Three years after the military junta seized control of Myanmar, the shock waves of that fateful day are still being felt throughout the region.
In mid-February, the group announced it would invoke a decade-old law to start drafting young men and women into the army.
The decision set off widespread alarm across all corners of the country, particularly among those who could soon be called up.
From this month, about 5,000 people will be enrolled in the military as part of a monthly quota to perform "national defence duties", a spokesperson said.
As many as 40,000 men and women could be recruited this year.
When news of the decision reached Thiri*, the dreams she had once held for a peaceful future were shattered in an instant.
"I was frightened when I heard it as the law requires both men and women to serve in the military," she told the ABC.
"…I realised that the conscription law might have some effect on me. I am worried more about my boyfriend … than myself."
Thiri had once pictured her wedding day as a meaningful celebration with friends and family.
But that quickly evaporated as the grim reality of war and her potential involvement on the frontline sank in.
Exemptions from military service are given to monks, married women and people with disabilities.
"We had to force ourselves to get married for a better chance of avoiding this conscription law," she said.
"We just got married by signing a paper. We weren't able to arrange any celebrations with our friends.
"It's not a good time for any celebration."
Thiri is one of many young people who have taken extreme measures to avoid fighting alongside the military.
Since February, passport offices and embassies across the country have been flooded with applications, helplines have been inundated and dozens have been arrested trying to flee to neighbouring Thailand.
There are also reports of young people considering injuring themselves to qualify for an exemption as disabled or joining the monkhood to avoid fighting in the war.
Local media has even reported one young man took his own life after being selected for conscription.
The young people caught up in a sudden draft
The conscription law was first enacted by a previous junta in 2010 but never enforced.
It allows the military to summon all men aged between 18 and 35 and women aged 18 to 27 to serve for up to five years in an emergency.
The age cut-off for doctors, engineers and others that fit into a loosely defined category of "professionals" is higher at 35 for women, and 45 for men.
If conscripts refuse, they could face up to five years in prison.
Thiri studied engineering and is worried that even with a marriage certificate, she and her husband could still get called up.
"The fear doesn't go away even after getting married. It may make women relatively safer [but it] doesn't make any difference for men," she said.
Thiri says she tries not to think about what the future holds for her since "no-one can know what will happen tomorrow".
"Anything can happen to you," she said.
"You might get abducted and used as a porter. You might get investigated and arrested at any time."
Human Rights Watch says Myanmar's military has a long record of using adults for forced labour and recruiting children, but getting recent information about unlawful practices in junta-controlled areas is difficult.
In the past, Amnesty International said porters were required to carry military supplies, including weapons and hardware, on forced marches through the countryside for unknown periods.
While Thiri hopes to escape before her fears are realised, she is concerned for those she will leave behind.
"I'm planning to leave the country, but I have to worry about my parents staying in Myanmar as they are in their old age now."
From hastily arranged marriages to fleeing the country
Snow* has also considered getting married in the hope she would be spared conscription by a military she does not trust.
But the 26-year-old knows that even a formal union might not be enough to keep her safe.
"Even if we legally signed and got married now, we can't rest assured," she said.
"Even married men with their wives and children can be potentially on the draft list for military service now."
She also doesn't want the reason she finally ties the knot to be because of the war.
"This is not the way we wish to get married," she said.
"We wish to get married in a small event, celebrating and enjoying together, with our close loved ones from our social circle.
"We expected we would get married only when we are ready."
But the brutal civil war raging around her waits for no-one and everyone Snow knows is doing everything they can to avoid fighting on the military side.
"Life is becoming increasingly hard in Myanmar," she said.
"It's easy for those from a wealthy family to go abroad but I have to stay here in the country as I am a manual labourer and my family is not affluent.
"So we have nothing to do but to face it."
The conscriptions have sent a wave of terror across Myanmar in the two months since they were first announced with potential draftees fearful they could be forced to carry out atrocities on their own people by a military many despise.
MK* left the country as fast as he could when the announcement was made.
"I didn't do any thorough preparation. I just fled," the 32-year-old said.
"It's not that they are hunting me down but the whole country is trembling with fear."
He says he is scared of being abducted and sent to the frontline "to be used as a human shield".
"I'm overwhelmed with that kind of fear and worry," he said.
Independent analyst David Mathieson said the country risks losing an entire generation as a result.
"This is an exodus that's going to affect not just the economy but Myanmar society as a whole," he said.
"A whole generation is not able to really trust anyone, not able to trust any kind of institution, and just feeling quite wretched about the prospects for a free and stable — not even democratic — but just a free and relatively stable Myanmar."
Young people leaving Myanmar face other problems
Tun* has been living in Thailand on a student visa since fleeing Myanmar shortly after the coup in 2021.
The 32-year-old said almost all of his friends are now trying to do the same.
"If you get selected as a candidate, I'm sure it will lead you to the hell," he said.
"Anything can happen to you if you serve under the military council. You might even lose your life.
"Even if you can make it through, your life will be left broken and ruined."
His girlfriend of four years followed him to Thailand but is struggling to get a visa, which would allow her to work and stay in the country long-term.
If she isn't approved, she will have to return to Myanmar.
"She left out of fear for the conscription but she has nothing prepared for surviving here," Tun said.
"She is thinking of going back to Myanmar [but] she could possibly face conscription, forced abduction … so is taking the time to think it over."
He said the conscription announcement had worsened the country's economic turmoil.
"Since the announcement of the conscription law, the current situation in Myanmar has become quite chaotic," he said.
"The businesses and firms in Yangon are facing a shortage of employees.
"Now my friends and cousins quit their jobs instantly and prepare to leave the country."
What the defiance to conscription says about the junta
In recent months, Myanmar's military has faced the biggest challenge yet to its fragile hold on power.
The junta has struggled to control an armed opposition to its rule, which has been led by an ethnic armed organisation that has long fought against it.
Earlier this month, rebels seized the key town of Myawaddy on the Thai-Myanmar border, a significant blow to the military.
Myanmar's military has also suffered devastating battlefield losses in which entire battalions have surrendered key territory, particularly along the Chinese border, as part of a series of coordinated attacks from resistance forces called Operation 1027.
The offensive launched by the rebel alliance allowed them to take back over 35 towns across north-east, central and western Myanmar and delivered humiliating scenes of thousands of soldiers surrendering.
Mr Mathieson says the move shows the desperation of a weakened military trying to boost its ranks and portray itself as a professional fighting force in the face of death and defections.
"It's barbarism. It's medieval. But for a regime that simply just wants to hold on to power, to them it's logical," he said.
"This is what you do at a moment like this."
He said the conscription drive could be counterproductive for the junta, by driving young people into the arms of resistance groups.
"How many of these young people are going, 'OK, I'll just join a People's Defence Force or join an ethnic armed organisation, because those guys actually seem to be fighting a just war?'"
He says they may see their involvement in these groups as "something that they can be socially proud of joining" instead of fighting in the war.
MK hopes to return to Myanmar one day but he has no idea when that may be.
"How the situation will turn out is unpredictable," he said.
He says even if the junta is brought down and a new democratic government is appointed, "it will take time for rehabilitation".
"I would definitely go back after the revolution," he said.
* Name changed to protect identity
