The unshuttered windows of the community hall in Tanintharyi township offer teasing glimpses of the palm-flanked Tanintharyi River, winding down from mottled green hills that look thirsty in southern Myanmar's parched months. This peaceful view of Tanintharyi region is deeply misleading.
Several armed groups have become active here since the Myanmar military seized power in February 2021, including resurgent communists and the Kawthoolei Army, or KTLA, a group that split from the Karen National Union, headquartered just north in Kayin state, also known as Karen state.
