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Myanmar’s exiled civilian government held a meeting with the chair of the regional bloc ASEAN for the first time, amid mounting international pressure over the bloc’s engagement with the war-torn country’s military regime.
The virtual talks between delegates from the National Unity Government, or NUG, and Anwar Ibrahim, the Malaysian Prime Minister who also serves as the bloc’s chair, focused on Myanmar’s worsening humanitarian crisis, compounded by ongoing civil conflict as well as a recent devastating earthquake, according to the NUG.
“What we have said continuously is that we want ASEAN to simply recognize, accept and understand Myanmar’s reality. We think it’s a start,” Nay Bone Latt, the spokesperson for the NUG’s Prime Minister’s Office, told Radio Free Asia.
“We hope that more than this, the Myanmar people will be better understood and from this, we can probably come to create a good situation.”
Ibrahim also expressed hopeful views, calling the conversation “constructive.”
“Trust-building remains essential, and it is vital that this continues to be an ASEAN-led effort,” he said on his X social media account. “We will continue to engage all parties in support of peace, reconciliation and the well-being of the people of Myanmar.”
Ibrahim’s move is widely seen as an effort to balance or mitigate criticism following a separate in-person meeting on Thursday in Bangkok between him and junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, which was also attended by Thailand’s former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The leaders discussed aid by ASEAN in the aftermath of last month’s earthquake that killed more than 3,700 people in Myanmar, the country’s state-run broadcaster MRTV reported.
The ASEAN has played a frequent, though largely ineffective, role in trying to resolve Myanmar’s deepening civil war since the junta seized power in a 2021 coup.
In the aftermath of the coup, ASEAN put forward the Five-Point Consensus – a peace framework calling for an immediate end to violence, the delivery of humanitarian aid, the release of political prisoners, and inclusive dialogue involving all parties.
However, Myanmar’s junta has consistently defied these conditions while remaining a member of the bloc. As a result, ASEAN has barred the junta’s political representatives from its high-level summits but has stopped short of taking more forceful action.
Critics say the bloc’s principle of non-interference has rendered it powerless to hold the junta accountable, allowing the regime to prolong the conflict without consequence. Human rights groups and pro-democracy advocates have also accused ASEAN of legitimizing the military by continuing to engage with it diplomatically.
Several ceasefires – including China-brokered ones – have repeatedly collapsed, as fighting between the military and dozens of ethnic rebel groups and pro-democracy forces continues to rage across the country.
‘Step forward’
For Myanmar’s opposition groups, the meeting marks a rare and significant step forward, said China-based analyst Hla Kyaw Zaw.
“For ASEAN, this is the first time it has formally engaged with revolutionary forces,” she said. “Strangely, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing accepted this time that the ASEAN chairperson would meet with the NUG.”
Her remarks refer to Ibrahim’s statement that the junta did not object when he informed them of his plan to speak with representatives of the NUG – a shift in tone, given the junta’s previous stance.
Since the 2021 coup, the military regime has labeled the NUG and its allies as “terrorists” and has consistently opposed any international recognition or engagement with them.
Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by Taejun Kang.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Burmese.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Myanmar released almost 5,000 prisoners for its Buddhist New Year’s amnesty, including 13 foreigners, on Thursday, the junta announced on state-owned broadcaster MRTV.
But prominent political detainees – such as former State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi – remain behind bars or under house arrest. Suu Kyi has been held incommunicado since the early days of the 2021 coup, with her exact whereabouts still unknown.
Other key figures from Suu Kyi’s ousted government, many of whom face politically motivated charges, were also excluded from this year’s amnesty.
The junta’s annual amnesty is widely seen as a calculated political tool rather than a gesture of goodwill. By releasing select prisoners, the regime aims to project an image of leniency and normalcy to the international community. At the same time, it maintains tight control by excluding prominent political detainees and opposition figures, reinforcing its grip on power while attempting to deflect criticism over its ongoing human rights abuses.
“Many of those released were due to be freed in a few months anyway. These lists are compiled selectively to meet political goals,” said a Yangon-based lawyer, who declined to be named for security reasons, suggesting the amnesty was designed to serve strategic interests.
The junta also announced that some prisoners would have their sentences reduced to one-sixth, but explicitly excluded those convicted under a range of laws commonly used to target political opponents and resistance fighters. These include terrorism and unlawful association charges, as well as laws concerning explosives and firearms.
A political analyst, who also asked to remain unnamed with security concerns, noted that such exclusions disproportionately affect members of the pro-democracy movement, ethnic armed groups, and former National League for Democracy officials – effectively preserving the regime’s grip on its most vocal critics.
Several former politicians under the NLD, have died shortly after being released from prison, with their family members saying that they were denied healthcare for chronic conditions. Although junta leaders often grant amnesty to prisoners on public holidays, many are re-arrested just days later.
In some prisons, no political detainees were released at all, the advocacy group Political Prisoners Network Myanmar said in a statement Thursday.
The junta has been widely criticized for arresting citizens en masse for protests against its 2021 coup, speaking out against politicians online and other charges activists have claimed are trumped up and done through sham court trials. Similarly, the junta has arrested hundreds of members of the former civilian NLD administration ousted in the coup.
From 2021 to April 11, 2025, more than 22,100 people have been charged by the junta and of them, more than 10,700 have been sentenced, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by Taejun Kang.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Burmese.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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MAE SOT, Thailand – When Shwe Lin heard that an auditing firm was visiting the garment factory where she worked in the Thai border town of Mae Sot to inspect labor conditions there, she found it hard to feel hopeful.
The factory prepared pre-selected workers and exchanged rehearsed questions and answers with the auditing company, said the Burmese migrant worker, who requested an alias for her safety. She told Radio Free Asia that workers were forced to lie about factory policies about sick days, holidays and overtime. They’re also pressured to say that their employer pays for their legal documents such as their certificate of identity to stay in Thailand, work permit and health certificate when workers actually pay for that themselves – an outlay of about 5,500 Thai baht (US$160).
“Most of the information [given to the auditing company] here is incorrect,” said Shwe Lin, an older, outspoken garment worker who has been in Mae Sot for more than 20 years and is trusted by her coworkers.
Migrant workers and their families ride in the back of a truck in Samut Sakhon, Thailand, Jan. 4, 2021. (Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP)In many parts of Southeast Asia, where Western brands use third-party suppliers to produce garments and other goods, they rely on private “social auditing” companies to provide assessments on whether labor practices are ethical and socially responsible. This is in part a response to public pressure on brands to uphold human rights and environmental standards in their supply chain.
The exact number of such auditors operating in Thailand is unclear, but the Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand lists 30 of them.
