In The Crosshairs

Episode #404: Before the coup, Pandora was a tour guide with little interest in politics. That changed in 2021, when the generals seized power and she found herself leading protests in her hometown of Bago. Arrests of friends and pressure from her family to stop pushed her into the jungle, where she joined the People’s Defense Forces. Life there meant leaking tents, beans and noodles for every meal, and complete separation from her family, whom she has not seen since.

In September 2021 she entered PDF training with over 200 recruits, just 13 of them women. After a month of basics she had to choose a specialty—commando, mining, or sniper. She picked sniper, unwilling to face mines or close combat. Yet she had never held a weapon before, and the first time she raised a pistol, she shook so badly she thought she could not fire— and even still, her very first shot hit the target! Soon she was handling M4s and M16s, building strength by running the camp with the rifle on her back until her arms no longer trembled. Her precision earned her a place in advanced sniper training, where she was the only woman among 12 trainees.

Sniping required both patience and calculation. Pandora trained as a spotter, paired with her partner—and boyfriend— who fired the shots. She learned to measure distance, wind speed, and target movement, ideally with ten minutes to prepare but sometimes with only seconds. Operations could demand lying in wait for days, even a week, hidden in brush or high ground, ready to strike within a kilometer. At times she shook with nerves, yet discipline and teamwork carried her through.

Though she rarely pulled the trigger herself, the memories still haunt her. Nightmares of soldiers appear when she tries to sleep. Eventually she left the front line, but not the revolution. In Mae Sot she now runs a clothing brand, Rise and Shine, and also teaches sewing to survivors of gender violence. Pandora now studies politics, determined to empower women and fight for a democratic Myanmar.