Myanmar’s military regime struggled harder to maintain a charade of normalcy this year as its territorial control shrank in the face of relentless resistance advances. Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing responded to losses on multiple fronts by ramping up his propaganda machine, offering empty promises and false narratives, even as two regional commands were overrun and his family’s corruption continued unabated.
Bikinis and bombs
In an ironic twist, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing decided to mark World Tourism Day on Sept. 27 by urging ministers and tourism agencies to “boost tourism services and disseminate true information about safe travel to destinations in Myanmar to travelers.”
Travel warnings issued by the governments of the United States, Britain, and other European countries tell a very different story. They have advised their citizens against visiting a nation engulfed in civil war.
The expanding war zone in Myanmar means tourist landmarks have been transformed into battlefields. In July, just two months before Min Aung Hlaing claimed travel was safe in Myanmar, his forces lost the internationally renowned Ngapali Beach in Rakhine State to the ethnic Arakan Army.
The façade of normalcy promoted by Min Aung Hlaing is contradicted by the loss of two regional command headquarters this year, in northern Shan State and Rakhine – defeats that are unprecedented in Myanmar military history. Since the 2021 coup, some 90 towns across the country have fallen into the hands of resistance forces.
Promised counteroffensive never arrives
When the junta chief finally emerged from his Naypyitaw fortress in August to visit Mandalay, he vowed to reclaim lost territories in Rakhine, Kachin and northern Shan State, repeating a promise he made on Armed Forces Day in March.
Just weeks later, the regime saw its Northeastern Command in the northern Shan State capital of Lashio, near the Chinese border, seized by ethnic armed organizations.
After China publicly confirmed its support for a regime that has killed thousands of civilians over three years, the junta ramped up its air campaign against resistance-held areas in ethnic states and central Myanmar, vowing to restore normalcy.
The air campaign failed to turn the tide, however, with the Arakan Army capturing Western Command headquarters in Rakhine’s Ann town earlier this month, and ethnic armed organizations and their allies advancing to claim more junta positions in Karen, Chin and Kachin states.
Far from restoring normalcy, the regime has suffered another year of territorial losses. The parallel civilian National Unity Government reported in August that the junta controlled fewer than 100 of the 350 towns in the country. Of the remaining 250, it said 75 had been captured by anti-regime groups, 105 were surrounded by anti-regime groups, 75 were being fought over, and 98 towns remained under regime control.
Forest of lies
As Myanmar’s self-appointed prime minister, Min Aung Hlaing is never short of innovative ideas – though most are patently absurd. When the junta boss showed up in Chuak on May 25, he arrived with a solution for a town that had just claimed the title of world’s hottest city with a temperature of 46.4 degrees Celsius (115.5F).
His idea was to build hollow pagodas and kill two birds with one stone: providing people with shade and simultaneously enabling them to make merit. He urged locals in the central Myanmar town to donate money to construct the heat-beating pagodas.
While in Chauk, he also highlighted his plan to grow trees in the village. Observers quickly dismissed the afforestation drive as just another of the dictator’s castles in the air, given that widescale logging has continued unchecked under the military regime.
Medical emergency
On a visit to the military’s two medical academies in June, Min Aung Hlaing told cadets to take pride in their institution, calling it one of the top academies of its kind in the world. He declined to mention exactly where the Defense Services Medical Academy (DSMA) stands in global university rankings – probably a wise move, since it appears to be unlisted.
Despite his claim, Min Aung Hlaing spurned the surgical excellence of the very same medical academy in 2022 when his granddaughter needed heart surgery. Instead, he handed the job to a pair of renowned surgeons from India, revealing his lack of trust in his own medics.
Addressing new graduates at the DSMA on December 18, he made no mention of global rankings or medical excellence. Instead, he dropped a bombshell by warning the new military doctors that they might have to fight alongside infantry units on the front lines. Who needs doctors anyway when soldiers are being killed and surrendering en masse on multiple fronts across Rakhine, Kachin, Karen and Chin states?
