The Son Of The Leader Of The Myanmar Military Regime Who Owns A Starred Resort On The Beach

JAKARTA - The COVID-19 pandemic, which has been going on for more than a year, has hit the tourism industry, which is one of Myanmar's mainstays, has been hit hard along with other economic activities.

The February 1 coup exacerbated this situation after the workers chose to strike as a form of resistance and opposition to the military coup. for that, the Myanmar military regime is trying to revive their tourism industry.

Last weekend, the Myanmar military regime held a ceremony for the relaunch of the Thousand Pagoda Country tourism program, state media reported as reported by Myanmar Now.

Held at Azura Beach Resort, one of the largest resorts in the Chaung Thar Beach area, Ayeyarwady region, the ceremony was attended by the Minister of Tourism of the Myanmar military regime, Maung Maung Ohn, said The Mirror newspaper.

Interestingly, this 3-star resort is the property of Aung Pyae Sone, the son of the leader of the Myanmar military regime, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. Judging from the website azura-beach-resort-chaungtha.booked.net, this resort has several categories of accommodation options with a total of 104 rooms.

Starting from Bungalow Sea View, Royal Azura, Family Azura, Grand Deluxe, and Deluxe Double or Twin Room. Equipped with a swimming pool, the location is on the lips of Chaung Thar Beach.

Earlier this month, the United States imposed sanctions on two children of Myanmar military regime leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, namely Aung Pyae Sone, and daughter Khin Thiri Thet Mon as well as their six businesses.

The sanctions are the United States' response to the repressive and brutal action of the Myanmar military regime against the February 1 anti-coup protesters, who until Tuesday, March 23, had killed at least 260 people.

But human rights groups say the move does not go far enough and have called for sanctions on all military-owned companies, as well as rules to force foreign oil and gas companies to stop financing the military regime.

Justice For Myanmar, a human rights activist group, has asked hotel booking sites to remove Azura Beach Resort from their list.

Since his father became commander-in-chief of Myanmar's military in 2011, Aung Pyae Sone has also founded companies in trading, medical equipment, construction, and entertainment.

He owns construction company Sky One as well as A&M Mahar, a health and wellness company that has obtained permits for foreign pharmaceutical companies to operate in Myanmar.

He was also granted permission to lease public land at People's Park in Yangon for well below its market value. Also, he reportedly paid less than 17 kyats per square foot for the land on which he runs the Yangon Restaurant and Yangon Gallery. Similar rents in the area cost nearly 4,000 kyats per square foot.

Aung Pyae Sone also runs the Kan Tharyar hospital near Inya Lake in Yangon and is reportedly the largest shareholder in telecommunications operator Mytel, a joint venture between the Myanmar military and Viettel owned by the Vietnamese army.

Myanmar Coup. The VOI editorial team continues to monitor the political situation in one of the ASEAN member countries. Casualties from civilians continue to fall. Readers can follow the news surrounding the Myanmar military coup by tapping on this link.