Some labor advocates, however, contend that audits can be self-serving and overlook harsh conditions faced by workers.
“It’s essentially the industry policing itself,” said Dave Welsh, Myanmar country director of labor rights group, Solidarity Center.
“Social auditing companies do not work on behalf of unions, they work on behalf of brands and businesses covering up situations that very often, in my experience, are obviously illegal,” he told RFA.
Conflicts of interest
A 2022 report from Human Rights Watch found that social audits, while growing increasingly popular, were “riddled with conflicts of interest, loopholes, and other problems that render it an inadequate tool.”
Many of the workers in garment factories in Thailand are migrants from neighboring countries. In 2021, migrants made up about 1.2 million of garment workers and the number has likely risen significantly in the past four years. The influx of migrants into Thailand has only grown. According to the International Organization for Migration, 1.3 million Burmese entered the country in 2024, fleeing violent attacks from Myanmar’s military, forced conscription and rising joblessness.
People at an outdoor market frequented by Myanmar migrant workers in Samut Sakhon, Thailand, Jan. 26, 2025. (Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP)RFA has previously reported on factories hiring undocumented workers, paying them illegally low wages, keeping workers indebted and providing grossly inadequate housing or facilities. Activists say that these are the kind of abusive practices that should come to light in audits.
Intertek Testing Services Thailand, an auditing firm, has faced criticism from campaign and advocacy groups like U.K.-based Labour Behind the Label, which focuses on the clothing industry, and claims the company “allegedly failed to identify serious issues” at VK Garments factory in Mae Sot up until 2020, when workers took the factory to court in Thailand.
More than 130 former employees won their case against VK Garments for unpaid overtime and severance compensation, but say the amount awarded to them was inadequate. So they are appealing their case against the factory in Thailand’s Supreme Court.
The workers allege that they endured near-100 hour work weeks, unsafe housing where one employee’s child was raped, and were forced to purchase their own equipment, like lightbulbs, to sew at their stations after dark.
Myanmar migrant workers outside their accommodations in Samut Sakhon, Thailand, Jan. 26, 2025. (Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP)According to an associate lawyer for the workers, who requested anonymity to avoid potential retaliation from the accused parties, an audit conducted by Intertek was used as evidence in a 2020 court case to support VK Garments’ denial of any wrongdoing.
The Thailand office of Intertek Testing Services did not respond to an RFA request for comment. Calls to its U.K. office went unanswered.
Other companies have faced similar controversy. Sportswear giant Nike has been accused by both investors and human rights groups of hiding behind its audits as well.
In 2020, over 3,300 workers Thailand’s Hong Seng Knitting factory in Bangkok, which supplies Nike, were allegedly coerced into signing documentation stating they would voluntarily forgo legal wages, according to labor rights monitoring group Workers Rights Consortium. The workers allegedly faced retaliation if they did not. As of 2024, workers were collectively owed more than US $900,000, according to the group.
Nike cited a report done by auditing company Elevate to back up its position of no wrongdoing, but has not released the report to the public, the Consortium said in an investigation released in 2024.
Nike did not respond to RFA attempts to seek comment, nor did LRQA, which acquired Elevate in 2022.
In a 2021 report, the Business and Human Rights Resource Center, a U.K.-based non-profit, cited dozens of audits across Vietnam, Pakistan and Malaysia that similarly failed to detect safety hazards, forced labor and other violations.
Failings are routine
But workers like Shwe Lin and Arkar Kyaw, who have worked at garment factories in Mae Sot for more than three years, tell RFA that failings like this are routine.
Neither have ever been selected by management to speak with an auditor despite being outspoken about violations. They say they have seen auditors prevented from interviewing non-approved workers.
Aruna Kashyap, an associate director on corporate accountability at the Human Rights Watch, believes stricter due diligence laws may be one way to crack down corporate accountability in their supply chains.
“If governments introduce laws that regulate how businesses should conduct due diligence and how the entire system is scrutinized, then some of these problems will start to surface more,” Kashyap told RFA.
The European Union, for example, introduced a directive last year that would require companies with more than 1,000 employees and over 450 million euros in worldwide revenue to identify and mitigate the “adverse human rights and environmental” impacts of themselves or their partners, which may include suppliers. It may also require them to get contractual assurances from partners, such as factories in other parts of the world, to ensure human rights are being protected in labor practices.
European companies are among the major clients of Thailand’s garment factories, collaborating alongside American and Asian brands to source apparel and accessories from the region.
“Hopefully that level of scrutiny will change what not just brands and suppliers are doing, but the auditing industry as well,” Kashyap said.
Edited by Taejun Kang, Malcolm Foster and Mat Pennington.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Kiana Duncan for RFA.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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At the end of 1992 after the dissolution of powerful friend the Soviet Union, the Ho Chi Minh National Political Academy, a major organ of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) with responsibility for ensuring continued CPV rule, assigned its Institute of International Relations to study ASEAN countries and their political systems. When the report landed on the desks of CPV comrades they read that ASEAN governments were pro-West and anticommunist. But what came after was reassuring. ASEAN governments, the report stressed, are “determined to defend their ruling regimes, and refuse to share power with the people”. Moreover, the nation-building formula of the ASEAN states, consisting of an “export-oriented market economy, limited democracy, and even authoritarianism in some countries” was not in essence different to Vietnam’s. Having completed its homework, Vietnam joined ASEAN in 1995.
The spread of market Leninism from China into Vietnam and then Laos was a powerful emollient, helping bringing about peace in a region previously wracked by the bloodiest conflicts of the Cold War. It was a development warmly welcomed by Singaporean diplomats, who emphasised, in the words of senior diplomat S. R. Nathan, that “we were not anti-communist, we were non-communist”. Singapore’s elder statesman and former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew began to visit Vietnam frequently and remains revered there. Thailand, eager to bury the memory of its role in the Vietnam War as America’s staunchest ally, similarly leapt on the opportunity to bring the communist states into the fold, launching its “battlefields into market places” initiative.
These policies accelerated the emergence in Southeast Asia of what Nicole Jenne has called a “no war” community: a group of nations with relatively low expectations of interstate conflict, based on a pragmatic recognition that each has a low capacity for conventional warfare.
In a recent article for in Democratization, I argue that in mainland Southeast Asia, this “no war” community has been the foundation for something altogether less wholesome: an authoritarian security community, a group of contiguous states that collude in transnational repression and illicit cross-border business, and to share authoritarian governance techniques and mutually legitimise their authoritarian rule.
The authoritarian security community (ASC) theory offers an additional transnational mechanism for understanding, beyond domestic political explanations, why Southeast Asia has been part of the global decline in democracy.
