A scarcity of hotels and guesthouses never seemed like a problem before in southern Shan State’s Langkho town. But now that the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army-South (RCSS/SSA-S) wants to hold crucial, statewide political talks there, the lack of beds for an anticipated sudden influx of overnight guests has become a pressing issue confounding local officials.
Leaders of Shan political parties expect around 500 participants at the upcoming national-level political dialogue. Although RCSS officials have indicated the event could be held as soon as January 2018, an exact date has not yet been announced, leaving an unknown timeframe for preparing all the logistics and infrastructure.
Sai Aung Myo Kyaw from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) in Langkho bluntly surmised the situation.
“There are only three guest houses in Langkho. There aren’t any hotels. There won’t be enough accommodation to meet the number of people expected to come here,” he said.
“I think the leaders will stay at the existing guesthouses and the rest will have to stay at the monasteries. But we have only just heard the news. We haven’t prepared anything yet since it hasn't been announced officially,” he added.
The existing local guesthouses, SSS, Win Thiri and Linn, can each accommodate a maximum of around 30 visitors, Par Nan, a local resident told Shan Herald.
Langkho is a small town about 170 miles southeast of the state capital, Taunggyi. The entire township comprises just 40,000 people according to census estimates.
But like Panglong, its neighbor to the north, Langkho could soon become a historic location known for its contribution to the peace process.
The RCSS settled on Langkho for the all-important national-level political dialogue after the Tatmadaw reportedly raised objections to having the event in either the RCSS’s headquarters, or in the state capital.
The national dialogues are intended to gauge public opinion regarding the peace process and the formation of a federal Union. The opinions are then supposed to be collated and presented at Union-level peace conferences. The ideas gathered at the dialogues are meant to serve as the underpinning of negotiations to draft a new constitution.
Only signatories to the government’s hallmark peace deal, the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA), are permitted to stage the dialogues. The RCSS, one of the eight signatories, has nevertheless encountered several stumbling blocs in trying to gain official approval to hold its dialogue. It just announced last week that it convene the talks in Langkho.
Sai Main, a local village head, said Langkho residents are aware of the importance of the political dialogues, and so will do their best to accommodate the visitors, even on sudden notice.
“It won’t be easy [to host a major conference] like in a big city because this is only a small town,” he said. “But we are the hosts, so we warmly welcome them. If the dialogue is held, around 400-500 people can fit in Nwe Waddy Hall. They can stay in Kyaung Taw, Kyaung Ho Nar, and Kyaung Warso monasteries, which are near the hall. If they like the food we cook, there won't be any issues. Water can be fetched from Tain Stream. It’s easy to travel to the town. You can reach Langhko from Taunggyi within a day.”
