sit down with a different guest to hear their personal experiences—their relationships, challenges, choices, hopes, and the ways conflict has affected their lives and the people they love.
Thank you for joining us. Let’s begin.
Warso and Thar Htet are a married couple currently living in Thailand. Warso and I happen to share the same name, but we are two different people.
Because of their involvement in the Myanmar revolution, the couple had to leave Myanmar and move to Thailand.
So, what has their journey been like? How has love shaped their lives through such difficult times?
Let’s listen to their story.
WS- My name is Waso. I am currently working as a Finance Assistant at Federal FM Radio, a revolutionary radio station based in Karenni State. Before the 2021 military coup, I ran an online shopping business, and I sold clothes. After the coup, I joined the protest because I was afraid that I would lose my freedom. I met him on the 25th of February 2021. He was playing the drum with his strike group. wearing a red headband. We greeted each other, and I knew his name. I could easily find his name on Facebook because he was quite popular at that time, and we became friends on Facebook.
TH- Hello, Mingalabar. My name is Thar Htet (သားထက်). I am a political activist. I was a private school teacher before the 2021 coup. The Military Junda has been trying to gain political power in Myanmar, and there have been many military coups. So, when the coup happened again in 2021, this time I didn’t want my country to go back to the way things were before. So, I started the protest, and I got involved in the revolution. One day, while I was protesting in Sangchaung township, the military troops tried to crack down on the protesters by using smoke bombs and Rubber bullets, so, we ran away. There, I saw a beautiful woman fall on the street in front of me. I tried to help her, and I started to notice her.
WS- It was February 28th. I tripped and fell on the ground during the military’s crackdown on the protesters, and he helped me. After that, we joined together at the protests, and when he confessed his love, I accepted. When the crackdown on the protesters was severe, he said he wanted to join the People’s Defense Force (PDF). So, I supported him and his friends in going to the liberated area and getting training.
TH- She supported my friends and me a lot with what we needed and what we wanted to do. She supported us physically, mentally, and financially. The training lasted one and a half months. When we came back to Yangon after the training, we became Guerrillas. She rented a house for us, and it became a safe house where we could carry out our Guerrilla strikes in Yangon.
WS- When we stayed together at the safe house with other friends, he gave me a cute dog as a present. Noe Noe (နိုနို) is like a daughter rather than a dog for me. She has been my constant companion since then. It was around June 2021. At that time, the military was really cruel to the Guerrillas. When they found out you protested on the road or did some revolutionary things. You could get killed or brutally interrogated. Thar Htet did Guerrilla strikes almost every day, mostly in the early mornings. I found him doing strikes in the downtown areas on Facebook when I woke up in the morning. He left me sleeping and went outside in the very early morning. I was really worried about him. Sometimes, he narrowly escaped from the military. Sometimes we couldn’t sleep when the military came to our street and checked some houses to arrest people. At that time, we had to switch off the lights and close the door, locked from the outside; to pretend nobody was living in this house. Whenever it happened, I hugged Noe Noe (နိုနို) tightly, and she was shaking. So, did I.
TH-One day, I think the informers reported on the Guerrillas. So, the military troops came to the next street from our safe house and searched at night. We couldn’t sleep, and we were in a ready position to flee. We had some weapons at our safe house. If the military guys found out, we would definitely be killed. So, we were afraid and shaken. But we couldn’t go out and run because of the curfews. After the curfew ended, we went outside and moved to another place. We stayed there for nearly a week, and after things stabilized, we went back to our safe house. That was like our routine at that time, and I felt like we were in a more dangerous situation. So, I decided to move to the Thai-Myanmar border.
WS- I told my parents everything. So, when he came back after the training, I introduced him to my family. My family accepted him warmly, and they wanted us to have a committed relationship; we agreed with them. We got married privately. It was in early 2022. After that, he went from Yangon to the border area. I left with Noe Noe (နိုနို).
TH- When I arrived in Mae Sot. I worked as a teacher at a migrant school for one and a half years. I supported People’s Defence Forces as usual. After that, I worked at the National Unity Government’s Human Rights Department. They couldn’t pay much. And I had to use almost all my salary to bribe the Mae Sot Police. I was undocumented. So, when I got arrested, I had to pay a large sum of money to the police. It still happens now in Mae Sot, and the police don’t care if you are documented or undocumented. They have so many reasons to make you pay them. After you pay them, you are released. My father was hospitalised twice. It made me face financial difficulties. Waso supported me at that time. Because of her, I felt relief. Then I realised that I shouldn’t stay in Mae Sot anymore after my father was discharged. So, I moved to Chiang Mai, and she came to me. We started our life again in Chiang Mai (In 2023).