While there is variation in how to characterise that decline, and how serious it is in historical terms, a turn away from liberal democratic forms of governance worldwide is one of the major contemporary trends in international politics. The decline comprises both a deterioration in democratic institutions and governance in established democracies and in what limited democratic practice exists in autocracies. These parallel trends are reflected in falling scores across a range of democracy rating indices such as the Freedom House Index, the Bertelsmann Transformation Index, and the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project. This decline is thought to have begun around 2006.
The decline of democracy has been significantly more serious in mainland Southeast Asia, compared with the maritime states. Between 2005 and 2023, the average score for among significant maritime Southeast Asian states (the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia) on V-Dem’s Deliberative Democracy Index declined by 9%. Over the same period, average scores across five mainland Southeast Asian states fell by 46%. A comparable maritime–mainland gap can be found in the democracy scores of the Bertelsmann Transformation Index: between 2006 to 2022 maritime Southeast Asian states slipped by 5%, while the analogous scores for the mainland states fell by 9%.
Looking more deeply into the trend data reveals that the scores for the two formal communist party-states, Laos and Vietnam, have remained relatively constant, albeit low. The states which have produced the falling regional-average scores are Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar. As the figure below shows, Thailand and Cambodia especially have evinced the greatest downward shifts, moving back towards the consistently low scores of their one-party neighbours since 2005.
Figure 1. The decline of democracy in mainland Southeast Asia 2000-2021.
The local sources of authoritarian learning
So what has happened in mainland Southeast Asia? Many might immediately hypothesise that close proximity to China offers an explanation. But caution is warranted before blaming China. China’s role as a “Black Knight” purveyor of authoritarianism is in fact considerably nuanced, and the scholarly literature is ambivalent. While one school of thought strongly argues that China wants a world in which authoritarian regimes are given greater respect and deference and is actively exporting a model to achieve this, another observes that it is pragmatic and regime-neutral in diplomatic practice.
The characterisation of China as a “passive Black Knight” makes sense of this apparent dichotomy. While China will shore up old autocratic friends, make knowledge about authoritarian governance available, seek to remould international institutions and hope its example wins adherents, it will not actively promote or foster regime change.
As a passive Black Knight, China certainly played a critical role in facilitating Cambodia’s transition from competitive to hegemonic authoritarianism after 2013. After a near election loss, Cambodia’s autocrat Hun Sen closed down democratic space, banned independent media and ultimately, in 2017, dissolved the main opposition party. To minimise delegitimising criticism from the West, and replace withdrawn foreign aid and assistance, he significantly strengthened relations with China, which boosted military and economic assistance.
But notions of a “China Model” exerting a powerful pull on Southeast Asian leaders need to be kept in perspective. Prayuth Chan-ocha’s junta government in Thailand largely used references to Xi Jinping’s “China model” to justify decisions already made—that is, instrumentally, in the same way Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban cited Russia, China, Turkey and Singapore as models to legitimise decisions of indigenous origin.
The survey evidence for Southeast Asian nations wishing to emulate China is also weak. In the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute’s annual State of Southeast Asia survey between 2020–2024, respondents who had stated they trusted China were offered the option of selecting “my country’s political culture and worldview are compatible with China’s” as the reason they trusted China. Over five years only an average of 16% from mainland Southeast Asian countries selected this option.
In fact, looking within Southeast Asia itself for transnational authoritarian flows provides equally persuasive evidence. As I noted that the outset, ASEAN has provided an inviting and indeed nurturing environment for authoritarian regimes. Beyond ensuring that domestic repression remains out-of-scope for discussion under ASEAN’s non-interference principle, Southeast Asian autocrats learn from each other.
Hun Sen confessed to emulating the ways in which Indonesia’s Golkar under Suharto, and Malaysia’s UMNO under Mahathir, had strengthened their regimes by forming strong patron–client relationships between the ruled and the rulers. Singapore, an economically successful authoritarian state, is another model for ASEAN states. Cambodia and Vietnam have all studied Singapore’s management of “rule of law”, which has frequently been a method of silencing critique. (Strikingly, so has China, establishing that the flow of authoritarian influence has not been only one way.)
This learning has also occurred within the Mekong community of states. In 2017, Hun Sen publicly exhorted Cambodia to examine Thai laws used in Thailand to dissolve political parties— and within a month the Cambodian parliament passed such amendments.
In actual fact, it is within mainland Southeast Asia that transnational authoritarianism has been most conspicuous, paralleling democracy’s more precipitous decline. Ample evidence suggests the later-joining Mekong members of ASEAN—Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam—have extended ASEAN’s illiberal practices to a new level of subregional collusion, linking up with founding member Thailand in the process.
The Mekong at the border tripoint of Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos (Photo: IUCNweb on Flickr)
Crime (for security forces) and punishment (for dissidents) across borders
Two phenomena illustrate this deeper level of illiberalism, and both are intrinsic to the notion of an authoritarian security community: transnational repression and cross-border kleptocratic networks. The authoritarian regimes of the Mainland Southeast Asian ASC perceive transnational spaces as potential sanctuaries for regime adversaries and sources of democratic contagion. As such, they are prepared to cooperate to shut this space down, even to the point of tolerating encroachments on their sovereignty.
Since at least 2014, Mekong security services been active in transnational repression, including the assassination, disappearance, rendition and detention of dissidents, opposition party members and journalists. The region rates with sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East as one of the world’s hotbeds of transnational repression.
In 2021, Thailand was in the top 10 of origin countries globally practising transnational repression, with at least 25 cases known to have occurred on Thai territory. Reciprocity has been evident. A Thai anti-monarchist was kidnapped and “disappeared” in Cambodia in 2020 . Conversely, multiple Cambodian dissidents seeking refuge were monitored and apprehended by Cambodian security services permitted to operate on Thai soil. Five Thai anti-monarchists disappeared or were murdered in Laos between 2016 and 2018; meanwhile, a Laos dissident disappeared in Thailand in 2019. Cooperation between Vietnamese and Cambodian security forces may have as also occurred, with Vietnamese activists in Cambodia attacked with acid in 2017. Vietnamese dissidents were handed to visiting officers from Vietnam’s security forces by the Thais.
Joint border committees have been facilitators of transnational repression. In 2018, Thailand’s then deputy prime minister Pravit Wongsawan and Cambodian defence minister Tea Banh hosted a Cambodian–Thai General Border Committee meeting. Banh then signed an agreement on the return of “fugitives” and “monitor individuals who escape the law by crossing the border”. After the Myanmar military’s 2021 coup, junta leader Minh Aung Hlaing agreed with Prayuth Chan-ocha that Thai police would arrest politicians from the former Myanmar government fleeing into Thai territory. These agreements made public what was already occurring informally and tacitly: security forces cooperating in the repression of dissidents beyond their borders.Related
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Turning to cross-border kleptocratic networks, the 2015 discovery of mass graves in Malaysia exposed a massive people-smuggling ring spanning Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia, trafficking mostly Rohingya people numbering in the tens of thousands annually. International outrage resultied in the Thai government appointing police major general Paween Pongsirin to head a police investigation.
