Thai govt must end complicity in the Myanmar junta’s crimes and stop awarding false legitimacy, says Justice for Myanmar

Mizzima Justice For Myanmar has condemned the Thai government’s decision to invite junta head and war criminal Min Aung Hlaing for an official visit, in a press release 3 August. Min Aung Hlaing, who is sanctioned by the USA, UK, EU, Canada and Australia, is due to visit Thailand on 6 and 7 August 6, where he is scheduled to meet Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul. Min Aung Hlaing is also scheduled to meet businesses from both countries through the Thai-Myanmar Business Council to promote trade and investment cooperation, threatening to deepen Thai corporate complicity with the illegal junta. Justice For Myanmar demands Thailand cut all sources of funds, arms and aviation fuel to the Myanmar junta and its militias, and hold them and their accomplices criminally accountable for their transnational and international criminal activities. Thailand must also stop awarding the junta false legitimacy. Justice For Myanmar warns businesses joining the planned discussions with Min Aung Hlaing that deals with the junta and its entities risk complicity in its war crimes and crimes against humanity, and exposure to international sanctions. Thailand’s military complicity Thailand is deepening its military engagement with a junta that is committing international crimes with total impunity, and risks complicity in those crimes. In June 2026, Thai and junta air forces held a secret expert meeting on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Myanmar, according to Justice For Myanmar sources. The Thai participants visited a Myanmar air force base and studied the junta’s use of Chinese CH-3 UAVs. In July 2025, the Thai air force held a meeting with the junta’s then air force chief and military general Htun Aung, offering the junta a place on its Air Force Sergeant Course and exchanges in research and development of UAVs. Htun Aung, who is sanctioned by the USA, UK, EU and Canada, was appointed the junta’s defence minister in April 2026. This air force cooperation continues as the Myanmar military has expanded its campaign of indiscriminate airstrikes across the country and its use of drone warfare. The UN has reported that junta airstrikes killed at least 982 civilians in 2025, a 53% increase compared with 2024. It was also the deadliest year for children since the attempted coup. The Thai navy has also intensified cooperation with the junta following its sham election held in December 2025 and January 2026. A Thai warship made a “goodwill” visit to Yangon at the end of March. Then in June, bilateral naval talks discussed “joint training opportunities”, according to a junta report. The junta’s navy is responsible for indiscriminate attacks that kill civilians, and for the arbitrary arrest of Rohingya. Thailand’s corporate complicity Revenues from natural gas exports to Thailand bankroll the junta’s international crimes. Thailand’s partially state-owned and publicly listed energy giant, PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP), operates the Yadana and Zawtika offshore gas projects and associated pipelines in partnership with the Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), which is illegally controlled by the junta. Gas produced by these projects is exported to Thailand and sold to PTTEP’s parent company, PTT Public Company Limited. MOGE is the single biggest source of foreign revenue for the junta, funding the aviation fuel and weapons it needs to wage its ongoing terror campaign. Despite intensifying international crimes committed by the junta, PTTEP has continued producing and even expanding its operations by drilling wells. Through their involvement in these projects, PTTEP, PTT and the Thai government are complicit in the junta’s war crimes and crimes against humanity. PTTEP’s pipeline companies in British Overseas Territories are also suspected of violating UK sanctions on Myanmar. PTTEP holds majority stakes in two joint ventures with MOGE, registered in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, that operate pipelines carrying gas from the Yadana and Zawtika projects to Thailand. We continue to call on Bermuda and Cayman Islands authorities to fully investigate PTTEP’s pipeline companies, and ensure accountability under UK sanctions, following legal submissions we made in April 2024. Thailand is also now a key financial hub for the junta’s military procurement. In 2024, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar identified Thailand as the junta’s leading source of military supplies purchased through the international banking system, following a sharp reduction in such transactions from Singapore. According to the Special Rapporteur, between the 2022 and 2023 financial years, exports of weapons and related materials from Thai-registered entities to the Myanmar military more than doubled to almost US$130 million. Thai companies are additionally involved in the junta’s aviation fuel supply chain, which has evolved after being targeted for sanctions. In 2023, two Thai-registered companies were exposed for procuring US$80 million in aviation fuel for the junta, through Thai banks. The junta depends on the supply of aviation fuel to sustain its aerial terror campaign. Thai banks also provide nostro accounts for state banks illegally under the junta’s control, giving the junta access to the international financial system. The junta is a transnational criminal actor The agenda for Min Aung Hlaing’s visit includes discussion on cyber scams. But if Thailand truly intends to eradicate cyber scams, it must target the junta itself as a root cause. The Myanmar military is at the centre of a web of criminal businesses and nurtures and harbours the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) (also known as Karen National Army), which is under Myanmar military command. Cyber scams have proliferated in Myanmar’s Myawaddy Township since the military’s attempted coup in February 2021. The Myanmar military and its militias profit from cyber scam operations in Myanmar, which help fund their commission of international crimes. While Justice For Myanmar welcomes reports that Thai authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Karen BGF commander Mote Thone (Mote Thun) over human trafficking, they should move swiftly to also pursue criminal proceedings against Saw Chit Thu (San Myint), Tin Win and other individuals from the junta and its militias responsible for transnational organised crime and human trafficking. Meanwhile, Min Aung Hlaing’s family and junta cronies have invested their ill-gotten assets in Thailand. A Justice For Myanmar investigation published in March 2026 found that members of Min Aung Hlaing’s family purchased a luxury property in Bangkok’s Issara Residence Rama 9 development for 98 million baht (nearly US$3 million) in 2022. The Thai government must urgently step up, investigate and prosecute those involved in the property purchase, including Min Aung Hlaing and his family members, seize their assets and cooperate with internatio