1 I use ‘Burma’ instead of ‘Myanmar’ for the reason that the name change was made without consultation with the populace. Throughout the paper, the term ‘Burman’ will be used to refer to the dominant ethnic group while ‘Burmese’ is to citizens of the nation.

2 My usage of ‘mediascapes’ builds upon Arjun Appadurai's mediascape, by which he refers to the creation of images through electronic capabilities to produce and disseminate information. Appadurai, Arjun, Modernity at large: Cultural dimensions of globalization (Minneapolis and London: University of Minnesota Press, 1996), pp. 27–47Google Scholar.

3 See Fair, Christine, ‘Diaspora involvement in insurgencies: Insights from the Khalistan and Tamil Eelam movements’, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, 11, 1 (2005): 125–56CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Wayland, Sarah, ‘Ethnonationalist networks and transnational opportunities: The Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora’, Review of International Studies, 30, 3 (2004): 405–26CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

4 Whitaker, Mark, ‘Tamilnet.com: Some reflections on popular anthropology, nationalism, and the Internet’, Anthropological Quarterly, 77, 3 (2004): 469–98CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

5 See, for example, Basch, Linda, Schiller, Glick and Szanton-Blanc, Cristina, Nation unbound: Transnational projects, postcolonial predicaments and deterritorialized nation-states (New York: Gordon and Breach, 1999)Google Scholar; Schiller, Nina Glick, Basch, Linda and Blanc, Cristina Szanton, ‘From immigrant to transmigrant: Theorizing transnational migration’, Anthropological Quarterly, 68, 1 (1995): 48–63CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Portes, Alejandro, Guarnizo, Luis E. and Landolt, Patricia, ‘The study of transnationalism: Pitfalls and promise of an emergent research field’, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 22, 2 (1999): 217–37CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

6 Portes, ‘Study of transnationalism’, pp. 217–27; see also Rouse, Roger, ‘Mexican migration and the social space of post-modernism’, Diaspora, 1, 1 (1991): 8–23CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

7 My definition of diaspora whose consciousness is defined by continuing relationship with homeland draws upon Safran, William, ‘Diasporas in modern societies: Myths of homeland and return’, Diaspora, 1, 1 (1991): 83–93CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Sheffer, Gabriel, Modern diasporas in international politics (London and Sydney: Croom Helm, 1986)Google Scholar; Kearney, Michael, ‘The local and the global: The anthropology of globalization and transnationalism’, Annual Review of Anthropology, 24 (1995): 547–66CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

8 Lisa Brooten, ‘Global communications, local conceptions: Human rights and the politics of communication among the Burmese opposition-in-exile’ (Ph.D. diss., Ohio University, 2003), pp. 31–2, 94–100. See also Fink, Christina, Living silence (London: Zed Books, 2001)Google Scholar, pp. 34, 90.

9 Wilson, Pamela and Stewart, Michelle, ‘Introduction: Indigeneity and indigenous media on the global state’, in Global indigenous media: Cultures, poetics, and politics, ed. Wilson, Pamela and Stewart, Michelle (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2008), pp. 1–35CrossRefGoogle Scholar; see also Ginsberg, Fay, ‘Indigenous media: Faustian contract or global village?’, Cultural Anthropology, 6, 1 (1991): 92–112CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

10 Lisa Brooten, ‘Media as our mirror: Indigenous media of Burma (Myanmar)’, in Wilson and Stewart, Global indigenous media, pp. 111–27.

11 Ferguson, Jane, ‘Revolutionary scripts: Shan insurgent media practice at the Thai–Burma border’, in Political regimes and the media in Asia, ed. Sen, Krishna and Lee, Terence (London and New York: Routledge, 2008), pp. 106–21Google Scholar; Jane Ferguson, ‘Rocking in Shanland: Histories and popular culture jams at the Thai–Burma borders’ (Ph.D. diss., Cornell University, 2008), pp. 135–65.

12 Schein, Louisa, Minority rules: The Miao and the feminine in China's cultural politics (Durham: Duke University Press, 2000), pp. 25–30Google Scholar.

13 See Taylor, Robert, The state in Myanmar (Singapore: NUS Press, 2009)Google Scholar; Callahan, Mary, Making enemies: War and state building in Burma (New York: Cornell University Press, 2004)Google Scholar; Rotberg, Robert, Burma: Prospects for a democratic future (Washington: Brookings Institution Press, 1998)Google Scholar; Narayanan Ganesan and Kyaw Hlaing, Yin, Myanmar: State, society and ethnicity (Singapore: ISEAS, 2007)Google Scholar; Taylor, Robert, Burma political economy under military rule (New York: Palgrave, 2001)Google Scholar.