Paween’s investigation found 115 alleged offenders, including four officers from Thailand’s Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) and a navy officer. One of the ISOC officers arrested, Major General Manas Kongpan, was of three-star rank. The arrests of military personnel displeased key figures in the Thai junta government, including Prayuth and Pravit, who organised for Paween to be sent to Thailand’s restive and violent Southern provinces where the trafficking networks were particularly strong.
Fearing for his life, Paween fled to Australia, with the Australian government granting asylum. In a statutory declaration, Paween wrote that the “people who are seeking to harm me are at the highest level of military, police and government in Thailand. They have shown that they do not hold themselves to the law or the rules of the country”.
The price paid for peace
Mainland Southeast Asia’s security forces catalyse cross-border networks that offer opportunities for personal financial gain, and stabilise authoritarian governance via transnational repression. There is a circular relationship between the cross-border kleptocratic networks and the authoritarian nature of the regimes: on the one hand it is the weak accountability and rule of law that offers opportunities for graft and illicit trade, on the other, the criminal conduct creates incentives for the maintenance of authoritarian rule, since any move to accountability or stronger rule of law is likely to expose the culpable actors. Criminal networks may reinforce, overlap with, or emerge from the security-oriented transnational networks, who frequently act with impunity, confident in the knowledge that the higher echelons of the regime will mostly protect them in order to maintain a visage of invulnerability and a citizenry too cowed to protest or resist the depredations.
Few would argue with the proposition that Southeast Asia’s peace is a good thing. But if the price of peace is deepening repression, questions are warranted.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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MAE SOT, Thailand – When Aung Hein Thant’s brother went to a hospital in Thailand following a serious head injury from a motorcycle accident, he faced an unexpected and troubling situation: the hospital required him to show his passport and pay a deposit of US$5,800 before providing treatment. Facing a series of delays, he ultimately died from his injuries.
“I thought at first everyone should have equal rights,” Aung Hein Thant told RFA Burmese, calling the hospital’s actions “discriminatory.”
Thailand’s constitution guarantees patients’ fundamental rights to medical care without discrimination on grounds such as nationality, status, social standing or the nature of their illness.
However, in a 2024 study by the International Organization for Migration, or IOM, 22% of respondents said that discrimination was a barrier to accessing healthcare, while 45% responded that cost was an obstacle.
Accommodations occupied by Myanmar migrant workers in Samut Sakhon, Thailand, Jan. 26, 2025. (Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP)The situation for Myanmar nationals has only grown more precarious since a 2021 military coup that has prompted an exodus to Thailand. Many have come to rely on Thai hospitals for medical support. The U.N. estimates that more than 4 million Myanmar nationals now live in Thailand, but labor activists put the number as high as 7 million.
Many remain undocumented. Those who choose to register through the junta-controlled Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok risk being identified as participants in anti-junta demonstrations, being denied documentation or facing conscription into the military back in Myanmar.
As a result, they are left without access to Thailand’s universal health insurance – and hospitals are left without any assurance that they can afford care.
As a result, patients from Myanmar are often required to provide a deposit before receiving medical treatment if they are unable to show documentation – even in emergencies, a researcher said.
“In the case of an emergency, if you don’t have your passport, it’s almost 90% certain you won’t receive the healthcare support you might need,” said Htet Khaing Min, a doctor who is researching healthcare access for migrants for the think tank and consultancy firm Shwetaungthagathu Reform Initiative Centre. Fees can range from a few thousand baht for outpatient services to as much as 300,000 Thai baht (US$8,700) for emergency treatment in private hospitals, he said.
“For a situation where a patient might need emergency treatment or [intensive] patient care, you definitely need to be able to give a deposit. Without a deposit, you won’t get it — it’s definite,” Htet Khaing Min told RFA.
Myanmar migrant workers walk to an outdoor market in Samut Sakhon, Thailand, Jan. 26, 2025. (Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP)The influx of migrants has also fueled rising discrimination from some Thais, both online and offline. Support groups say Myanmar nationals are increasingly seen as competitors for jobs and essential resources like healthcare.
Patients who can’t pay their bills
The IOM survey also found that around one-third of Myanmar migrant households in Thailand lack any form of health insurance. This leaves hospitals to shoulder the financial burden when undocumented patients cannot pay for treatment – sometimes prompting institutions to ignore legal guarantees and deny care.
An official at a private hospital in Bangkok, speaking on condition of anonymity due to fear of repercussions, confirmed that undocumented patients are often refused admission unless they have the proper documentation and health insurance.
“The hospital accepts patients under the Universal Coverage for Emergency Patients [UCEP] program, but only if they have identity documents and are not completely illegal,” the official told RFA.
Introduced in 2017, the UCEP policy guarantees emergency care at the nearest public or private hospital for the first 72 hours, with no deposit required.
A Thai-language infographic says “those with emergency critical illnesses have rights” and explains “Universal Coverage for Emergency Patients (UCEP).” (Thailand National Health Security Office)Still, hospitals that treat large numbers of uninsured or undocumented patients often operate at a loss. Some border hospitals report that up to 25% of inpatients and 50% of outpatients are unable to pay their bills, forcing the facilities to defer payments for medicine and other essential supplies while hoping for government assistance.
Some hospitals ask patients with diseases that are expensive and intensive to treat, such as HIV, tuberculosis or hepatitis, to go elsewhere if they’re undocumented and without insurance, said Nang Ei Lawnt Ying, the project manager of a grassroots insurance scheme, M-FUND.
The program, which works with 251 hospitals and clinics in Thailand, provides low-cost monthly insurance for which about 90,000 migrants have registered, easing the friction between Thai hospitals and Myanmar patients.
While many hospitals have committed to providing care to Myanmar nationals regardless of their ability to pay the bill, discrimination and an increased strain on Thailand’s healthcare system still contribute to problems between patients and hospitals, Htet Khaing Min said.
RFA journalist Pimuk Rakkanam in Bangkok contributed to this report. Edited by Taejun Kang, Mike Firn and Mat Pennington.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Kiana Duncan for RFA and RFA Burmese.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Myanmar’s junta bombed a monastery in the country’s northwest on Saturday, killing five people, including children, just one day before it publicly announced that a recent earthquake had destroyed almost 10,000 religious buildings across the country.