Keeping it in the family
During an interview with Russian media in Yangon on March 18, Min Aung Hlaing was asked what lessons he imparts to his children. His response may well be Myanmar’s funniest joke of 2024: the junta boss claimed to have taught his kids the values of hard work and honesty.
Despite officially earning a public servant’s salary, Min Aung Hlaing owns luxury mansions in affluent neighborhoods of Yangon, Naypyitaw, and Pyin Oo Lwin. His son, Aung Pyae Sone, and daughter, Khin Thiri Thet Mon, have also capitalized on their father’s power and connections, amassing wealth from ventures in pharmaceuticals, hospitals, construction, hotels, transportation, film production, entertainment, insurance, telecommunications, art galleries, restaurants, and sports facilities.
Aung Pyae Sone has profited handsomely from military-related projects, including arms procurement and uniform supply. Also, every soldier must take out life insurance with Aung Pyae Sone’s Aung Myint Moh Min Insurance Co, highlighting the greed of Min Aung Hlaing and his family.
The United States has blacklisted both Aung Pyae Sone and Khin Thiri Thet Mon, imposing sanctions on six of their companies.
To answer the Russian journalist’s question more accurately, Min Aung Hlaing has taught his children the short-cut to becoming top-tier cronies and exploiting their privileges for personal gain.
Artillery boast backfires
Min Aung Hlaing showered praise on the military’s artillery corps at its 75th-anniversary celebrations in Naypyitaw on Feb.3, saying he was proud of its ability to strike “enemy targets with total precision whenever and wherever necessary.”
By ‘enemy targets,’ he appears to mean civilian populations: his artillery corps has done little damage to anti-regime groups while wreaking death and destruction on civilians, homes, schools and hospitals over the past three years.
Meanwhile, the regime has lost around 90 towns plus two regional command headquarters – Northeastern Command in northern Shan State and Western Command in Rakhine. One can’t help but question the prowess of artillery forces that the junta boss is praising so highly.
During battles in northern Shan, Chin, Rakhine, and Karenni (Kayah) states, resistance forces have seized not only small arms and ammunition but also heavy artillery like howitzers from defeated junta bases. These weapons have now been turned against the junta.
In Rakhine, the ethnic Arakan Army (AA) used artillery seized from the regime to attack its Western Command headquarters in Ann Township, finally capturing it earlier this month.
Min Aung Hlaing must have been furious to see video released by the AA on Dec. 26 showing its fighters firing mortars and artillery to capture Western Command HQ. The social media clip was captioned “The enemy’s weapon is our weapon.”
Anti-regime groups have reason to be grateful to the artillery corps, which the junta boss proudly hailed as “a modern artillery force that stands tall among international peers.”
Propaganda shot down in flames
After the ethnic Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) announced its seizure of Mandalay Region’s Mogoke town in late July, with photos showing jubilant locals welcoming its troops to the world-renowned “Ruby Land,” the regime rushed to dismiss the event as choreographed propaganda. Meanwhile, reports of junta soldiers surrendering en masse across the border in northern Shan State’s Lashio were empty rumors, it said. Troops there were just “tactically regrouping”, junta spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun insisted.
Mogoke, located on the Mandalay- northern Shan border, has remained under TNLA control since the ethnic army captured it on July 24. Meanwhile, Lashio and its Northeastern Command fell in early August, just a few days after the regime’s information team dismissed the reports of surrender as rumors.
Perhaps a better title for the junta spokesman would be “liar-in-chief.”
Myanmar’s people have grown used to the yawning gap between junta propaganda and reality.
When the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) seized northern Shan’s Kunlong during the first phase of Operation 1027 in November last year, the regime claimed MNDAA troops had merely crept into the town to take photos. The regime quickly fell silent when the MNDAA issued images of its troops wandering in Kunlong’s junta battalion bases. The town remains under the control of the MNDAA.
