MAE LA, THAILAND
Mae La is the largest refugee camp in Thailand, about three kilometers long and home to between forty and fifty thousand people (about a third of the refugee population in this area). Less than 5km from the Burmese border, Mae La’s inhabitants are a mix of Karen and other ethnic minorities who fled into Thailand to escape forced labor, murder and rape by the military of Burma.

There would probably be refugees here no matter what, but it might be 10,000 instead of 160,000 if not for the Yadana Pipeline. Built in the mid-90s by American and French gas companies, the Burmese military provided “security” and an unknown but undoubtedly massive number of people were killed or enslaved during its construction. Not only is it still happening, but the pipeline is the single largest source of income for the brutal Burmese junta.

Know who else has a stake? Chevron. I’ll write more about that eventually.