The airstrike in Tabayin township, Sagaing region, injured nine others and reduced a monastery to rubble, according to the Tabayin Brotherhood Organization, which supports displaced civilians.
“Around 1 p.m., a military plane opened fire on the monastery outside Kya Khat village,” a member of the organization said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to security risks. “Three child monks, one student and a civilian fleeing conflict were killed.”
Additional junta airstrikes on Sunday in Mindat township, Chin state – now under control of the Chin Brotherhood alliance – destroyed more buildings, including the Myoma Baptist Church, residents said.
The monastery in Kya Khat village, Tabayin Township, Sagaing Region, seen after it was bombed on April 12, 2025. (Tabayin Brotherhood Organization)The attack came amid ongoing clashes and aerial bombardments in Sagaing and Mandalay regions, which have been severely impacted both by conflict and the powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck on March 28. The disaster has so far claimed more than 3,600 lives and caused widespread structural damage, including the collapse of religious sites.
Yet, while the junta continues to launch airstrikes across the country – including on religious institutions – it released a report through state-run media the following day blaming the earthquake for widespread damage to sacred sites.
According to its figures, almost 10,000 religious buildings were destroyed, including over 5,000 stupas, 3,800 monasteries, 180 nunneries, 130 mosques, 50 churches, 26 Hindu temples and one Chinese temple.
Nearly 160 monks and 55 nuns were reported killed in the quake, with 177 others injured. In Mandalay’s Bone Oe village, three collapsed mosques reportedly killed 140 worshippers.
Despite the devastation, local communities have begun efforts to restore places of worship, though rebuilding requires approval from the very military responsible for much of the destruction.
The military previously announced that international aid groups who wanted to provide assistance to earthquake-hit areas of Myanmar must gain prior approval from junta authorities
“We, along with state authorities, will rebuild the mosque,” said Nay Zaw Aung, chairperson of the Amarapura-based Charity Social Action Association. “All of the earthquake-affected people will be happy that we will continue to actively participate in its reconstruction.”
Myanmar is home to a vast number of religious buildings, reflecting its rich cultural and religious heritage. While precise figures are challenging to calculate due to the country’s ongoing conflicts and limited access to comprehensive data, estimates suggest that there are over 50,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries across the country.
In addition to Buddhist sites, Myanmar also hosts numerous Christian churches, mosques, Hindu temples and other places of worship, particularly in regions with diverse ethnic and religious communities, although the exact numbers for these religious buildings are not available.
Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by Taejun Kang.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Burmese.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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As the United Nations called for $275 million in aid for quake-hit Myanmar, neighboring China pledged 1 billion yuan (US$137 million), eclipsing the offers from other international donors.
The 7.7-magnitude earthquake, which struck March 28, has killed more than 3,600 people and damaged critical infrastructure across the country of 55 million people. That includes the main rail line between the commercial center, Yangon, the military’s administrative capital, Naypyidaw, and the worst-hit major city of Mandalay. Electricity and clean water supplies have been impacted and thousands of buildings, including hospitals and schools, have been damaged or destroyed.
The U.N. on Thursday called for increased funding and an immediate ceasefire in Myanmar, which is reeling from four years of civil war after a military coup. It appealed for $275 million to aid those in affected regions.
China was one of the first countries to donate aid when the quake struck, sending the first batch of $13.9 million in emergency aid to its southern neighbor days after what was Myanmar’s worst temblor in decades.
On Thursday, China pledged an additional $137 million to provide food, medicines and prefabricated homes, as well as pay for medical, epidemic prevention and disaster assessment expert groups, its embassy in Myanmar said in a statement.
The U.S., which has traditionally taken the lead in disaster response in the Asia-Pacific region, initially pledged $2 million after President Donald Trump quickly vowed to assist. Washington has since increased its commitment to $9 million.
However, three US Agency for International Development (USAID) workers deployed as a rapid response team discovered after arriving in Myanmar that their jobs had been eliminated as part of the Trump administration’s cost-cutting measures.
India, Myanmar’s western neighbor, was quick to send a search and rescue team, medical personnel, and a military transport aircraft filled with disaster relief. It has sent a further four aircraft and four ships carrying relief materials, a special military medical unit and members of its disaster agency.
Australia has pledged at least $7 million, and South Korea announced it would provide $2 million in initial humanitarian aid through international organizations. Vietnam sent a team of more than 100 rescuers, medical staff and sniffer dogs. Thailand, Russia, Japan, and Singapore have also sent rescue teams.
OCHA, the U.N. agency coordinating the emergency disaster response by its international humanitarian partners, said that by April 4, 25 donors had pledged $93 million to the earthquake response.
China’s latest donation will more than double what has already been pledged. It comes ahead of a high-profile visit next week by its President Xi Jinping to Southeast Asia.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Ginny Stein for RFA.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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An insurgent army in northern Myanmar publicly executed five convicted criminals, including a Chinese citizen, residents told Radio Free Asia on Friday.
The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, is one of Shan state’s largest ethnic organizations. It has been fighting for territory since a military junta took power in a 2021 coup, and has largely administered its own justice in the territory, occasionally publicly executing criminals.
“One Chinese and four Burmese were shot at the airport, all five were given the death sentence,” said a Lashio resident, declining to be named for security reasons. “Another Myanmar citizen was sentenced to life in prison and the other Chinese man was also given a life sentence.”
Another Myanmar citizen was sentenced to death, but his execution has been suspended for two years, the resident said.
The group was arrested in 2023 on charges of murder, rape, robbery and burglary, residents said. All are between 30 and 60 years old and from Lashio and Hsenwi in Shan state and Mandalay region’s Mogok town.
According to the MNDAA’s legal system, the public is invited to witness executions.
The MNDAA has not released any information on whether the accused were given lawyers. RFA contacted the MNDAA’s communications official for more information, but there was no response.
Amidst frequent clashes, airstrikes, an increase in crime and a shortage of qualified personnel, several ethnic insurgent organizations have struggled to conduct court proceedings during the ongoing civil war. In Lashio, persistent airstrikes and a declining economy have led to looting of local businesses and homes.
On Dec. 5, the MNDAA accused 14 people in Laukkaing town of criminal charges, including murder, executing six of them.
Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by Mike Firn and Stephen Wright.
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SAGAING, Myanmar — One of the oldest monasteries in Mandalay was flattened after central Myanmar’s devastating 7.7 earthquake
Thirty-nine were killed when the 117-year-old Ma Soe Yein Monastery collapsed. Twelve buildings on site crumbled.
Video: In Myanmar, monks and nuns pay a heavy price The majority of those killed were inside a dormitory in the middle of an exam.
In the northern city of Sagaing, residents say lives have been lost due to the slow response to the quake.
