Though he has been dead for nearly a decade, long-serving military regime official Aung Thaung’s corrupt legacy lives on in the junta-allied business empires run by his children and their families and associates, whose interests now spread across Myanmar’s economy.
Hailing from Kyaukkar Village in Mandalay Region’s Taungtha Township, Aung Thaung was one of the longest-serving ministers in the two previous military regimes, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) and its successor, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), and enjoyed close ties to their leaders, Senior General Than Shwe and his deputy, Vice-Senior General Maung Aye.
A retired colonel, Aung Thaung served as deputy commerce minister in the SLORC, and helmed the Livestock and Fisheries Ministry and the Industry Ministry-1 in the SPDC, achieving notoriety as one of the most corrupt officials of the previous regime. He had access to then dictator Than Shwe’s family. Rumor had it that he was favored by the dictator’s wife Kyaing Kyaing for introducing her to luxury branded goods.
Politically, he was a hardliner. He was accused of masterminding the Depayin Massacre in 2003 to attack then democratic opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s traveling convoy in Sagaing, and was also believed to be behind the crackdown on thousands of monks during the Saffron Revolution of 2007, sending in pro-regime group Swan Arshin to break up the monks’ protests.
He served as a Central Executive Committee member and secretary of the military’s proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party, and was a lawmaker representing his native Taungtha Township in Myanmar’s Lower House in Thein Sein’s quasi-civilian government, heading the parliamentary committee on banks and monetary development.
When anti-Muslim riots hit Myanmar in 2013, he was accused of instigating them by forming the vigilante group Taungtha Army, named after his home township. He denied any connections with the army and Swan Arshin. However, he was blacklisted by the US in 2014 for perpetuating violence, oppression, and corruption despite Washington’s revocation of most of its sanctions against the country following the shift from military rule after 2012.
After joining the Myanmar military in 1964, two years after Ne Win seized power in the country’s first military coup, Aung Thaung served military dictators for a total of 51 years until his death in 2015. As he died at 75, it is fair to say the man spent two-thirds of his life supporting military dictatorship in Myanmar.
Aung Thaung may be gone, but his legacy is preserved by his children. Aung Thaung had four children—three sons and a daughter. He enlisted two sons in the Myanmar military, and groomed the other to become a business partner of generals. And he arranged for his daughter to marry a military captain.
People close to Aung Thaung said he was so ambitious on behalf of his sons that he trained his boys to become chiefs in the military. As he wished, one of his sons, Moe Aung, is now an admiral and the chief of the Myanmar Navy, a position he was promoted to after the 2021 military coup.
Military analysts said junta chief Min Aung Hlaing favors Moe Aung for such achievements as procuring submarines for the Myanmar Navy as well as sending officers to India and Russia for further training.
Moe Aung sits on the regime’s governing body, the State Administration Council (SAC), and is also on the boards of directors (BODs) of military-owned conglomerates Myanma Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC). He was sanctioned by the European Union (EU) in February 2023 for his involvement in the Myanmar military’s atrocities and human rights violations against its own civilians.
He is married to Dr. Aye Khine Nyunt, with whom he has three daughters—Thu Nandar Aung, Aye Myat Po Aung and Aye Myat Thandar.
Another of Aung Thaung’s sons, Pyi Aung, retired as a lieutenant colonel from the Myanmar military. He is the owner of Pristine Hotel Group and married to Nandar Aye, a daughter of Vice-Senior General Maung Aye, deputy supremo in the previous regime.
Nay Aung is the only one of Aung Thaung’s three sons not to have joined the military. He is the chairman of one of the biggest conglomerates in Myanmar, IGE Group of Companies, and is a business partner of generals from the current regime.
Aung Thaung’s daughter Khin Ngu Yi Phyo is married to a former captain, Russian-educated Hlaing Myint Min, who was part of the 48th intake of the Defense Services Academy. She is a director of an oil company called New Day Energy, and also the owner of Stay-Flower Company, which manufactures tissue paper.
Aung Thaung’s rise to wealth
Aung Thaung started his family business with Aung Yee Phyo Company, which he established in 1994, one year after he was appointed deputy commerce minister in the SLORC.
On the BOD of the company, which exports timber and agricultural produce, were Aung Thaung’s wife Khin Khin Yi and their three sons. The company is still operating today, with Nay Aung and his wife Khin Moe Nyunt on the BOD.
Aung Yee Phyo was the first entity in the IGE (International Group of Entrepreneur Co. Ltd.) Group of Companies, which would later become a business partner of the Myanmar military and a top conglomerate in Myanmar. Before the establishment of IGE in 1999, the three brothers operated Myanmar Oceanic Resources Manufacturing Company.
Nay Aung builds empire from national resources
According to business records, IGE Group was cofounded by Nay Aung and his business partner Win Kyaing, a key shareholder in many subsidiaries of IGE.
IGE was sanctioned by the EU in February 2022 for its close ties to the current regime’s leadership.