‘Guardian of Buddhism’ kills monk
In what might just be the regime’s biggest blunder of 2024, its troops shot dead prominent Buddhist monk Sayadaw Bhaddanta Munindabhivamsa near Tada-U Airport in Mandalay Region on June 19 after his car failed to stop at a checkpoint. Junta officials immediately blamed the Bago abbot’s killing on anti-regime People’s Defense Forces (PDFs).
However, a monk traveling with Bhaddanta Munindabhivamsa witnessed the whole incident and bravely stepped forward to reveal the truth: it was junta soldiers who fired the shots. The bombshell left the junta floundering, forcing Min Aung Hlaing to issue a public apology in person.
As the military, which portrays itself as the guardian and promoter of Buddhism, faced widespread fury from monks and laypeople, influential pro-junta monk Sitagu Sayadaw swooped to the rescue, urging the monastic community to forgive and forget.
The junta’s fondness for deception is nothing new. Ever since the 2021 coup, the regime has spun a web of lies to everyone: deceiving the public about the country’s economy, deceiving soldiers and their families into thinking that junta positions had not fallen, and even assuring international tourists that Myanmar is a safe holiday destination. Meanwhile, junta leaders have patted themselves on the back for presiding over an illusion of normalcy built from a pack of lies.
Behind this flimsy façade lies a group of armed thugs with a penchant for propaganda, who falsely believe themselves to be valiant guardians of the nation.
Honors among thieves
In yet another big embarrassment for Min Aung Hlaing, his regime handed an honorary medal to a National League for Democracy (NLD) executive it was hunting over “terrorism” offences.
Following its 2021 coup, the military imprisoned NLD government leaders on fabricated charges and issued arrest warrants for those who managed to escape.
U Saw Hsan Win, an executive member of the NLD’s Paung Township chapter in Mon State, was among the latter. On Jan. 4, he was named among representatives honored for participating in the convention to draft the 2008 Constitution under the previous regime.
It was several days before the junta realized it had issued an arrest warrant for U Saw Hsan Win. It finally canceled the award four days later.
Seeking to portray himself as the head of a legitimate government, Min Aung Hlaing has abused the country’s honor system, showering awards on loyalists, potential supporters, artists, soldiers and police. The junta boss has handed out honorary titles and medals like candy since the coup, rendering them meaningless, with some awardees even receiving the same medal repeatedly.
Meanwhile, others had their hastily awarded honors rescinded by the regime. State Administration Council member Moe Myint Tun and Home Affairs Minister Soe Htut lost their titles after a corruption scandal. Actress Khine Thin Kyi, who starred in numerous propaganda films under the previous junta, was stripped of her Excellent Performance in Social Field (Second Class) medal after implying she was unhappy with the award from the regime.
Leading mighty military to brink of collapse
The military has been regarded as Myanmar’s strongest institution ever since the country gained independence in 1948, with history books penned by retired officers boasting about its victories over rebels in ethnic states.
But all that changed on Jan. 31 this year when Min Aung Hlaing moaned during a meeting of the National Defense and Security Council that his troops were being outgunned by ethnic forces with superior drone technology in northern Shan State.
For someone fond of boasting about his “modern Standard Army,” his admission was nothing short of disgraceful.
The Myanmar military has a massive advantage in terms of manpower and weaponry over the resistance groups it is fighting. It also enjoys total air superiority, being the only combatant in the civil war with an air force. As such, its ongoing military defeats raise serious questions about the competence of Min Aung Hlaing’s “Standard Army.”
The junta chief has tried to deceive the public by blaming losses in northern Shan State on Chinese support for ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) based along the border, implicitly portraying it as a foreign invasion.
That fiction fell flat when China publicly expressed its support for the regime, pressuring the EAOs to cease fighting immediately. Despite Beijing’s backing, the junta continues to suffer defeats in Karen and Chin states, as well as in Kachin, bordering China, and in Rakhine where it has lost a regional command. All this points to one conclusion: Min Aung Hlaing’s “Standard Army” is fundamentally flawed and toothless.
