Myanmar's military celebrated itself on Armed Forces Day Thursday, gathering phalanxes of troops, some carrying flags, others assault rifles, many of them women, for a night-time parade and show of strength.

As they marched through the streets of Naypyidaw -- a sprawling, purpose-built city with highways up to 20 lanes wide, incongruously lined with paddy fields farmers till with ox-drawn ploughs -- loyal citizens draped them in necklaces of flowers.

But the armoured vehicles and artillery pieces of previous displays were absent, with the only cavalry unit a troop of horsemen who escorted junta chief Min Aung Hlaing's limousine to the podium.

Myanmar was in "not a normal situation", said 1988 student protest leader Ko Ko Gyi, who spent 17 years in prison and is now leader of the opposition People's Party, which has said it will take part in elections the junta has promised for later this year.

"This is a long journey," he told AFP.

"From the military perspective, political perspective, economic perspective and social perspective, multi-perspective, we need to draw the blueprint for our future," he said, adding it could take 20 or 30 years to achieve.

The military has been fighting a civil war on multiple fronts since it seized power four years ago.

It is opposed by both ethnic armed organisations, many of which have been fighting for decades, and anti-coup guerrillas known as People's Defence Forces (PDFs).

Among the flags lining the approach to the parade ground was the yellow sun on a red background of the northeastern military command in Lashio -- captured by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, an ethnic Chinese rebel group, last August in the military's biggest defeat for decades.

The Arakan Army has reportedly seized as many as 15 of the 17 districts in the western state of Rakhine.

Ahead of the event, a soldier with a metal detector scanned the flowerbeds by the rostrum for devices, and Buddhist sutras to ward off evil played over the speakers.

- 'Spirit of martyrdom' -

Myanmar's military has not acknowledged its casualty figures for more than two years.

But as he addressed his gathered forces, Min Aung Hlaing lauded those who have fallen on the field of battle.

"The sacrifice of one's life and body for the nation," he said, embodied "the spirit of martyrdom, a virtue held only by those of extraordinary courage and profound dedication."

Since the last Armed Forces Day the military has implemented conscription to bolster its ranks, in what Min Aung Hlaing described as a move to "enable eligible citizens to fulfil their national defence duties".

Eleven batches of "about 5,000" each had been recruited, junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun told a scrum of reporters, and a 12th was in process.

None were taking part in the parade, he added, and the military has never stated exactly what has happened to them.

Their training had given them "a sense of uniformity in identity, views, beliefs and values", Min Aung Hlaing proclaimed, calling them "dutiful and conscientious citizens".

But the threat of being sent to the front lines weighs heavy on young men and their families in Myanmar.

"I am worried about conscription but I have no choice if it is my turn," said a waiter in his 20s at a restaurant in Naypyidaw.

The owner forbids his staff from leaving at night for fear they will be press-ganged into service.

And a driver from Yangon was more forthright, declaring: "If I am summoned I will run away."