WS- While we were staying in Chiang Mai, he travelled back and forth between Chiangmai and Karenni. Normally, he doesn’t explain in detail what he is doing. I don’t ask him, either. Sometimes I saw him giving political training via Zoom at home. I followed him to Karenni in 2024. I was doing my work, and he was travelling around the liberated areas, giving training. We deliver donations funded by donors to those in need, like IDP camps, schools, and hospitals.
TH- When we travelled to Karenni together for the first time on the riverside, I remembered that the boatman was drunk. The weather was really bad, and the boat was going dangerously; we held each other’s hands tightly. When we arrived at the Karenni side, that boatman even drowned in the water because he was too drunk. It was really dangerous, but we forgot everything that had happened on our way and just laughed after we arrived in Karenni.
WS- In Chiang Mai, we help PDFs whenever they come to Chiang Mai. And when they go back to Karenni, most of the time Thar Htet (သားထက်) goes with them. I went along with him two or three times. I remember when we travelled for the first time, we went by boat, and then we had to go by car. It was the rainy season, and I felt like we were in a Hollywood action movie. We had to travel through the forest in the mountains. When I looked out from the car, I could see the edge of the cliff. So, I just closed my eyes. The roads were muddy and slippery. I remembered we had to use the muddy water in the ponds to boil noodles and to make coffee. When we arrived at our destination, I stayed in the bunker most of the time. I was warned that when I hear the arbitrary weapon sound, I must lie face down on the ground, but I need to cover my heart. They warned me that if I don’t cover my heart with my hand, my heart would stop beating because of the vibration of the ground. I didn’t understand very well when they explained that. But when the military fires arbitrary weapons, the ground shakes like an earthquake. I was involved, and I learned how to stay safe during the Military’s airstrikes and the shooting of arbitrary weapons.
TH- My friends helped me financially when I was in Karenni, and I decided to donate that money to internally displaced people IDPs in Karenni. Staying in the bomb shelter for a long time is not good for our health. The weather is cold, and the walls are damp in the ground. I had a fungal infection in the lungs. I remember I was always coughing. One day the Military bombed a school. Some children were injured, and we heard that they needed blood for one child at the hospital. So, Warso and I went to the hospital and donated blood. I think after we finished donating blood, maybe an hour later, the military bombed near that hospital as well.
WS- When I first experienced the military’s airstrikes, my heart beat a lot. I have never heard this kind of scary sound in my life. It was a different sound from the aeroplane that I usually hear in Chiang Mai. I felt like the jet fighter was coming towards me. It was around the time of the 1111 mission. So, the military did a lot more airstrikes than the other time. So, in my memory, my first experience in Karenni was terrifying.
TH- I lost my job at NUG when I was in Karenni in 2024. But we didn’t stop helping people as much as we could.My father’s financial situation was better than before, so he helped us. Warso also sold her properties left in Yangon. We started our life again. In Karenni, when there were airstrikes and arbitrary shooting, sometimes we were together, sometimes we were not. But I feel safer together with her. Like we are on the same boat, travelling the same journey.
WS- At first, I was angry when he left me in the middle of airstrikes and the military’s shooting. He was a teacher. He loved teaching. So, he often gave training at the alternative schools. I know I couldn’t stop him from doing what he wants to do. And we are just travellers compared to the people living and working in this dangerous place, in this dangerous situation. So, I need to let him do it, and I want to. Even though we can only give a small amount of help, we want to help. Seeing the on-the-ground situation helped us give donors direct, accurate information. It was really helpful not only for the donors but also for the IDP’s and PDF soldiers in their respective needs.
TH- In Chiangmai, we had many difficulties, especially financially. I am really grateful for the friends who helped us at that time. So, Until now, I am helping the comrades who are in the same situation as me with accommodations and food, just as my friends helped me. We did a wedding reception in 2025. Now we have a lovely son.
WS- We had to prepare a lot when we knew we were having a baby. Our life is unstable. So, we prepared mentally and financially for our baby. I saw him trying his best for our son. When my son was born, I really missed my mom because I had nobody to ask about the newborn baby. My mom already passed away, and I couldn’t stay beside her in her last breath. That made me really sad. I really want to cry when I talk about that. My younger brother and Thar Htet did everything for the baby. I just lay down in bed comfortably for a week after I gave birth to my son. When he isn’t travelling, he takes care of our son. He usually cooks for us. He has become a professional father now. I am getting a lot more from him than I expected.
TH- I give most of my time to my son and my family nowadays. When we first met, she was a beautiful city girl. Because of me, she had so many difficulties. Her life was completely different after the coup. So, I want to make her life a little bit more comfortable than before. Now I am trying to balance my revolutionary life and my family life.
Thank you for listening. Through these conversations, we hope to understand not only the challenges people face during conflict, but also the love, connection, and relationships that remain important to them.
This is one of three stories in our War and Love series. Join us for the next episode as we hear another personal story of love in times of conflict.
Take care and stay safe. See you, bye-bye. Peace be upon you.