A two-story residential nunnery in the city collapsed, killing 14 nuns and injured many others.
“There are 54 teachers in this school. 14 have passed away. 40 are still alive, said Daw Thinzari, a teacher’s aide, in an interview with Radio Free Asia.
“Out of the 40, three are injured. One lost a leg, another has been injured. The eldest is receiving treatment at Yangon General Hospital.”
Residents in Sagaing spoke of how they did what they could to help in the aftermath of the quake.
San San Wai choked up as she said, “I gave them food and water and everything they needed with all my love and kindness.”
Another resident told RFA, “If the military had reacted, we could have saved many lives.”
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Burmese.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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On Friday 28 March at 5:40pm in Australia, I received a Telegram message from my mother, back home in Yangon, in our family chat. She said “Hi”, and I responded back, “hello”. The next message was, “Big strong earthquake happening”, and immediately after, a text from my sister, asking “Did u guys feel that. 7.7”. I tried to call, to no avail. Subsequent messages assured me of their physical safety, but internet signals were incredibly weak, and there was no update on when, or if, electricity would come back; they would reach out once it did.
In the immediate aftermath, a cursory Google search yielded little more than a live seismic feed—no definitive headlines, no posts, merely the stark fact of an earthquake. Soon, friends from Myanmar began to check up on me, and I did the same. Hours after the tremor, bits of news began to circulate on platforms like Instagram and X/Twitter, where journalists, writers, and the diaspora rapidly disseminated emerging details. It was through these channels that I learned Bangkok had suffered damage: buildings had shaken, a skyscraper under construction had collapsed, and videos of construction workers falling to their deaths were in circulation.
Clarity about the quake and its epicenter in Myanmar, however, remained elusive. Early photos indicated that Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, rich in cultural significance and home to many of my peers, had been hit hard.
I can’t really think of a word besides cruel to describe the feeling of being aware of an unfolding catastrophe, poised to impact thousands, while at a vast distance with only fragments of information at hand. It was only the following day that more precise details emerged: the quake had struck along the Sagaing Fault—a tectonic boundary stretching over 1,200km through the heart of Myanmar. The regions of Sagaing and Mandalay bore the brunt of the impact. Entire buildings, mosques, schools and monasteries were gone. The Ava Bridge collapsed. Mandalay Palace was severely damaged. The official death toll has surpassed 3,000, with thousands more injured, dying.
By the end of the night, the first signs of grassroots relief began filtering through online platforms. Spring Development Bank—a digital neo-bank with a parallel mission of mobilising aid—launched a fundraiser for emergency supplies and assistance. Friends from Mandalay circulated names and contact details of restaurants and intact buildings opening their doors for those in need: offering rest, clean water, and warm food.
Amid the growing solidarity online, footage began to surface of civilians digging out the rubble with their bare hands due to the lack of equipment. Where was the official response? By 30 March, an update shared on X by journalist Hnin Zaw indicated the scale of abandonment: no international aid had reached Sagaing, and only two civilian volunteer groups were operating in the region. Together, they had recovered over 150 bodies in just two days. The smell of the unrecovered dead had begun to saturate the air.
Amid the devastation, the Myanmar junta issued an appeal for international assistance. The responses, primarily from Russia and China, along with later contributions from Southeast Asian nations such as the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia, were conspicuously concentrated in Naypyidaw, the capital, and limited areas in Mandalay. The junta-controlled distribution has been criticised by local observers as being more concerned with photo ops than saving lives, reflecting the regime’s fixation with projecting an image of control and authority.
The junta’s concern with self-preservation was made even clearer when it refused a 126-member Taiwanese search-and-rescue team (a gesture of fealty to China’s geopolitical sensitivities). It has also imposed aid restrictions in Sagaing: organisations hoping to take part in relief efforts had to send the authorities a list of volunteers and items, and only after approval are they permitted to go in. Warnings have circulated urging civilian volunteers to cease rescue operations after the 10pm curfew imposed by the junta. A social media post by Mediacorps’ Naung K and other reports on X shared that the regime has not hesitated to forcibly conscript those actively engaged in relief efforts past this time. The junta also continued military operations in rural villages in Sagaing and other locations mere hours after the quake, ignoring a proposed military pause put forward by the National Unity Government.
One of the earliest videos to circulate from Mandalay was of a sobbing son holding the hand of his lifeless mother who was caught underneath the rubble. He recited the Buddhist Dhamma for her peaceful transition to a better life. He told her, “trust in me, May (mother), naw. I will be a good boy, naw”. This is an English translation, to the best of my ability, which does not do it justice. He repeats, “Naw, May, naw”.
“Naw” in the Burmese language is characterized as an umbrella term, a quirk, to convey a sentiment somewhere across the spectrum of endearment, assurance, agreement, and a shared understanding of responsibility and solidarity. Mostly used at the end of sentences, I have heard the term “naw” more times than any other Burmese word in my life. For example, “sar lote” means, “Do your studies”, but everybody says, “sar lote, naw”. It can mean many things, from “I am reassuring you”, “I am warning you”, “I am disciplining you”, “I agree with you”, “I am reiterating my point”, “this is truth”, and so on.
Regardless of the context, it is always in conjunction with the sentiment, “I care about you”, or “You are meaningful to me”. But again, as I’m writing, I don’t think English fully captures it. Can you ever, really, translate “naw”, for all its variety and meaningfulness? The video was difficult to watch. My friends from Myanmar, who are studying here in Australia, had all sent each other variations of, “it’s so horrible, naw”, “take care naw”, “if you need anything, let me know, naw”, “We should do something, naw”.Related
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Anthropologically, “naw” functions as a microcosm of Burmese sociality. It is a linguistic device that compresses layers of meaning into a single syllable, evoking both intimacy and/or social regulation. In traditional Burmese society, where collectivism and mutual care form the social bedrock, such a term is indispensable. This is reminiscent of what Clifford Geertz identified as the “webs of significance” that culture weaves; here, “naw” binds individual expression to communal synergy. A reminder of significance in any capacity. In the case of the video, it is repeated with finality and acceptance. “Naw” goes back to what it always means, “I care for you”. “I love you”.
Pleading, pain, and loss are visceral processes. For a few minutes, “naw” allowed me to feel the man’s pain. As someone currently far away, from the only home I have known, I cannot describe how awfully harrowing and numbing it is to watch my people die from a screen in the ANU’s Chifley Library.
I cannot describe how awfully harrowing and numbing it is to know that the military junta has carried out airstrike after airstrike after the quake (and reportedly flouted its own, belated, temporary ceasefire announced shortly before regime leader Min Aung Hlaing travelled to Bangkok for a regional meeting). I cannot describe how awfully harrowing and numbing it is to go on social media, watch someone’s story describing the quake’s casualty rates, and be hit with a photo of a beach right after.
