Photo Essays

The Ghost Town of Thantlang in Myanmar’s Chin State

Recent Features

Photo Essays | Security | Southeast Asia

The Ghost Town of Thantlang in Myanmar’s Chin State

Since control over this strategic town will give the military an advantage, it is being relentlessly bombed – displacing the entire population.

The Ghost Town of Thantlang in Myanmar’s Chin State

A view of Thantlang from an opposite hill near Salen village, where many residents of the town have been accommodated in an IDP camp, February 2, 2023.

Credit: Rajeev Bhattacharyya
The Ghost Town of Thantlang in Myanmar’s Chin State

Burned patches on the ground, marking places hit either by shells or helicopter gunships, are a common sight in Thantlang, February 2, 2023.

Credit: Rajeev Bhattacharyya
The Ghost Town of Thantlang in Myanmar’s Chin State

The interior of a destroyed house in Thantlang, which has been hit repeatedly by aerial attacks by the military, February 2, 2023.

Credit: Rajeev Bhattacharyya
The Ghost Town of Thantlang in Myanmar’s Chin State

The middle zone of Thantlang appears to have suffered maximum damage from aerial attacks, with some houses completely reduced to rubble, February 2, 2023.

Credit: Rajeev Bhattacharyya
The Ghost Town of Thantlang in Myanmar’s Chin State

Uprooted lampposts and electric wires lay strewn on Thantlang’s streets and especially in the middle zone of the town, February 2, 2023.

Credit: Rajeev Bhattacharyya
The Ghost Town of Thantlang in Myanmar’s Chin State

Among the severely damaged public buildings in Thantlang is the church, which has been hit by aerial attacks many times over the past two years, February 2, 2023.

Credit: Rajeev Bhattacharyya
The Ghost Town of Thantlang in Myanmar’s Chin State

The interior of many houses in Thantlang reveals tell-tale signs of a hurried evacuation by residents to safer places, February 2, 2023.

Credit: Rajeev Bhattacharyya
The Ghost Town of Thantlang in Myanmar’s Chin State

Two shells exploded a few meters from the entrance of a hospital, which was subsequently abandoned, February 2, 2023.

Credit: Rajeev Bhattacharyya
The Ghost Town of Thantlang in Myanmar’s Chin State

Resistance groups have erected sandbag barricades at many places in Thantlang to thwart the military’s advances and attempts to regain control of the town, February 2, 2023.

Credit: Rajeev Bhattacharyya
The Ghost Town of Thantlang in Myanmar’s Chin State

Household items lie strewn on a street, a scene that is visible in several parts of Thantlang, February 2, 2023.

Credit: Rajeev Bhattacharyya
The Ghost Town of Thantlang in Myanmar’s Chin State

A school in Thantlang, which is a no-go zone as landmines are suspected to have been planted by the military, ahead of its evacuation from that area in the town, February 2, 2023.

Credit: Rajeev Bhattacharyya
The Ghost Town of Thantlang in Myanmar’s Chin State

An undamaged area in Thantlang’s outskirts that has not suffered aerial attacks, February 2, 2023.

Credit: Rajeev Bhattacharyya
The Ghost Town of Thantlang in Myanmar’s Chin State

Bamboo spikes erected by the military before it evacuated a part of Thantlang to stall the advancing squad of the resistance groups, February 2, 2023.

Credit: Rajeev Bhattacharyya
The Ghost Town of Thantlang in Myanmar’s Chin State

A building in Thantlang that was taken over by the resistance groups in 2022 after an intense two-day battle with the military, February 2, 2023.

Credit: Rajeev Bhattacharyya
The Ghost Town of Thantlang in Myanmar’s Chin State

A warning message inscribed by the military on a wall of a building in Thantlang that it was compelled to evacuate by the resistance groups, February 2, 2023.

Credit: Rajeev Bhattacharyya
The Ghost Town of Thantlang in Myanmar’s Chin State

One of the many houses (on top of the hill) in Thantlang town that is occupied by the military, as seen from an abandoned house, February 2, 2023.

Credit: Rajeev Bhattacharyya
The Ghost Town of Thantlang in Myanmar’s Chin State

Functionaries of the resistance groups are regularly reinforced with supplies and additional manpower when needed for countering attacks by the military, February 2, 2023.

Credit: Rajeev Bhattacharyya
The Ghost Town of Thantlang in Myanmar’s Chin State

A round-the-clock vigil is maintained by the resistance groups at several locations across Thantlang to thwart attacks by the military, February 2, 2023.

Credit: Rajeev Bhattacharyya

The continuing civil war in Myanmar has left a trail of death and destruction, and devastated towns and villages.  The town of Thantlang, which I visited on February 2, 2023, has been reduced to a ghost town.

Nestled in the hills of western Myanmar’s Chin State is Thantlang, which epitomizes many facets of the conflict in Myanmar that erupted after the military or Sit-tat staged a coup on February 1, 2021, toppling the democratically elected National League for Democracy government.

Like many towns across the country, Thantlang was quick to organize a group called the Chinland Defense Force Thantlang (CDF Thantlang) against the Sit-tat. Clashes between the Myanmar forces and the CDF Thantlang began on September 19, 2021, and have continued intermittently, resulting in killings and burning of houses by the military.

The turmoil has compelled all the residents of the town to relocate to safer places in batches. They are lodged at the internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps in Salen, Bungkhua, and Hlamphei in Chin State and in refugee camps in the Indian state of Mizoram, while some families have been accommodated by their relatives in the neighboring villages of Thantlang.

Data compiled by the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) reveals that around 12,000 people, comprising the entire population of the town, have been displaced. As many as 131 residents have died so far – 13 from the attacks by the military and 118 after they relocated to safer places.

Thantlang has emerged as a frontline between the military and the resistance groups comprising the CDF Thantlang and the Chin National Army (CNA). Resistance fighters in the town who spoke to The Diplomat on February 2 claimed that there had been more than 25 aerial attacks on the town, but more than two-thirds of the area is under their effective control.

“Thantlang is strategic, and control over the town will give the military an edge in the war in Chin State. So, more attacks can be expected,” Dr. Sui Khar, vice chairman of the Chin National Front (CNF) told The Diplomat. CNF is the political front of the CNA, an ethnic armed organization and the biggest resistance group in Chin State.