Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow with Min Aung Hlaing during a meeting in Naypyidaw on April 22. (Credit: Reuters)
Engagement Should Focus on Junta’s Repression, War Crimes
Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow visited Naypyidaw, the capital of Myanmar, on Wednesday. Thailand has been acutely affected by the situation in neighboring Myanmar, and is seeking solutions to the influx of refugees, mushrooming transnational crime, and worsening pollution. But it is hard to know what the visit accomplished.
Sihasak, a veteran diplomat, has been a point man for successive Thai governments to engage with Min Aung Hlaing, who led the military coup in Myanmar in 2021 and has headed the ruling junta since.
After 15 years as commander-in-chief, overseeing the security forces responsible for widespread war crimes and crimes against humanity, Min Aung Hlaing installed himself as president earlier this month, following sham elections in December and January.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which Thailand is a member, declined to certify the election results.
The junta organized the elections to ensure the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party’s victory and obtain a stamp of legitimacy for the military-controlled state.
The junta had banned dozens of political parties and locked up civilian leaders, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.
Prior to the elections, the junta did nothing to win over skeptical foreign governments. Thousands of dissidents and junta critics remained in brutal detention. Repression and unlawful attacks in conflict zones, including air strikes on civilians, ramped up ahead of the vote.
Since then, little has changed. On April 17, junta-controlled media reported a Burmese New Year’s amnesty for over 4,000 prisoners, including ousted President Win Myint. However, Political Prisoners Network – Myanmar reported that only about 1,600 people were actually released; of those, only 292 were political prisoners of some 22,000 political prisoners total.
The junta has long used prisoner amnesties to ease international pressure and buy credibility, creating a revolving door of releases and convictions.
So long as Myanmar’s junta is unwilling to seriously address human rights concerns, Sihasak’s efforts to develop a closer relationship seem misguided. Thailand and the rest of ASEAN should step up efforts to press the junta to unconditionally release all political prisoners, end the political repression, and cease its unlawful military attacks on civilians.
Representatives from the EU, Thailand, the UN, and international humanitarian partners at the launch of a new programme supporting Myanmar refugees in Bangkok, Thailand, on April 21. (Credit: EU)
EU pledges assistance to Myanmar refugees in Thailand
The E.U. announced on Tuesday that it has launched a 15 million Euros ($17 million USD) programme to support an estimated 107,000 refugees from Burma living in nine camps along the Thailand–Burma border from 2026–2028. The E.U. Ambassador to Thailand Luisa Ragher, Thai authorities, U.N. agencies, including the U.S.-based International Rescue Committee (IRC), attended the event in Bangkok on April 20.
“Our partnership seeks to ensure that refugees are not only protected, but also empowered to become self-reliant and active contributors to society,” stated Ragher. The Director-General of the Department of International Organizations at Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pinsuda Jayanama called the E.U. assistance “timely” as Thailand transitions from aid dependency toward a more self-reliant and inclusive approach.
Burma Campaign UK, a London-based human rights watchdog, released a briefing paper on Wednesday called “Burma’s Rebranded Military Regime” detailing how 17 of the 30 ministers appointed by Min Aung Hlaing, who was inaugurated president by a pro-military parliament on April 10, are from the military with 10 facing international sanctions for their role in human rights violations and the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021.
Data reveals that 86 per cent of ministers and lawmakers are either active soldiers or members of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). “The unelected Burmese military MPs and ‘elected’ military lawmakers [USDP] control the Lower House with 341 out of 373 seats and the Upper House with 164 out of 213 seats. In total, they control 505 out of 586 seats,” stated the paper released on April 22.
Burma Campaign UK claimed that this rebrand is a part of a strategy to “try to relieve international pressure” on the regime in Naypyidaw, which seized power during the 2021 coup. Burma Campaign UK criticized its New Year amnesty on April 17 as “military propaganda,” and called for the immediate release of all 22,000 political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held incommunicado over the last five years.
Former regime Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Tin Aung San at a ceremony in Moscow, Russia, in August 2023. (Credit: Russian Defence Ministry)
A national security advisor under sanctions
Min Aung Hlaing appointed President’s Office Minister Tin Aung San his National Security Advisor on Wednesday. Tin Aung San was elected to the Pyithu Hlutttaw, or lower house of parliament, for Naypyidaw’s Ottarathiri Township in the regime’s 2025-26 elections. He is now tasked with advising Min Aung Hlaing on national security matters.
Tin Aung San was appointed national security advisor in August 2025 to the regime’s National Defence and Security Council (NDSC), which oversaw security and defence affairs following the 2021 military coup. He held this position, as well as the President Office Minister in regime Prime Minister Nyo Saw’s cabinet, until Min Aung Hlaing reformed the NDSC on April 11.
