From Ranks to Riches: Myanmar’s New Generation of Corrupt Officers

Myanmar has been engulfed in relentless battles since the 2021 coup, decimating a military comprised mainly of recruits from impoverished backgrounds supplemented by conscripted youth. Soldiers from frontline battalions and support units alike are being killed or maimed in unprecedented numbers, while the families of missing personnel are routinely denied salaries and entitlements. They struggle to survive in silence. Yet, as rank‑and‑file troops endure hardship and horrors, Min Aung Hlaing’s protégés have grown rich, flaunting luxury lifestyles built on corruption and extortion.

Lieutenant‑Colonel Hlaing Min Htun exemplifies this system. Once an obscure officer, he rose rapidly to join the personal bodyguard team of Min Aung Hlaing. His future boss was commandant of the Defense Services Academy when Hlaing Min Htun entered with the 47th intake. He quickly gained favor, skipping the rigorous courses required for promotion and being elevated directly to lieutenant‑colonel—a rise rooted in patronage rather than merit.

After the coup leader installed himself as president in April, he rewarded Hlaing Min Htun with the post of deputy director at the President’s Office. The role has proven highly lucrative, allowing Hlaing Min Htun to demand bribes from ministries and businesspeople—sometimes a fixed percentage of project costs, sometimes tens of millions of kyats for a single document—in exchange for approvals or budget sign‑offs. His wife, Yadanar Soe Aung, from a similarly modest background, now parades handbags worth hundreds of thousands of kyats, drives luxury cars, and takes shopping trips to Thailand and Singapore. Together they run a silk-fabric boutique in Naypyitaw’s Thapyaygone, named “Hlaing Yadanar,” while frequenting upscale bars and clubs in Naypyitaw and Yangon, staying at luxury hotels, and traveling overseas.