'I did what I thought was right': a Myanmar protester voices her fears for the future

Almost two weeks after the military coup, one demonstrator explains why she is still out on the streets

In previous years on Union Day - the Myanmar public holiday marking the agreement between ethnic leaders on 12 February 1947 to forge a unified country - Khin* had worn her traditional htamein, a snug maxiskirt. But since it would prevent her from running away if the police opened fire, this year she opted for loose trousers, large sunglasses, a baseball cap and face mask.

For the seventh consecutive morning she found a full-scale rebellion playing out on the streets of Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon. A couple of thousand railway workers marched near her home as Khin, in her early 30s, reflected on a phone call she had just received from her father, a high-ranking official in the army, which seized power from Aung San Suu Kyi's democratically elected government on 1 February.