The regime uses the occasion of an informal gathering in Bangkok to call for the denunciation of its opponents as ‘terrorists’
Myanmar’s military regime used a rare opportunity to meet with fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Thursday to denounce its opponents as “terrorists”.
The informal gathering, hosted by Thailand and held on the sidelines of Thai-Myanmar bilateral talks, was attended by the foreign ministers of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia and the deputy foreign minister of Vietnam.
Senior diplomats from Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Indonesia—which is set to become chair of the regional bloc next year—were also invited but did not attend.
Billed as a “non-ASEAN” event by Thai foreign ministry spokeswoman Kanchana Patarachoke, the meeting circumvented a ban on the presence of junta representatives at high-level ASEAN functions, imposed due to the regime’s failure to implement a “five-point consensus” brokered by the grouping in the wake of Myanmar’s spiralling post-coup crisis.
The consensus, viewed by many critics as ineffective, included agreements by the regime to cease violence in the country and hold talks with all concerned parties, as well as other steps aimed at ending the conflict.
The Myanmar delegation was led by the junta’s foreign minister, Wunna Maung Lwin, and also included Kan Zaw, its minister of investment and foreign economic relations, and Ko Ko Hlaing, its minister for international cooperation.
In a statement, the regime said that its representatives used the occasion to reiterate its stance on the publicly mandated National Unity Government (NUG) and the armed People’s Defence Force (PDF) under its command, as well as other resistance forces.
The “Myanmar delegation urged ASEAN member states to denounce the terrorist activities of the NUG and PDF and to discourage any moral, material and financial support to the terrorist organisations,” the statement read.
Despite the regime’s uncompromising position, Cambodia’s foreign ministry said in a statement that it hoped the “open-ended informal consultation” would lead to what it called an “exit strategy” for Myanmar.
According to a report by Reuters, the foreign ministries of Indonesia and Vietnam said they were unable to send their foreign ministers to the meeting because it coincided with a visit to Jakarta by Vietnam’s president.
The other non-attendees—Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines—confirmed that they had been invited, but declined to explain their decisions not to join the gathering.
However, a diplomatic source cited a letter from Singapore’s foreign minister to his Thai counterpart to indicate that the country wanted to uphold an agreement reached in November to continue barring the junta from summits and other regional meetings until peace is restored.
“Any meeting convened under ASEAN, formal or informal, should not deviate from this decision,” the letter reportedly said, according to Reuters’ source.
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Members of the KNDO are accused of killing three men affiliated with the anti-junta resistance movement in Magway Region, and stealing guns intended for their forces
The Karen National Union (KNU) has vowed to hold members of one of its armed wings accountable after they were accused of killing three men from central Myanmar who were purchasing firearms in Karen State for the resistance at the time of their murder.
The slain officers, Ye Din, Pyinnyar Sarya, and another unidentified individual bought the weapons in Kawkareik Township—which falls under the KNU’s Brigade 6 territory—before they were reportedly murdered by members of the Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO) in Hparkya village on October 22.
The alleged perpetrators are accused of seizing 30 assault rifles and three pistols from the deceased, who were planning to return to Magway Region’s Pakokku District to distribute the weapons to defence forces fighting the junta.
KNU secretary for Brigade 6, Padoh Saw Liston, told Myanmar Now on Friday that an investigation into the incident was underway and that four members of the KNDO’s Battalion 6 were in KNU custody, including deputy intelligence officer Htay Win.
“The perpetrators are being detained and interrogated. We will take effective action as per the law,” he said, adding that it was “impossible” to issue further statements at this time.
Among those summoned as witnesses was the commander of the KNDO battalion in question as well as residents of Hparkya and other nearby villages.
“This is a major blow to the KNU’s political integrity and the revolution,” Padoh Saw Liston said.
The KNU has been attempting to trace the whereabouts of the stolen weapons in order to return them to the Pakokku-based resistance forces, the secretary explained, but noted that they were already being used on Karen forces’ own frontlines against the Myanmar army.
“Everything should be handed over after the trial has ended, but things get complicated because some items can’t be submitted to the [court] office due to the huge demand on the frontline, and some items are not in the same condition as when the murders were committed,” Padoh Saw Liston said.
One of the victims, Ye Din, who was in his 40s, was a support officer tasked by the publicly mandated National Unity Government (NUG) with purchasing firearms for resistance forces in Pakokku, Myaing, Yesagyo and Pauk townships.
Padoh Saw Liston said that he had already spoken with NUG officials about the incident.
At the time of the murder, the three men had been staying at a Kawkareik monastery, according to an officer from the Pakokku People’s Defence Force. The KNDO’s Battalion 6 commander reportedly assigned five soldiers to guard the visitors and their firearms.
These KNDO troops later killed the men and stole their weapons, which were valued at 400m kyat (US$190,500), he said.
“We bought the firearms with support from the public and the little money we had saved from farming,” the PDF officer told Myanmar Now. “The transport of firearms to our location is also difficult, and it requires many steps. This has created more difficulties for [resistance forces] in Pakokku District, because we have lost our comrades, as well as a route through which we could source firearms.”
An initial incident report was submitted to NUG’s defence ministry two days after the incident, but no response had been issued at the time of reporting, he added.
