Sales have already expanded to five more countries: Singapore, Australia, Dubai, the United Kingdom and South Korea.

A PDF member with a package of Rebels green tea. / Supplied

In Thailand, Rebels tea is available in restaurants and shops popular with the diaspora in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Mae Sot. The owner of Chiang Mai’s Outlaws Bar & Grill said foreign tourists are showing interest.  “After they taste Rebels green tea they buy three or five packs,” she said, explaining that is a high-quality product.

Armed resistance to Myanmar’s junta began mushrooming in late 2021 after peaceful protests against the coup in February of that year were met with increasingly bloody crackdowns. To evade arrest and prison, youths who opposed the junta fled to areas under the control of ethnic armed groups to sign up for military training.

After learning armed combat, many started their own resistance forces, including PDFs, vowing to fight the junta’s military all the way to its deepest roots.

The revolutionary product was introduced in July by the Loikaw People’s Defense Force (PDF), an armed resistance group in Lokaw, the capital of the southeastern state of Karenni.

Rebels green tea is from southern Shan State, a tea-growing area. It was launched to help finance PDFs in Loikaw and Ywar Ngan, a neighboring township of southern Shan State, through sales to the diaspora in countries around Myanmar.

Ko Min Thu Kyaw, one of the brand’s creators, said the goal of Rebels is to deliver a long-term revenue stream to the revolution. Money raised from sales of Rebels will be used to support the revolution.

So far, PDFs have been relying on donations.

“We really appreciate the public for constantly donating to PDFs and the revolution, but the armed resistance cannot survive in the long run without a regular income,” explained Ko Min Thu Kyaw, a member of Loikaw PDF who is in charge of marketing Rebels.

Even today, more than three years on, the war against the regime is driven by the support of the people. There is no international assistance in sight, but as time drags on, revolutionary fatigue is a rising concern.

“People are getting tired of supporting us in the long run,” Ko Min Thu Kyaw explains.

He had been organizing short-term fundraising projects for the revolution … and then he thought, “Why not start a business?”

“We picked it out of the other options because dried tea leaves are a famous product from our region of Karenni and southern Shan State,” Ko Min Thu Kyaw said.

Still, it took another year before Rebels tea was born. It took a lot of planning, Ko Min Thu Kyaw explains. Then, money had to be raised for investment capital and a workforce had to be recruited. It mainly comprises young people who fled their homes to join the revolution.

Rebels debuted on July 6 in Thailand, where a few million Myanmar nationals reside. Min Thu Kyaw said Rebels has been well-received as sales have already expanded to five more countries:

The brand is being embraced in Myanmar, but Min Thu Kyaw is worried that the junta may clue in. Once the generals realize who’s behind it and where the profits go, they’ll likely decree that drinking Rebels is an act of “terrorism.”

The 2022 Battle of Loikaw was a battle for the city of Loikaw, in Myanmar’s Kayah State, between January and July 2022. The State Administration Council’s Tatmadaw forces attacked the city at the beginning of 2022, which was being held by the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force and local People’s Defence Force groups. The fighting caused over 90,000 people in Loikaw Township to flee. Read More HERE+