Rallies call on Thailand to stop support for Myanmar regime
Over 20 Burma nationals and their supporters protested outside the Royal Thai Embassy in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, demanding Bangkok stop engaging with the regime in Naypyidaw. “We have launched a global campaign to ask Thailand not to legitimize [regime leader Min Aung Hlaing],” Myo Min Saw, the protest organizer, told DVB.
Similar protests were held outside Royal Thai embassies in the U.K., U.S., Australia, South Korea and France on Sept. 2 with diaspora organisations in each country delivering an open letter warning that high-level engagement with Min Aung Hlaing risks providing political legitimacy to his regime, which seized power from an elected government in a 2021 military coup.
“We expect the Thai government to respect the voices and democratic will of the Myanmar people,” Myo Min Saw added. These protests follow Min Aung Hlaing’s official visit to Bangkok on Aug. 6-7, where he met with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul. Bangkok described the visit as part of efforts to strengthen bilateral relations and economic cooperation with Naypyidaw.
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Min Aung Hlaing to visit Vietnam this week
Min Aung Hlaing will pay an official visit to Vietnam Sept. 4-6. This will be his third visit to an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member state, following his most recent trips to Laos and Thailand, since being inaugurated president by a pro-military parliament on April 10.
He will meet with Vietnamese President Tô Lâm and Prime Minister Lê Minh Hưng during his trip this weekend. He is also expected to attend the Myanmar-Vietnam Business Forum and visit digital technology and industrial facilities in Vietnam, regime media in Burma and Vietnamese state media reported.
The visit to Vietnam follows Vietnamese Foreign Minister Lê Hoài Trung’s visit to Naypyidaw on Aug. 26 to meet with his regime “counterpart” Tin Maung Swe. The two discussed measures to boost cooperation and increase bilateral trade at the 10th Meeting of the Myanmar–Vietnam Joint Commission.
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Myanmar Witness exposes cyber scam crackdown as deception
The announcement by the regime in May about a military crackdown on cyber scam operations inside Shwe Kokko, located in Karen State’s Myawaddy Township, a new investigation by Myanmar Witness claims it was a deception meant to give Naypyidaw a reprieve from global scrutiny over the proliferation of cyber scams.
After the military boasted of dismantling the “notorious” crime hub along the Myanmar-Thailand border, Myanmar Witness reveals a regime complicit in the very networks it claimed to destroy. Between May 25 and July 26, regime media reported a campaign to demolish 77 out of 322 illegal buildings within Shwe Kokko.
However, this “77-building blitz” was only for show. By cross-referencing official regime media reports with independent satellite and AI forensics, Myanmar Witness’ forensic analysis uncovered three primary categories that prove the crackdown was a coordinated fabrication.
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News by Region
BAGO—The level of the Bago River reached 30 feet (917 cm), exceeding its critical threshold of 28 feet (880 cm) on Wednesday, the regime’s Department of Meteorology and Hydrology reported. Residents told DVB that they haven’t planned to relocate yet as the water level isn’t “high” enough.
Low-lying areas of the region’s capital Bago have been flooded by mountain runoff triggered by continuous rainfall since Tuesday, according to the residents. The Yangon-Bago highway remains accessible to motorists despite being covered by water.
KARENNI—At least five civilians were killed and seven others were injured in airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force in Hpasawng Township on Tuesday, according to the Karenni Interim Executive Council (IEC). “Airstrikes targeted a lead mining site where residents were living,” Banyar Aung, the IEC secretary 2, told DVB.
The IEC stated that there was no fighting between regime and resistance forces in Mawchi, where the airstrikes occurred, on Sept. 1. Mawchi, located 92 miles (148 km) south of the state capital Loikaw, was seized by the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) in 2024. Read the full article on our website
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,400 MMK)
Watch International Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar’s Nicholas Koumjian discuss the arrest warrant request for Min Aung Hlaing.