14 South, Ashley, Ethnic politics in Burma: State of conflict (London and New York: Routledge, 2008)Google Scholar, p. 28.

15 Mikael Gravers calls this process ‘cultural corporatism’ whereas Gustaff Houtman coins the term ‘Myanmafication’ (or Burmanisation). See Gravers, Mikael, ‘The Karen: Making of a nation’, in Asian forms of the nation, ed. Tonnesson, Stein and Antlov, Hans (London: Curzon Press, 1996)Google Scholar, p. 240; Houtman, Gustaff, Mental culture in Burmese crisis politics: Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (Tokyo: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, 1999)Google Scholar, p. 32.

16 Burma is divided into seven states and seven divisions. While ‘divisions’ are predominantly Burman, ‘states’ are home to particular ethnic minorities. The seven states are Chin, Kachin, Karen (Kayin), Karenni (Kayah), Mon, Arakan (Rakhine) and Shan State. I use ‘Shan State’ here to refer to the present geographical area of Shan State. However, the terms ‘Shan States’ is also used when discussing several states ruled by Shan chiefs which existed before and during the British annexation, when Shan States remained autonomous as a protectorate.

17 Silverstein, Josef, ‘Politics in the Shan State: The question of secession from the Union of Burma’, Journal of Asian Studies, 18, 1 (1958): 43–57CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

18 Taylor, Robert, ‘Perceptions of ethnicity in the politics of Burma’, Southeast Asian Journal of Social Science, 10, 1 (1982): 7–22CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

19 Silverstein, Politics, pp. 43–57.

20 Various spellings. Martin Smith refers to this group as Noom Suik Harn. See Smith, Martin, Burma: Insurgency and the politics of ethnicity (Bangkok: White Lotus, 1999)Google Scholar, p. 190. The Shan words used in this paper have been transcribed according to Shan orthography provided in Moeng, Sao Tern, A Shan–English dictionary (Kensington: Dunwoody Press, 1995)Google Scholar. However, I do not attempt to indicate tone markers in my transcription. I have also made changes in the transcriptions of some vowels, for example, instead of ai (as in air), I use ae. My intention is to give non-Shan-speaking readers a general sense of the way the word is pronounced.

21 Lintner, Bertil, Burma in revolt: Opium and insurgency since 1948 (Chiang Mai: Silkworm, 1994), pp. 185–9Google Scholar; Smith, Burma: Insurgency, pp. 129, 152–8.

22 Lintner, Burma in revolt, pp. 185–9. See also Lintner, Bertil, Outrage: Burma's struggle for democracy (London and Bangkok: White Lotus, 1990)Google Scholar, p. 31.

23 In discussing about the new phase of contemporary Shan armed struggle, I do not assume that the transnational characteristics of the Shan insurgency are new. In fact, the first convention of the Shan State Army took place in Chiang Mai in 1964. What is new in today's Shan armed struggle is based on the factor of demographic shift in Shan population and the advent of new media technology.

24 Lintner, Burma in revolt, p. 182. See also Fredholm, Michael, Burma: Ethnicity and insurgency (Westport: Praeger, 1993)Google Scholar, p. 159.

25 Lintner, Burma in revolt, p. 207.

26 Smith, Martin, State of strife: The dynamics of ethnic conflict in Burma (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2007)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

27 Smith, Burma: Insurgency, p. 334.

28 Lintner, Burma in revolt, p. 282.

29 Ibid., pp. 259–64; Smith, Burma: Insurgency, pp. 339–44.

30 Smith notes that Khun Sa is a real master of political brinksmanship, playing the politics of identity by presenting himself as Shan, and at the same time allying himself with the Thai monarchy. His base was hung with portraits of the King and Queen of Thailand. Smith writes that Khun Sa suggested to him that if the Tailand Revolutionary Council (TRC) could not succeed in achieving military secession from Burma, the ‘eight million Shan people’ should consider joining their ethnic ‘brothers’ in Thailand. Smith, Burma: Insurgency, p. 343.

31 Pedersen, Morten, ‘Burma's ethnic minorities: Charting their own way to peace’, Critical Asian Studies, 40, 1 (2008): 45–66CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

32 The ‘South’ was added to avoid confusion with the ‘Shan State Army-North’, the group that had agreed to a ceasefire.

33 The diary was later published during the 10th anniversary of non-submission to the Burmese rule in January 2006. See Yawd Serk, Kuk khob sip pee aum wang keung [Ten years anniversary of non-submission] (No publication details, 2006).

