The vast majority (more than 80%) of Myanmar's 45.5 million people live outside of its cities and the economy, such as it is, is primarily agriculturally-based. Timber, including teak, is the main export along with rice and oils (sesame and a rape-seed type oil). Teak exports are a government-controlled industry of which they are highly protective. In fact, all teak trees belong to the government and if a teak tree is on private property, it can not be cut without official permission.
Once upon a time, Myanmar (Burma) was one of the richest southeast Asian countries and the region's top rice producer, but of course, times are hard these days. Economic sanctions by the EU and US means that exports must all go out through neighbouring China, Thailand and Laos before, inevitably, making it to Australia, the US and EU. I assume that this means that Myanmar itself gets a much smaller piece of the pie.
Another industry hard-hit by sanctions is the textiles trade for which the country has long been famous. For the few tourists in the country, a visit to the silk weaving factories is inevitable and each region specialises in a particular pattern or product. We visited a couple of these on our trip and it was interesting to see people at work on their rickety wooden weaving frames.
In the photo at right, the woman is preparing silk thread for the "ikat" method of silk weaving. The silk is essentially "tye-dyed" and then the resulting multi-coloured threads are meticulously lined up on the loom to created a patterened cloth.
Silk is imported in its raw state from China and is spun and dyed locally and then woven into intricate patterned bolts of cloth. The weavers we visited worked long hours, seven days a week for around an average of about $1.20 a day. For the most part, this did not appear to be piece-work and the pace seemed leisurely, but of course, we only saw a few places - most with fewer than 20 workers. Of course, the pay seems outrageously low and indeed, it is a low wage even for that country, but costs are also low. A pound of rice costs around $.25US and meat about $1 a pound. In the factory shops, silk cost around a $10 a meter, but can be bought in non-tourist shops for a fraction of that. A shoulder bag (for which the people of Shan state are famous) costs a tourist about $2 to $6, but a local would probably pay less than half of that. This website gives a good outline of the types of weaving that is done in Myanmar.
Handcrafts are everywhere and I marvelled at table after table of carved wooden objects, silver, paintings, bamboo goods and lacquerware on sale wherever we went. Sometimes there would be tables stretched as far as the eye could see at the entry to a pagoda but only us few tourists to buy anything. I felt bad for them - most saying "lucky money" meaning that if I bought it, it was the first sale of the day. This at 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Needless to say, you could get great deals and heavy bargaining is expected, but I could rarely bring myself to go too low - sometimes paying the first asking price. I'm sure they laughed at me when I left, but $5 is a working week's wage to them and the cost of a pint for me.
Lacquerware is everywhere and, again, a trip to a lacquerware workshop is inevitable. We were explained the process which involves a number of steps, starting with the sap of the Melanorrhoea usitata applied by hand to wood, bamboo or horsehair vessels. They are then placed underground for two weeks to harden before being incised and handpainted. Again, try this site for a good description of the process.
Another common handcraft and one that produces goods most commonly used by the people of Myanmar is goldleaf. In the photo at right, the men are pounding gold into leaves that women in the next room will form into small, one inch sqaures pressed between sheets of paper. You can buy these squares of goldleaf at monasteries and temples for application to the Buddhas. Of course, it is almost only men that are allowed to directly apply the goldleaf so I never bought any. I guess men are in much greater need of merit than are women. ;-)