Tin Aung San served as the Burma Navy chief from 2015-21, then as one of the regime’s six deputy prime ministers and defence minister in August 2023 but was dismissed from the position in December 2024. He has been sanctioned by the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, and the E.U., since 2021. Check out our new Myanmar Sanctions Monitor.
News by Region
KACHIN—Residents of Hpakant Township told DVB that an unknown number of doctors and nurses have been arrested during a raid carried out by regime forces at a private hospital and a guest house in Aungyar village on Tuesday. Hpakant is located 94 miles (151 km) north of the state capital Myitkyina.
A resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity that the arrests were connected to alleged care provided to members of the People’s Defense Force (PDF). The bodies of four men found at a dumpsite in Hpakant on April 15 were allegedly arrested and killed by regime forces, residents claimed.
SAGAING—Residents of Taze Township told DVB that one PDF member was killed and four other PDF members, as well as one civilian, were injured during airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force on Tuesday. Taze is located 70 miles (113 km) north of the region’s capital Monywa.
The PDF in Taze told DVB that “multiple” airstrikes carried out by three regime jet fighters targeted its former camp. At least 14 civilians were killed by airstrikes in Taze’s Kanhtooma village on Nov. 24 and Sept. 26, according to the PDF. Kanhtooma village was seized in February 2024.
NAYPYIDAW—Residents in Tatkon Township told DVB that water and fuel prices are rising. A 20-liter bottle of drinking water increased 1,000-2,500 MMK ($0.23-0.59 USD) due to rising transportation costs caused by fuel shortages. Tatkon is located 38 miles (61 km) north of the capital.
One litre of 92-octane gasoline increased 4,625-4,735 MMK ($1.10-1.12 USD) and 95-octane gasoline rose 4,780-4,945 MMK ($1.13-1.17 USD). Diesel prices rose from 5,680-6,485 MMK ($1.30-1.50 USD) per liter for regular and 6,805-7,755 MMK ($1.60-1.80 USD) for premium April 9-23, according to the regime.
YANGON—Traders at the Shwe Padauk Fish Wholesale Market in Hlaing Township told DVB that one viss (1.6 kg) of rohu has risen 6,500-8,500 MMK ($1.54-2.02 USD), pomfret 7,000-8,000 MMK ($1.66-1.90 USD), and carp 17,000-20,000 MMK ($4.04-4.76 USD). Retail prices are about double wholesale prices.
Fish farmers told DVB that 1 kg of fish feed has risen 660-1,200 MMK ($0.15-0.28 USD), and it takes 25.6 kg of fish feed to produce 6.4 kg of fish which earns 8,000-32,000 MMK ($1.90-7.61 USD) based on the variety. “It’s either loss or breakeven,” one told DVB on the condition of anonymity.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,170 MMK)
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The National Unity Government Foreign Affairs advisor Moe Zaw Oo at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington D.C. on April 15. (Credit: DVB)
Myanmar’s newly formed resistance coalition, the Steering Committee for the Emergence of a Federal Democratic Union (SCEF), has launched a highly coordinated global diplomatic offensive spanning three continents, urging international leaders to reject the military regime in Naypyidaw and support their unified campaign for a federal democracy.
“We all continue to make every possible effort, together with all the people of Myanmar, to ensure the swift and unconditional release of all political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains unjustly detained,” stated a congratulatory letter released by the SCEF on April 22.
The SCEF was established on March 30 as a joint political and military coordination body designed to end military rule.
It formally unites the National Unity Government (NUG), the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), and four major ethnic armed organizations: the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), Karen National Union (KNU), Chin National Front (CNF), and Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP).
During a speech marking the NUG’s fifth anniversary on April 16, Acting President Duwa Lashi La hailed the SCEF as a “symbol of unity” tasked with drafting a nationwide military strategy to finally defeat regime forces.
To secure international backing for this new command structure, resistance leaders dispatched high-level delegations to Washington D.C., Tokyo, and Istanbul.
Appealing to the U.S. administration
On April 15, a high-profile delegation briefed U.S. lawmakers at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington D.C.
Organized by the Burma Research Institute and supported by USAID and the U.S. Foreign Service, the event aimed to provide strategic assessments for members of the administration and Congress.
The delegation included NUG Prime Minister Mann Win Khaing Than, CRPH member Phyu Phyu Thin, KNU spokesperson Saw Taw Nee, and Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) President Tun Khin.
“Both the U.S. and the international community can find a way to stop the violence in Myanmar and bring about peace through collaboration and discussion with the [SCEF],” said Kyaw Zaw, an advisor to the NUG Acting President.