I cannot describe how harrowing and numbing it is to try and break down all of Myanmar’s various conflicts and complex history into something digestible so that, maybe, someone else will care too, and be involved in the fight, one way or another. Even then, I am one of the lucky ones. There is nothing I’ve done that warrants a better life than anyone else—I will never take that for granted. I am safe. I am alive. A lot of people are neither of those things.
This is my plea: if you are able, please head over to ANU Myanmar Students’ Association (ANUMSA) on Facebook and donate towards Myanmar’s Earthquake relief efforts. We are ensuring that every dollar goes directly towards supplies and communities that need it. We have already sent our first round of donations to CATS Association. The full statement is available here. Measures are taken to ensure full transparency, and you will be doing your part to ensure that more people will not needlessly die. Every contribution, no matter how small, is a step toward restoring hope and rebuilding a shattered nation. Do not forget us, naw.
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Junta restrictions on aid activities following central Myanmar’s devastating 7.7 earthquake have driven some to postpone aid efforts, despite many communities being in critical need of support, volunteers told Radio Free Asia.
Junta authorities have been accused of blocking search and rescue teams and aid groups from entering affected areas in Sagaing and Mandalay regions, as well as Shan state, by using security checkpoints and strict registration requirements.
“They [aid groups] can’t do anything. We’re very upset that those who could help are being treated like this. Now, it’s just the public looking out for each other,” said an official from a volunteer group in Mandalay assisting in earthquake recovery, declining to be named for fear of reprisals.
“This isn’t working for us, so we want to say that we have stopped.”
Myanmar’s March 28 earthquake killed more than 3,600 people and injured another 5,000, with 148 people still missing, the junta said in a statement published on Tuesday evening.
The earthquake coincided with violent clashes between insurgent groups and junta battalions that escalated in the years following the 2021 coup, causing the military to implement stricter policies around growing insurgent hotspots nationwide.
Another Mandalay-based group said they were being blocked from working by regional authorities after the junta’s Deputy Chairperson Maj. Gen. Soe Win announced that aid organizations needed to submit requests for prior approval.
Charity organizations are also required to deliver basic supplies through regional junta authorities, the junta’s Ministry of Public Health said in a statement published on Sunday, to the criticism of volunteers.
“If they want us to give it under them like they said, we can’t give anything at all. We’ll only donate if we can do it ourselves,” said an official from another volunteer organization, declining to be named for fear of reprisals.
More than 10 aid groups across Sagaing and Mandalay regions and Shan state told RFA that they would be forced to temporarily stop their relief efforts.
One Mandalay resident raised his concern that junta actions may undermine aid groups and cause international organizations to rescind their support for earthquake victims if supplies can’t make it to affected areas.
“My house collapsed. If I go to the community center for basic items I need, I can’t get them like normal because the officers stole them,” he said.
“The government hasn’t been supporting us at all, and I don’t know if any more charity will continue to come from them.”
The junta has not released any additional information on the restrictions.
It said on Saturday that it would prevent groups from entering the country for “negative purposes by exploiting the earthquake.”
International groups have urged the junta to loosen restrictions on entering earthquake-stricken areas to allow greater distribution of aid.
RFA called junta spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for more information on the restrictions, but he did not answer by the time of publication.
Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by Taejun Kang.
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A rebel army and allied forces near Myanmar’s northwestern border with India have seized towns that were previously under the junta control, sources told Radio Free Asia.
The Chin Brotherhood captured Chin state’s second largest town of Falam, located near the border of Mizoram state in India, according to residents.
The rebel group, which is comprised of six allied Chin insurgent armies, began attacks on Falam on Nov. 5, 2024 and seized the junta’s remaining Battalion 268 on Monday.
“We’re continuing clearance operations now,” said an official from the Chin Brotherhood, declining to be named for fear of reprisals. “Tomorrow and the following day, we’ll release details.”
More than 10,000 residents fled into India to avoid the clash, he added.
Separately, Indaw People’s Defense Force also seized control over the town of Indaw in northern Sagaing region, capturing prisoners of war during the battle, said a junta soldier, who declined to be identified for security reasons.
“The battle for the town has been ongoing since Aug. 16, they captured it today on April 7,” he said. “There were casualties on both sides and about 40 of our soldiers were taken prisoner.”
The group also seized heavy weapons, a cannon and ammunition, he added.
Indaw is located on the Mandalay-Myitkyina highway and is an entry point into Kachin state, making it strategically important, locals said.
Insurgent armies are present in six of nine townships in Chin state, including Paletwa, Matupi, Mindat, Kanpetlet and Tonzang.
The junta has not commented.
Calls to the junta spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun and Chin state’s spokesperson Aung Cho went unanswered.
According to data published by Myanmar Peace Monitor, a website that documents peace and conflict situations in Myanmar, insurgent groups have captured 95 towns nationwide.
On March 28, 2025, a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar, causing widespread devastation. As of Monday, the death toll has risen to 3,600, with over 5,000 injured and 160 still missing.
Amid rescue efforts, the junta announced a 20-day ceasefire on Wednesday, which was preceded by ceasefire offers from a major rebel group, the Arakan Army, and the exiled civilian National Unity Government, comprised of members of the democratic government ousted in a 2021 coup.
But the junta’s airstrikes and military checkpoints have hampered rescue efforts, residents told RFA.
The junta’s top military official said on Monday that international aid groups who want to provide assistance to earthquake-hit areas of Myanmar must gain prior approval from junta authorities.
Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by Taejun Kang.
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International aid groups who want to provide assistance to earthquake-hit areas of Myanmar must gain prior approval from junta authorities, said the military’s top official, as the death toll surpassed 3,500.
The 7.7 magnitude quake, which struck between Sagaing town and Mandalay city on March 28, left many people without food, clean water and shelter in Naypyidaw, Bago and Magway regions as well as Shan state.
Residents and international human rights groups have accused the junta, which seized power from the democratically-elected civilian administration in 2021, of hampering aid efforts and of exacerbating disaster by launching aerial attacks nationwide.
“Relief teams are not permitted to operate independently, regardless of other organizations,” the junta’s deputy prime minister Gen. Soe Win said in a speech published by the junta’s Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces.
“They must be entities that have obtained prior authorization, and a policy will be implemented to ensure that permission is granted only in cooperation with relevant officials,” he said adding the policy was necessary, as some organizations may “enter the country for negative purposes by exploiting the earthquake.”
At least 3,514 people are dead and another 4,809 injured, with 210 people still missing, junta authorities reported on Sunday night.
