Still waiting for change in Chin State

It is only about 80 miles from Kale in Sagaing Region to Falam in poor, mountainous Chin State, but the journey takes at least six hours, more if roadworks cause delays, which are common.

Six hours is a big improvement on previous years, said Salai Thawn Lian Than, a civil society leader and youth pastor at the Gospel Baptist Church Church in Falam, a picturesque town about 20 miles north of the state capital, Hakha.

“You would often have to stop somewhere to sleep on the way,” he said, adding that improvements to the road had begun after the change of government in 2011.

Apart from upgrading the road, the changes that have brought improvements to much of the rest of the country since 2011 have barely affected Chin, the poorest and least developed of the nation’s 14 states and regions.

The poverty and lack of development are underscored by data from the 2014 census. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)