Nay Aung expanded his business to timber, and oil and gas production, in 2001, establishing the Myanmar Rice Trading Company (MRT), which has since become the largest exporter of Myanmar timber.
According to a report by Washington-based environmental organization Forest Trends published in March 2022, MRT is a key timber exporter in Myanmar, and was the biggest timber exporter in 2014.
MTE has been hit by sanctions from the US, UK, Canada and EU since the putsch.
Nay Aung also registered IGE Pte. Ltd. in Singapore in December 2001 as he started to invest in the oil and gas industry. Win Kyaing is also a shareholder in IGE Pte. Ltd.
Nay Aung registered another company, UNOD Pte. Ltd., in Singapore in 2006. The two companies won contracts to operate at least eight oil and gas fields during the time of the previous military regime and Thein Sein’s quasi-civilian government.
Key shareholder in military-owned telecom
IGE is a key shareholder in Myanmar National Tele & Communications Co. Ltd. (Mytel) owned by the Myanmar military.
The company is operated as a joint venture between Vietnamese military-owned Viettel; Star High Public Company, which is a subsidiary of military-owned MEC; and Myanmar National Telecom Holding Public Co. Ltd. (MNTH), a consortium of 11 local companies.
Nay Aung is a director of MNTH, according to public data. Nay Aung’s International Power Generation Public Company (IPGP), a subsidiary of IGE, holds a 1.24-percent stake in MNTH.
Nay Aung is also a director in Royal Yatanarpon Telecom Public Company, which holds 32.20 percent of shares in MNTH.
According to IGE’s website, its subsidiary Amara Communications Co. Ltd. holds the 2,600MHz spectrum license awarded by the Ministry of Transport and Communications after winning an auction with a bid of over US$120 million. Since 2018, Amara has operated the Ananda Wireless Broadband 4G+ network in Yangon and Mandalay.
Luxury hotel on prize military land in Yangon
Spirit Paradise Services Co. (also known as IGE-Sinphyushin Co, an IGE subsidiary) established Daewoo Amara Company in August 2013 in partnership with Korea’s Daewoo Global Development Pte. Ltd.
Daewoo Amara Co. rents land from the Myanmar military’s Quartermaster-General’s Office on the shore of Inya Lake in an affluent Yangon neighborhood on which it built the Lotte Hotel (Amara Hotel). Another IGE subsidiary, Crete Master Company, was also involved in construction of the hotel. The land on which the Lotte Hotel now stands was home to the Sin Phyu Shin Housing facility, where military officers of the rank of lieutenant colonel and above lived. The land housing the luxury Lotte Hotel was reportedly leased out in 2012.
According to a report by advocacy group Justice for Myanmar, the Myanmar military has earned US$13.51 million from leasing the land to Daewoo Global Development Pte. Ltd. on top of annual rent of $1.874 million.
Nay Aung in the oil industry
Nay Aung, Khin Ngu Yi Phyo, Than Win Swe and Mya Han are directors of New Day Energy Co. and New Day Energy Services Co., which boast dozens of filling stations.
Nay Aung has close ties to Mya Han, the chairman of Fortune International Group, and sits on the BOD of military-owned Mytel. Mya Han is a shareholder in Royal Yatanarpon Telecom Public Co. and Maha Yoma Public Co. Ltd., which have the largest shares in MNTH.
In July 2021, five months after the coup, the two established a new company called New Day IEG Energy Co. The Irrawaddy could not find out what businesses the company engages in.
New Day Energy Services Co. won contracts in February 2014 to build fuel storage tanks and a petroleum jetty at Japan-backed Thilawa Port. IGE Service Co. also got a green light from the Myanmar Investment Commission in May 2013 to build the same facilities.
An IGE subsidiary, Premium Petrol Co. Ltd., operates fuel storage facilities at Shwe Kyet Yet Jetty in Mandalay and Shwepyithar Township in Yangon. The company is a shareholder in Myanmar Energy Sector Development Public Company (MESDP), according to the Facebook page of IGE Group.
MESDP is a business entity of cronies, with oil tycoons taking the lead. Among them are Thein Win Zaw, owner of Shwe Byain Phyu Group of Companies, which purchased Telenor Myanmar; Aung Thet Mann, a son of former top brass Thura Shwe Mann, and Pyae Phyo Tay Za, a son of arch-crony Tay Za.
IGE and hydropower projects
IGE operates at least five hydropower projects in partnership with companies from China, France, India and Thailand in Shan and Rakhine states. Local residents and civil society organizations have protested against those projects for their environmental and social impacts.
The projects are a 280-megawatt Upper Yeywa power plant on the Myitnge River in northern Shan State; a 1,200-megawatt Naung Pha Dam project on the Salween River; a 7,110-megawatt Mongton Dam hydropower project on the Salween River in southern Shan State between Mongton and Manpan towns; a 1,360-megawatt Hatgyi Dam project on the Salween River; and the Tha Htay Chaung hydropower project in Rakhine State.