34 Anonymous, , ‘Interview with Yawd Serk’, Salween Post, 20 (2005), pp. 7–12Google Scholar.

35 Yawd Serk, Ten years.

36 Black, Michael and Fields, Roland, ‘On patrol with the Shan State Army’, The Irrawaddy, 14, 7 (2006): 12–3Google Scholar (http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=5947, last accessed 8 Oct. 2008).

37 Their albums were produced in small amounts; 1,000 copies of each album were sold both in Thailand and Burma. Although Shan retailers inside Burma had to sell the albums secretly due to the political content of the songs, this secret business also allowed them to copy the albums freely. Thus their songs were disseminated widely through illicit channels.

38 As of 2009, Nang Khur had resigned from the SSA-S advisory board. The reason, given by her, was her health.

39 Black and Fields, On patrol, pp. 12–13.

40 Alice Coster, ‘Shan State Army: Fight for peace’, The Nation, 20 Feb. 2007.

41 The text is written in Thai scripts. The original text reads: ‘Ma ruam kan pai ku chat khong rao khuen. Nai wan ni rao mee phunam’.

42 For various definitions of ‘diaspora’, see Kearney, ‘The local’, pp. 547–66; Sheffer, Modern diasporas; Clifford, James, ‘Diaspora’, Cultural Anthropology, 9, 3 (1994): 302–38CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

43 Safran, ‘Diasporas’, pp. 83–93.

44 Shan Herald Agency for News, ‘Intro to SDU’ (http://www.shanland.org/oldversion/index-3132.htm, last accessed on 28 Nov. 2010).

45 Byman, Daniel, Chalk, Peter, Hoffman, Bruce, Rosenau, William and Brannan, David, Trends in outside support for insurgent movements (Pittsburgh: RAND, 2001), pp. 41–2CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

46 As for the Khalistan movement, it is now seen as a smaller-scale movement. The group seeks an independent Sikh homeland through donations from foreign Sikh supporters. See Fair, ‘Diaspora’, pp. 125–56; Whitaker, ‘Tamilnet.com’, pp. 469–98.

47 Fair, ‘Diaspora’, pp. 125–56. See also, Wayland, ‘Ethnonationalist’, pp. 405–26.

48 Staniland, Paul, ‘Defeating transnational insurgencies: The best offense is a good fence’, The Washington Quarterly, 29, 1 (2006): 21–40CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

49 Wayland, ‘Ethnonationalist’, pp. 405–26.

50 Yawd Serk, Ten years.

51 Coster, ‘Shan State Army’.

52 Suntivutimetee, Wandee, ‘An interview with Ad Carabao’, The Irrawaddy, 10, 7 (2002): 20–1Google Scholar (http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=2709, last accessed on 10 Feb. 2009).

53 Opakul, Yuenyong. ‘Mai tong rong hai’ [‘Don't cry’] (Bangkok: Mingmit, 2002)Google Scholar.

54 William Barnes, ‘Burmese bandit a Bangkok folk hero’, South China Morning Post, 27 May 2001 (http://www.burmalibrary.org/reg.burma/archives/200105/msg00101.html, last accessed on 14 Nov. 2008).

55 Pengkaew, Nipatporn and Burapawat, Naunkaew, Tai rop Phama [Shan fight the Burmese] (Bangkok: Openbooks, 2006)Google Scholar.

56 During 2004–07, Nipatporn has published several articles in Thai magazines; ‘Raw tawan chai shan’ [‘Yearning for the sunshine’], National Geographic Society (Thai version), 6, 64 (2006)Google Scholar: 68–79, ‘Rao cha ku chat daui watthanatham’ [‘We will fight with our culture’], Sarakadee, 23, 267 (2007): 110–16Google Scholar, for example. These articles are later compiled in a book by Pengkaew, Nipatporn and Burapawat, Naunkaew, Kon tawan chai Shan [Before the sun reaches the Shan] (Bangkok: Openbooks, 2007)Google Scholar.

57 Nipatporn Pengkaew, ‘60 pee nai laung bon Doi Tai Lang’ [‘60 years anniversary of Thai King's succession to the throne at Loi Tailang’], Krungthep Thurakit, 16 June 2006.

58 Staniland, ‘Defeating’, pp. 21–40.

59 Ferguson, ‘Revolutionary’, pp. 106–21; Ferguson, ‘Rocking’, pp. 135–65.

60 Maung Chan, ‘Discussion on contemporary situation in Shan State with Sai Wansai of SDU’, http://www.peacehall.com/news/gb/english/2005/11/200511300029.shtml, last accessed on 18 Dec. 2007.