The Arakan Army (AA) earlier this month froze at least US$6 million worth of assets belonging to leading ethnic Rakhine businessman Kyauk Taung in Rakhine State’s Taungup town.
The reason for the asset seizure is not known, but observers have speculated it was prompted by the businessman’s alleged close ties to the Myanmar military junta. The AA, which now controls 14 towns in the state including Taungup, did not respond to The Irrawaddy’s request for comment.
Kyauk Taung told The Irrawaddy the AA has frozen assets worth at least $6 million including eight boats and ships, houses, land and the Htarwara Aung Myay housing project he developed in Taungup.
Kyauk Taung is a leading businessman in Taungup, operating a ferry service with a fleet of vessels that operates in coastal Rakhine. He is also engaged in cross-border trade with Bangladesh.
He is the vice chair of Myanmar Kyauk Phyu Special Economic Zone Holding Public Co. Ltd., an umbrella group of Myanmar companies that are jointly developing the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Rakhine State with China’s state-owned China International Trust and Investment Group Corporation (CITIC). In addition to the SEZ, CITIC plans to develop a deep-sea port in Kyaukphyu. Both are among China’s Belt and Road projects in Myanmar.
In 2018, Kyauk Taung became embroiled in controversy when he defied an order by the National League for Democracy (NLD) government to halt work on the housing project, which was initially referred to as a “new town project”. The NLD government found that the project—which was developed by Htarwara Aung Myae Public Co. Ltd. chaired by Kyauk Taung—had violated legal provisions and accused it of land grabbing.
During the period in the early 2010s when Myanmar was ruled by the military proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), Kyauk Taung had close ties with the government, according to the head of the Taungup municipal committee at the time. He actively supported the party during the campaign for the 2015 general election, which was won by the NLD in a landslide.
Expecting a USDP victory in Taungup in the 2015 election, the company brought in heavy machinery and began constructing roads, filling in land and building structures without waiting for Union government approval, the former municipal head said. Given this alleged shady background, Kyauk Taung is now suspected of having businesses ties to the Myanmar military regime.
But he has denied the accusations.
“I am only working for the development of my region. I am not involved in politics or any party. I am just a businessman,” he told The Irrawaddy recently.
He added that he has been in Yangon since the fighting between the AA and the regime renewed in Rakhine in 2023.
Today, the regime controls just three towns in Rakhine including the state capital Sittwe and Kyaukphyu, which is home to the China-backed SEZ and planned deep-sea port.
Given the widespread poverty in Rakhine, some people jealous of his wealth might have made allegations about him to the AA, leading to the ethnic rebel group’s sealing off of his assets, Kyauk Taung speculated.
When asked about the alleged ties between him and the current military regime, he said: “They say I have ties with the government. In fact, it is the government that offered to cooperate with me because of my performance. I did not go to the government and ask for a partnership.”
“In a small town like Taungup, authorities would [naturally] try to establish ties with me,” he said.
