President Win Myint’s Naypyidaw home under surveillance; Thailand’s Foreign Minister visits Myanmar

President Win Myint’s home under surveillance

Sources close to the regime in Naypyidaw told DVB that over 30 security personnel, including soldiers and police, are stationed outside of President Win Myint’s family rental home, located in the capital’s Ottarathiri Township, and have been assigned to monitor activities outside since Sunday following his release from Bago Region’s Taungoo Prison in a Myanmar New Year amnesty on Friday.

A source in Naypyidaw told DVB on the condition of anonymity that Ye Moe, the Naypyidaw Council minister for security and border affairs, leads the operation. President Win Myint, 74, was sentenced to 14 years after being convicted of corruption and violating Section 130-A of the Penal Code, which alleges he “exerted influence” over the electoral body the Union Election Commission (UEC) during the 2020 elections, which were overturned during the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021.

A source close to the National League for Democracy (NLD) party told DVB that Win Myint was placed under house arrest and visitors must register with an identity verification technology implemented by the regime called the Personal Scrutinization and Monitoring System (PSMS). President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi were detained during the 2021 coup. Her 27-year sentence was reduced by one-sixth in the amnesty on April 17.

Thailand’s Foreign Minister visits Naypyidaw

Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow is in Naypyidaw today for the first official visit of a high-level diplomat from an Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) member state to Burma, since Min Aung Hlaing’s inauguration as president by a pro-military parliament on April 10 following highly controversial elections which ended on Jan. 25.

Nay Phone Latt, the National Unity Government (NUG) spokesperson, told DVB that visiting Naypyidaw doesn’t signal recognition for Min Aung Hlaing’s presidency by Bangkok. The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred to the amnesty granted to 4,514 prisoners on April 17 as “a positive step by the Myanmar government.” Sihasak congratulated Min Aung Hlaing on becoming president on April 3.

The Karen Community Organizations Worldwide, which represents an unknown number of Karen civil society groups globally, called on Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak to cancel his trip to Naypyidaw. Aung Thu Nyeen, an independent political analyst, told DVB that Thailand wants to revive border trade with Burma, via the Asia Highway in Karen State, as one of the main reasons behind Sihasak’s visit to Naypyidaw.