Nay Aung and Yangon bus transport network
When the bus transport network system was reformed in Yangon under the NLD government, IGE established a subsidiary, Trans Link Public Co., in 2016. The subsidiary operates six bus lines. Than Win Swe and Thant Zin, who sit on the IGE’s BOD, are directors of the Trans Link Public Co.
Nay Aung’s interests in other businesses
Nay Aung has interests in a wide variety of businesses including hotels, banking and construction. Established in 2007, his Amara Hotel Company operates two hotels—Amara Hotel opened in 2009 and Grand Arama Hotel opened in 2014 in Naypyitaw.
In 2008, Nay Aung also founded Future Creator Group Construction Company (FCGC), which won contracts to build government projects in Naypyitaw including the Fountain Garden, Safari Park, and Space Museum, according to IGE’s Facebook. Nay Aung built one of current regime chief Min Aung Hlaing’s residences in Yangon. It is in Myat Khin Yeik Tha Lane on the shore of Inya Lake, near IGE’s Lotte Hotel.
According to IGE, FCGC was already engaged in the construction industry in 1996, even before the company was officially registered as FCGC. That was two years after Aung Thaung started his family business, Aung Yee Phyo Co., in 1994.
When private banks were allowed in 2010 under the previous military regime, Nay Aung established United Amara Bank.
The following year, Nay Aung established Amara Communication Company (AMS), which today partners with state-owned telecom operator MPT to produce and distribute top-up cards, according to IGE’s Facebook.
AMS operates 2600MHz wireless communications services in nine regions and states: Kachin, Kayah, Chin, Rakhine and Shan states and Mandalay, Yangon, Sagaing and Ayeyarwady regions. The project is worth over US$95 million.
Another IGE subsidiary, Muse Development Public Company, has also won a contract to conduct an environmental and social impact assessment for the Muse Economic Zone in Muse on the Myanmar-China border.
Gem mines owner Pyi Aung
Pyi Aung retired as a lieutenant-colonel from the Myanmar military. He is married to Nandar Aye, a daughter of former Vice-Senior General Maung Aye, deputy supremo of the previous military regime.
When he was vice-senior general, Maung Aye became chairman of the Trade Council, putting him in a position to deal with more businessmen and spread his influence in the business sector. He reportedly asked Aung Ko Win to open Kanbawza Bank to enable him to launder his ill-gotten wealth and help him make even greater profits.
It is fair to say Maung Aye is the godfather of arch cronies Aung Ko Win, the chairman of Kanbawza Group of Companies, and Tay Za, the chairman of Htoo Group of Companies. Aung Ko Win once admitted that Maung Aye paved the way for him to operate gems and jade mines.
So, it is fair to assume that Pyi Aung has received considerable benefits from his father-in-law as well as from his wife Nandar Aye’s connections. She was a student of the current regime’s Investment and Foreign Economic Relations Minister Kan Zaw when he served at the Yangon Institute of Economics as a professor, department head and rector. Prior to his current position, Kan Zaw was the National Planning and Economic Development Minister from 2012 to 2016.
Pyi Aung and his business partner Zaw Min Naing Oo established Two Horses Gems Co. in 1996 to mine jade in Myanmar’s jade mining hub of Hpakant in Kachin State. They run Green Strategic Mining Company to mine silicon in Shan State’s Namkham Township. Pyi Aung also owns another gems company known as Natural Green Gems Co. Ltd.
He also runs their family-owned business Aung Yee Phyo Co., as well as Myanmar Oceanic Resources Manufacturing Co., along with his two brothers.
Hotelier, power supplier Pyi Aung
Pyi Aung’s wife Nandar Aye is a director of Lone Ma Lay Group (Ngapali Beach Hotel) Company.
Pristine Hotel Group is the main business of Pyi Aung. The Pristine hotel chain includes Pristine Lotus Spa Resort in Inle Lake, Pristine Mermaid Resort in Ngapali Beach, Pristine Palace Resort (Bagan), and Pristine Chaung Thar Resort at Chaungtha Beach in Ayeyarwady Region.
Pyi Aung also runs Central Power Grid Co. and City Light Electricity Power Co. The latter supplies electricity in partnership with state-owned Yangon Electricity Supply Corporation.
Aye Mya Soe Co. owned by Pyi Aung and his wife, working hand in glove with authorities, seized many acres of land owned by local civilians in Maung Aye’s native Kantbalu, purportedly to grow teak. Following disputes with locals who protested against the land confiscation, the company filed lawsuits against villagers.
Recently, when cronies flocked to Naypyitaw in June to make cash donations to help build regime boss Min Aung Hlaing’s colossal statue, touted as the world’s tallest marble sitting-Buddha image, Moe Aung, Nay Aung and Pyi Aung were ranked among the top five donors with a collective contribution of over 512 million kyats.