NUG Foreign Affairs Advisor Moe Zaw Oo added that the U.S., U.N., and E.U. must continue to isolate the military regime, which has transitioned into a military-backed administration led by the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), following “sham” elections that concluded on Jan. 25.
Rallying support in Tokyo and Istanbul
Simultaneously, NUG Minister of Foreign Affairs Zin Mar Aung addressed the 152nd Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly in Istanbul, Turkey April 15-19.
She urged the global parliamentary body to wholly reject Myanmar’s new USDP-led pro-military parliament, which elected regime leader Min Aung Hlaing as president on April 10, and throw its institutional support behind the CRPH and the newly-formed SCEF.
Meanwhile, in Japan, NUG representative Saw Ba Hla Thein held a press conference at the Nippon Press Club in Tokyo on April 16. Addressing 13 Japanese media outlets, including public broadcaster NHK, he outlined the committee’s purpose.
“We want to raise international awareness about the formation of the committee,” Saw Ba Hla Thein said, emphasizing that the body will “better coordinate political and military efforts among resistance forces and ethnic armed organizations” to secure a democratic future for Myanmar.
The Department of Justice seal is seen in Washington on Nov. 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
Two Chinese nationals face charges in the U.S. that they managed a sprawling compound in Myanmar where authorities say workers were forced to participate in cryptocurrency investment fraud scams, according to court records unsealed Thursday in Washington, D.C.
A complaint filed in federal court charges the suspects — Huang Xing Shan and Jiang Wen Jie — with wire fraud conspiracy. They’re accused of managing the industrial-scale Shunda Park compound in the village of Min Let Pan before it was seized in November 2025 by armed forces in Myanmar.
Cyberscam centers have proliferated near Myanmar’s border with Thailand. And they have persisted despite a vow by Myanmar’s military leadership to wipe them out, The Associated Press has found.
Both suspects charged in Washington are in government custody in Thailand for illegally entering that country, a court filing says.
They had relocated to another scam compound in Cambodia but were arrested by Thai authorities on immigration charges earlier this year, the filing alleges. It’s unclear when they could be brought to the U.S. for prosecution.
FBI agents reviewed thousands of electronic devices found at the Shunda compound and interviewed some of its former workers.
Scammers posing as law-enforcement or bank officials used fraudulent websites disguised as legitimate investment platforms to defraud victims across the globe by duping them into sending cryptocurrency, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, who announced the charges at a news conference in Washington, said the type of scam perpetrated at the Shunda compound is among the fastest-growing and most financially devastating forms of cybercrime, costing Americans billions of dollars in losses.
“This isn’t abstract. It is hitting your neighbors’, your friends’ and your parents’ retirement accounts,” Pirro said. “Some of these victims are so distraught that they end up taking their own lives. This is economic homicide.”
Compound workers told the FBI that they were held against their will and forced to participate in the scams under the threat of violence.
“The criminal syndicates behind these compounds often lure unsuspecting persons to travel to nearby Thailand with the offer of high-paying technical jobs. However, many of these persons instead have their identification documents seized and are trafficked to [Myanmar] to work in these scam compounds,” the FBI affidavit says.
Online court records don’t list any attorneys for the defendants, Huang and Jiang.
Pirro also announced Thursday that authorities have taken down hundreds of scam-related websites and seized a channel on the Telegram messaging app that she said was used to recruit human trafficking victims to a compound in Cambodia.
“These criminals thought they were untouchable because they were overseas,” Pirro said. “Today, we are proving them wrong, and we are just getting started.”
A building in Mrauk-U Township, Arakan State, caught fire following regime airstrikes on a Buddhist monastery on April 19. (Credit: AA)
Ten injured by airstrikes across Rakhine State in one day
Residents in Arakan State’s Ponnagyun Township told DVB that at least 10 civilians were injured during multiple airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force in Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw, and Mrauk-U townships, located 20-88 miles (32-141 km) north and northeast of the Arakan State capital Sittwe, on Sunday. Two to five regime jet fighters carried out each attack.
Zin Yaw, a military defector who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) following the 2021 coup, told DVB that the Burma Air Force is using a “time-on-target tactic” since Ye Win Oo became commander-in-chief on March 30. This is when multiple aircrafts attack one target simultaneously. He added that using this tactic against non-military targets in Arakan’s 14 townships, as well as Chin State’s Paletwa Township, under Arakan Army (AA) control aims to spread fear among the public and save jet fuel.
Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that a Chinese delegation will meet with the AA at an undisclosed location and date to discuss resuming the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) — a major Belt and Road Initiative project connecting China’s Yunnan Province to Burma’s Kyaukphyu port, located 317 miles (510 km) south of Sittwe. The project, halted in 2021, was signed between Beijing and Naypyidaw in 2018.
