Devi Thant Sin

Devi Thant Sin (Burmese: ဒေဝီသန့်စင်, also spelt Devi Thant Cin; born 2 January 1947) is a Burmese environmentalist, writer and a senior member of the Royal House of Konbaung. She is the leader of the environmental movement in Myanmar and has been called a "green princess".[1] She was seriously opposed to the Myitsone Dam project slated for construction at the confluence of two rivers that gives rise to the Irrawaddy River.[2]

Princess

Devi Thant Sin
ဒေဝီသန့်စင်
Devi Thant Sin in 2016
Born (1947-01-02) 2 January 1947
Rangoon, British Burma
(now Yangon)
NationalityBurmese
Occupationenvironmentalist, writer, princess
Known forGreen Princess
Spouse(s)Aye Ko
Parent(s)Taw Phaya Galay
Khin May

Devi is the founder of the environmental activist organizations Global Green Group (3G) and the Myanmar Green Network.[3]

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Devi Thant Sin was born on 2 January 1947 in Yangon, British Burma to parents Prince Taw Phaya Galay and his wife Khin May. She is not only known for being a leading environmentalist, but also as a Burmese princess and direct descendant of Myanmar's last monarch King Thibaw and Queen Supayalat.[4]

Career and movements

She started writing about environmental awareness in the early 2000s. In 2007, she launched her own which was Myanmar's first and, still only Burmese-language environmental magazine Aung Pin Lae, the magazine inform the public of the global green movement and environmental degradation in the country. She also began travelling through the country to give talks to farmers about the risk of using chemical fertilizers, while she spoke with students to inform the younger generation of environmental concerns. She was to help unify Myanmar's burgeoning green movement.[3][5][6]

Devi was to help unify Burma's burgeoning green movement, and founded the environmental activist organizations Global Green Group (3G) and the Myanmar Green Network. She gathered together the country's handful of environmental activists in 2006 to form the Global Green Group, followed closely by the Myanmar Green Network. The group is made up of shifting numbers of mining engineers, meteorologists, lawyers, civil engineers, activists, researchers and journalists.[7]

Devi was against the controversial dam project backed by China slated for construction at the confluence of two rivers that gives rise to the Irrawaddy River, the country's lifelong waterway, as he saw that any disruption to the water flow would, among other things, worsen the environmental damage already being inflicted on the country. She said "For the whole of Myanmar, the Irrawaddy is like the mother river, If there is dam construction that they shouldn't do, we point out that it's not the time to do it ". The environmental campaigns against the dam led to a nationwide public outcry, prompting President Thein Sein to suspend the project in 2011 until 2016, when his presidential term expires. In part thanks to Thant Sin and other protestors' efforts, the project is currently on hold.[3][5]

She is considered one of Myanmar's first environmentalists and works to fight deforestation and environmental degradation in the Southeast Asian nation. She is a leading light in Myanmar's fledgling green movements. She despite having lived the life of a commoner, she still considers it her duty to look after the interests of the Burmese people by fighting to protect the environment.[3][5]

Documentary film

In 2017, Devi and her uncle Taw Phaya, aunt Hteik Su Phaya Gyi, cousin Soe Win appeared as the main characters of We Were Kings, a documentary film by Alex Bescoby and Max Jones. The film premiered in Mandalay on 4 November 2017 at the Irrawaddy Literary Festival and also screened in Thailand at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand.[8] The film is about Myanmar's history, but also about the descendants of the last kings of Burma who lived unassuming lives in modern Myanmar, unrecognized and unknown.[9]

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References
  1. "Myanmar's 'green princess' is a humble activist on a mission". Mongabay Environmental News. 11 January 2017.
  2. "Not the right time to repatriate King Thibaw, says descendant". The Myanmar Times. 13 August 2012.
  3. "'We do not accept the government's clean coal technology'/Devi Thant Cin Q&A Interview". Asian Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network. 7 January 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  4. Zon Pann Pwint (12 March 2015). "Descended from royalty". The Myanmar Times. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  5. Kyaw Phyo Tha (15 June 2013). "The Irrawaddy River Is Like a Mother". The Irrawaddy. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  6. "Devi Thant Cin Q&A". Mizzima News. 7 January 2016.
  7. "'We Do Not Accept the Government's Clean Coal Technology'". The Irrawaddy. 7 January 2016.
  8. Jim Pollard (10 February 2018). "The right to remember Myanmar's last king". Asia Times.
  9. Zuzakar Kalaung (2 November 2017). "We Were Kings: Burma's lost royal family". The Myanmar Times.
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