Myanmar Labor Attaché in Thailand Charged with Corruption

By Zaw Zaw Htwe 7 November 2019

Yangon – Myanmar labor attaché U San Maung Oo, who represented migrants in Thailand, has been charged by the Anti-Corruption Commission of Myanmar (ACC) over claims he took thousands of bribes.

The labor attaché has been accused of asking for about 4.4 million Thai baht (US$144,000, 220.16 million kyats) from 28 overseas employment agencies in exchange for approving labor demand letters and for sending workers to recruitment agencies.

The ACC said it interviewed witnesses and studied documents and bank accounts in Myanmar and Thailand.

U San Maung Oo was found to have abused his power and asked for bribes from recruitment agencies, said the ACC.

He worked at the labor office in Bangkok from December 2017 until August this year.

The ACC also said U San Maung Oo collected 100 baht from agencies for each worker and also took bribes from the employment agencies through his assistants, U Than Htike Soe and U Saw Pyae Nyein.

The commission filed a lawsuit with North Dagon police in Yangon against U San Maung Oo under Article 46 of the Anti-Corruption Act. U Than Htike Soe and U Saw Pyae Nyein were charged under the same law.

More than 20 overseas employment agencies reported U San Maung Oo to the ACC, the President’s Office, the Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population, and the Parliamentary Committee on Labor Affairs.

U Kyaw Htwe, the committee chair, told the media in June that a bribery case was being launched.

The employment agencies told the media in May that the Bangkok-based labor office would delay documentation for workers until it paid bribes.

U San Maung Oo told the media in June that he had already explained the situation to investigators and he was ready to accept any official inspection as a government employee.

While he was at the office, up to 20,000 workers from Myanmar were recruited by agencies for Thailand per month.