“I want to request that both NUG and KNU deliver justice for Ye Din,” the officer said. “We want justice and a fair verdict worthy of a life that has been lost.”
Linn Htin contributed to this report.
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During a three-hour battle, the military fired some 100 heavy artillery shells at the site, according to a spokesperson for the Kokang ethnic armed organisation
A major Myanmar military attack on a Muse Township base of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) ended in a retreat by the junta’s forces on Wednesday, a representative of the ethnic Kokang armed group said.
The 1pm offensive was launched against a post of the MNDAA’s Brigade 511, located 10 miles northwest of Mongko town near the village of Wein Hseng, in the Mong Paw area. A column of some 80 troops from Light Infantry Battalion 420—under Light Infantry Division 99—assaulted the site for around three hours, firing some 100 artillery shells, before reportedly withdrawing.
“We were able to defend our camp from the attack. But sadly, one of our comrades was killed and another was injured,” an MNDAA information officer told Myanmar, adding that he did not know how many casualties the junta had suffered.
Local news outlets reported that nearly all of the residents from the neighbouring villages of Samar and Hubak had also fled the area due to the heavy fighting.
One house in Samar was destroyed by an artillery shell, according to the MNDAA.
It was not known if any civilians were injured during the clash.
At the time of reporting, the MNDAA information officer said that tension remained high around Wein Hseng.
In late November, the Myanmar army launched a three-day attack on another MNDAA camp at the base of Nam Pha hill near the town of Chin Shwe Haw in Laukkai Township, but again was unable to seize the site.
The MNDAA also reported engaging in clashes near Nam Pon village in Lashio Township with the junta’s Infantry Battalion 291 under Military Operations Command 16 on November 15 and 16.
The military council has not released any information on recent battles in northern Shan State, where it has also been fighting against MNDAA ally the Ta’ang National Liberation Army.
The MNDAA has been confronted with several Myanmar army offensives since rejecting a military offer to transform into a border guard force in 2009.
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The pair are accused of using a scheme to purchase energy in Thailand for sale in Myanmar as a means of laundering drug profits
Prosecutors in Thailand have indicted a US citizen and an accused arms dealer from Myanmar for their alleged roles in laundering drug money by purchasing energy from a Thai state-owned company and sending it over the border to be sold in Myanmar.
The indictment, which was not announced publicly but was seen by Prachatai and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), was filed on December 13 against Thai-American Dean Gultula and a well-connected Myanmar tycoon named Tun Min Latt.
The suspects face charges of money laundering and transnational organised crime, which each may carry a prison term of up to 15 years in Thailand. They are also charged with offences related to drug trafficking, which can result in the death penalty in extreme cases.
Also indicted were a Thailand-registered firm connected to both men, called Allure Group (P&E) Co Ltd, and two other people involved in the company. Allure Group (P&E) was used to “transform money gained from offences related to drugs into commodities in the form of electricity that was exported to Myanmar,” the indictment reads.
Tun Min Latt is accused of transferring funds derived from drug sales to the electricity company. Gultula allegedly oversaw the transfer of funds to Allure Group (P&E) from a related firm, Myanmar Allure Group Company Limited.
The lawyers for the defendants are unknown, and the indictment did not identify them.
The Mae Sai Provincial Electricity Authority declined to comment. But a person within the national state-owned electricity company said, on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media, that the authority has handed over documents to the Office of Narcotics Control at Thailand’s Ministry of Justice.
Yadanar Maung, a spokesperson for the activist group Justice For Myanmar, said the indictment against Tun Min Latt and his associates was a “positive development in seeing some accountability for their alleged money laundering, drug and related offences.”
“Tun Min Latt is a major enabler of the Myanmar military, supporting its crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity through providing sources of revenue and arms,” Yadanar Maung said.
In August, the UK sanctioned Tun Min Latt’s Star Sapphire Group of Companies, saying it “has been responsible for the brokering of deals for military goods.”
Gultula, Tun Min Latt, and other suspects were arrested on September 17 when Thai police and other agencies swooped in at dawn on several locations in Bangkok.
Just over two weeks later, an arrest warrant was also issued for Gultula’s father-in-law, the Thai senator Upakit Pachariyangkun, on drug trafficking and money laundering charges. But the warrant was quickly withdrawn, OCCRP and Prachatai reported.
Upakit was previously a director of Myanmar Allure Group. Corporate records show that he left the company in 2019, when he was appointed to the Senate by the military, which had overthrown Thailand’s civilian government five years earlier.
The indictment shows that prosecutors are focused on crimes that took place between February 22 and May 10, 2019. Upakit took his seat in the Senate on May 14 that year. Three months later, Gultula became a director at Myanmar Allure Group.
“It is alarming that Tun Min Latt’s business partner, Upakit Pachariyangkun, has so far escaped justice,” Yadanar Maung said.
Upakit’s assistant was unable to arrange an interview or provide a statement in time for publication. The US Embassy in Bangkok said it had no comment on the charges against Gultula.
This article has been re-published by Myanmar Now with the permission of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).
Upakit Pachariyangkun is called for questioning after his son-in-law and longstanding business partner are arrested for allegedly channelling illicit funds through businesses in Myanmar
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