mae sot espionage

i had a busy work week this week filled with analyzing a lot of program data for donor reports, spending three hours teaching one person what a percent was, building a database for a new program we have to feed malnourished children, and getting pumped for information by a spy.

(please note: if you're related to me, no need to worry. it was interesting more than anything else.)

"spies" are known to be pretty common in mae sot (junta's spies active among ethnic, exiled groups) and i think most people who stay here long enough eventually run into them. they're not scary and they're not interested in hurting you. what typically happens is that the spdc will put out bounties on certain information, causing people who otherwise have nothing to do with the government to become interested in the information too.

spies come in two main flavors, the first being actual spies. their english is typically very good, they often operate alone (which is very abnormal in burmese culture - people typically don't do social things, like hang out in a restaurant by themselves), and they typically probe you for information, which is not very subtle. the other group of people, often desperate for money and food, fall more under the category of "informers." these people are just normal, everyday people who "overhear" information and report it to earn a few extra dollars.

i'm pretty sure the guy that i ran into was a spy, though there's really no way to prove it. i was meeting with a coworker at a cafe by my house when a guy who spoke english really well came over and started asking us a ton of questions about what we were doing in mae sot, who we worked for, and if his "friend" could intern with us. in other words, it was sketchy. my friend was really standoffish, but proceeded to give him her phone number. (???) i on the other hand thought it was better to be friendly, and smiled a lot, but gave him no information.

we both immediately thought he was a spy. true to form he called my friend several times from different numbers. classic spy behavior. i learned two things, the first being that i need to be more careful about where i'm discussing things. the second is to have a tailor made story to give out. i'm thinking of saying i'm doing mission work and that my church sent me here. seems pretty benign to me.