Chinese Foreign Minister to visit Myanmar
A Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson announced on Tuesday that its Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, will visit Cambodia, Thailand and Burma April 22-26. The exact dates of his visit to each country wasn’t disclosed.
This will be Wang Yi’s third visit to Burma since the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021. He met with regime leader Min Aung Hlaing during his last visit to Naypyidaw in August 2024. He visited Mandalay Region’s Bagan town for a meeting of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation group, which includes Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, in July 2022.
“For groups that have not yet engaged in dialogue and negotiation, we also invite them to come participate in discussions by the final deadline of July 31,” Min Aung Hlaing told his cabinet during a meeting in Naypyidaw on April 20, referring to opposition armed groups such as the Karen National Union (KNU), the Chin National Front (CNF), and the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF)-all of which signed the NCA in 2015.
His invitation faced rejection from the KNU and the CNF. Saw Taw Nee, the KNU spokesperson, dismissed Min Aung Hlaing’s proposal. “The KNU has already withdrawn from the NCA since the 2021 coup. We have no plans to return to negotiations or follow the NCA path,” he said. Salai Htet Ni, the CNF spokesperson, said his group was seeking a federal democratic system free of military dictatorship. Read more
KAREN—Naypyidaw claimed that airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force on Monday in Bu Tho Township – Karen National Union (KNU) Brigade 5 territory – was “internal fighting” after a bomb landed in Thailand’s Mae Hong Son Province forcing the evacuation of Ban Mae Sam Laeb village.
“If there is fighting, it must remain on their side. Our country must not be affected,” Thai Prime Minister Austin Charnvirakul told media in Bangkok on Wednesday. Security measures have since been intensified along the Thai-Burma border in Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Tak provinces. Read more
A real estate agent told DVB that a 20 x 60-foot plot of land in Dala, which cost around 20 million MMK ($5,115 USD) in 2024, is now priced at nearly 500 million MMK ($128,866 USD), but has attracted no buyers. The 1.8-kilometer bridge connects downtown Yangon to Dala, Twantay, Kawhmu and Kungyangon townships.
Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow with Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw on April 22. (Credit: Reuters)
Myanmar is considering “good things” for detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Thailand’s foreign minister said on Wednesday, as the country seeks to normalise ties with regional bloc the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after five years on the sidelines.
The status of jailed Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained since her government was toppled in a 2021 coup, was discussed at a meeting between Min Aung Hlaing, inaugurated Myanmar’s president by a pro-military parliament on April 10, and Thailand’s top diplomat Sihasak Phuangketkeow.
Sihasak said Min Aung Hlaing informed him Aung San Suu Kyi, 80, was being “well looked after”, after he relayed concerns about her welfare from the 11-member bloc ASEAN.
“Many ASEAN countries are worried about Aung San Suu Kyi and her wellbeing, and he said they are considering good things, so this could be a good thing,” Sihasak said, adding Min Aung Hlaing did not elaborate.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the hugely popular daughter of independence hero Aung San, has been serving a 27-year sentence for a litany of offences her allies said were politically motivated to keep her at bay, ranging from incitement and corruption to election fraud and violating a state secrets law.
It is unclear where Aung San Suu Kyi is being held. Her sentence was last week commuted by one-sixth as part of an amnesty for thousands of prisoners that included the release of Win Myint, the president ousted alongside her and co-defendant in many of her trials.
‘We want to help,’ Thai minister says
Former military leader Min Aung Hlaing led the coup that ended a decade of tentative democracy in Myanmar and sparked chaos and a civil war, prompting an intervention by ASEAN and its exclusion of the then ruling generals from its summits.
Min Aung Hlaing was recently chosen as president by parliament, formalising his grip on power after an election that was dominated by an army-backed party in the absence of viable opposition.
Few countries have endorsed Myanmar’s election or the new military-backed government, with some western nations dismissing the process as a sham designed to entrench the army’s control under the guise of civilian rule.
During his recent inauguration, Min Aung Hlaing said his priority was peace and reconciliation in Myanmar and he would seek to improve international relations.
Sihasak said Thailand was ready to support Myanmar in its efforts to end a raging civil war and seek a détente with ASEAN.
“They’re trying to show that they’re moving towards a better direction,” he said in video remarks shared by the Thai government.
“These things are essential. Because we want them to return to ASEAN. We want to help them but we can’t help them if they cannot help themselves.”
Regime media in Myanmar carried news of Sihasak’s meeting with Min Aung Hlaing in the capital Naypyidaw but made no mention of Aung San Suu Kyi.
