Myanmar diner in Bangkok promotes anti-coup action

A restaurant in Bangkok on Friday worked a diner at a time to help support members of the local Myanmar community who want to take action against Monday's coup in their homeland. Instead of paying for their meals, customers at Mandalay Food House were asked to donate to a fund to support Thailand-based activists who are protesting the power seizure from the elected civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

"I am going to fight for our democracy again," insisted diner Rain Adhikaul.

I feel fear, but now (there's) no option, not to do this. Another diner suggested anonymously that community members were considering campaigning online, distributing petitions, and "anything they can do lawfully from here."Some came wearing shirts or hats with symbols of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party.Sai Lao Mai, the restaurant's owner, said he had raised close to $2,000 in five days, a significant sum for the three-year-old restaurant that operates with restricted hours and social distancing due to the pandemic.

Outside the establishment, the restaurateur brainstormed with a group of compatriots on what they can do next.Before they went on their way, the group sang "Kabar Makyay Bu" (We Won't Be Satisfied Until the End of the World) - an anthem of the country's new non-violent resistance movement.The song was written to inspire Myanmar's ultimately failed 1988 uprising against military rule, and is set to the tune of "Dust in the Wind," a 1977 song by the US rock group Kansas.