The main boulevards of commercial hub Yangon were empty Thursday -- a far cry from the Thingyan celebrations of previous years that would see revellers dancing on the streets while being hosed down.

This year, public water fights have been cancelled.

"We may feel depressed because many of our people are killed every day... but we never feel that we will lose this battle," a Yangon resident told AFP, adding that he and his family were marking the new year at home.

"Thingyan is just like any other day of revolution."

The US embassy in Yangon on Thursday dedicated a post to the "fallen heroes in Myanmar", laying petals of the yellow Padauk flowers -- the symbol of Thingyan -- around a make-shift plaque.

© AFP