Residents in the Mae Nam Taung (Loi Mao/Loi Maw) region of Hopong Township, Southern Shan State, are facing threats of expulsion by the Pa-O National Organisation (PNO) militia if they fail to pay monthly conscription fees, according to local sources.

Since the military regime enacted the Conscription Law in 2024, people across Myanmar, including in Shan State, have been forced to make monthly payments or risk forced recruitment, portering, or being selected through a lottery system to serve in the military.

In Mae Nam Taung, residents say they have suffered from both armed conflict and natural disasters. Severe flooding and landslides since the coup have destroyed farmland and reduced harvests, worsening local hardship. Despite this, the PNO has reportedly collected conscription fees for two consecutive years.

This year, each household is required to pay 50,000 kyats to the junta’s administrative authorities and another 50,000 kyats to the PNO for weapons, ammunition, and food expenses — a total of 100,000 kyats.

“We have been hit by conflict and floods, so we can’t grow anything. Yet we still have to pay conscription fees to both the PNO and the military. If we cannot pay, we fear being expelled or punished. It feels like creditors are coming every month,” a resident of Mae Nam Taung told SHAN.

The resident added that Sa Ngaw and San Phu village tracts in the Mae Nam Taung area were devastated by heavy flooding in September 2024 and have yet to recover.

Due to competing conscription demands from both the junta and the PNO, many young people have fled to border areas for work. With few young men remaining, local armed groups have reportedly shifted to collecting “conscription fees” from older residents instead.

“There are no young people left, so they collect conscription fees from older people. With no work and no food, whatever little money we earn as day laborers goes to the PNO and the military. We can’t pay every month,” said a 40-year-old man from Mae Nam Taung.

Residents also reported that in October 2024, a Japanese organization donated 50,000 kyats per household to flood-affected families, but soldiers from the Pa-O National Army (PNA) came and seized the money.

Since February 17 of this year, PNO/PNA forces have also been collecting monthly taxes (extortion) from households in Hopong Township that own unused machinery, rice mills, water-powered pounding machines, or motorbikes. The militia has reportedly warned that homes will be removed if these payments are not made.