Junta soldiers have also enforced strict checks for groups entering Sagaing town in central Myanmar, which may cause the deaths of those desperately in need of urgent assistance, aid workers told Radio Free Asia.
“If the junta allows it, people are going to die, of course,” he said, adding that if international organizations, including the United Nations, are going to help, they need to be allowed entry on humanitarian grounds as fast as possible.
“It’s like us just sitting around and watching as people are being killed while they are still alive.”
Airstrikes continue
Residents across Magway, Sagaing and Mandalay region, as well as Shan state, have also reported attacks with heavy weapons on communities, which have killed seven people and injured seven more despite ceasefire agreements from both junta authorities and insurgent groups.
Junta soldiers attacked parts of Rakhine state, Bago and Ayeyarwady region from April 2 to 7 by land, sea and sky, the Arakan Army, or AA, said in a statement published on Saturday.
The AA controls 14 of 17 townships in Rakhine state, and has launched attacks in Chin state and into Ayeyarwady region, but has not seized junta strongholds in Rakhine’s capital of Sittwe or Kyaukpyu township with heavy Chinese infrastructure and investment.
In Kyaukpyu on April 2, junta troops fired near villages on the border of Pauktaw township with drone-operated bombs nearly 90 times, and fired up to 60 times with heavy weapons, the AA said.
In the following days, junta forces fired on villages in the township with fighter jets and ships dozens more times and bombed Sittwe township on Saturday, it said, adding that there was damage in the capital township but did provide further details.
The junta accused insurgent groups such as the AA of violating the ceasefire first.
“The AA arrived with soldiers in areas near Ayeyarwady and began shooting,” junta spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun said in a speech broadcast on a state-owned television channel.
Junta authorities previously stated that they would respond in kind to any shots fired by insurgent groups, he added, but did not comment on casualties or damage across Sittwe, Kyaukpyu or Pauktaw townships.
The AA and allied groups said they would continue to honor the ceasefire to assist those affected by the earthquake, but also stated that the group had captured a strategic base in western Bago region’s Nyaung Kyoe village on April 2.
Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by Teajun Kang and Mike Firn.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Burmese.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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A video has been circulated in Chinese-language social media posts that claim it shows a city in Myanmar after it was hit by a powerful earthquake in late March.
But the claim is false. According to an AI analysis tool and expert, the video is not footage of the real scene but instead AI-generated.
The video was shared on X on March 31, 2025.
“The tragic situation after the earthquake in Myanmar! People can’t help but ask, why Myanmar?” the caption of the video reads in part.
The 10-second video shows the aerial view that captures a devastated street below. Massive potholes scar the road’s surface, while buildings on either side stand in ruins, their structural materials scattered across the ground. At the far end of the street, smoke billows from an active fire.
Some Chinese social media users claimed that this video shows a city in Myanmar after it was hit by a powerful earthquake in late March. (Weibo and X)A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck near Mandalay, Myanmar, on March 28, causing widespread destruction. The disaster resulted in more than 3,500 fatalities and thousands of injuries.
The earthquake also affected neighboring countries, with significant tremors felt in Thailand and China.
Rescue and relief efforts have been severely hampered by ongoing heavy rains and the country’s ongoing civil conflict, complicating access to affected regions and the delivery of aid.
But the claim about the video showing a damaged Burmese city is false.
A closer look at the video shows it was credited to a TikTok user “@the.360.report”.
A search on the user’s account found that the user often published AI-generated videos.
A test using an AI-generated content detection tool from Hive found that the video was more than 95% likely to be AI-generated.
Results from the detection tool Hive show a more than 90% probability that the video was AI-generated. (Hive AI)Taiwanese cybersecurity expert Paul Liu told AFCL that the video contains several clear inconsistencies, which indicates that it was AI-generated.
Liu said the spread of flames across the sky and the concentration and uniformity of the smoke appear unnatural, while pedestrians on the street remain motionless throughout the video.
He added that there is a large pile of debris on the right side of the ground, which does not match the level of visible damage to the nearby buildings – an inconsistency commonly seen in AI-generated content.
Additionally, Liu pointed out that the spacing between the characters on the red signboard on the left-side building is uneven, another frequent issue found in generative content.
US support for Myanmar
The claim about the video is among several pieces of misinformation that emerged online following the earthquake.
A few days after the earthquake, a claim began circulating on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, alleging that the United States had provided no support to Myanmar, while China and Russia promptly dispatched rescue teams, medical personnel, and relief supplies.
A claim began circulating on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, alleging that the United States had provided no support to Myanmar, while China and Russia promptly dispatched rescue teams, medical personnel, and relief supplies. (Weibo and X)But this claim is also false.
U.S. President Donal Trump said on March 28 that the U.S. was going to help with the response to the earthquake in Myanmar.
Separately, U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce, said on the same day that its foreign aid department, USAID, maintained a team of disaster experts with the capacity to respond if disaster strikes, and these expert teams provided immediate assistance, including food and safe drinking water needed to save lives in the aftermath of a disaster.
The U.S. Embassy in Myanmar also announced on March 30 that the U.S. will provide up to US$2 million through Myanmar-based humanitarian assistance organizations to support earthquake-affected communities.
“A USAID emergency response team is deploying to Myanmar to identify the people’s most pressing needs, including emergency shelter, food, medical needs, and access to water,” it said.
Apart from this claim, a couple of photos emerged in social media posts with users claiming that they were taken after the earthquake in March.
A couple of photos emerged in social media posts with users claiming that they were taken after the earthquake in March. (X and Facebook)But a photo of a damaged road, which has been widely circulated in Burmese-language social media posts, was in fact taken 2011 in New Zealand.
A photo of a dog “helping” rescue efforts, which has been trending among Thai-speaking social media users, is a stock image created by Czech photographer Jaroslav Noska and has nothing to do with the latest earthquake.
Edited by Taejun Kang.
Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was established to counter disinformation in today’s complex media environment. We publish fact-checks, media-watches and in-depth reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers’ understanding of current affairs and public issues. If you like our content, you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X.
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Junta soldiers opened fire at a Chinese convoy of passenger vehicles carrying emergency supplies in northern Myanmar, the military chief admitted on Wednesday.
A nine-vehicle convoy with the Red Cross Society of China was travelling with supplies on Tuesday near Shan state’s Nawnghkio township when soldiers shot at them, said the junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun, as cited by Myanmar’s state-owned media.
The convoy was part of international rescue and aid efforts in response to the devastating 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck Myanmar on Friday, which has claimed more than 2,800 lives and left 4.600 injured, with figures expected to rise.
“There’s a security group near Ohmati village that was blocking the convoy,” he said. “From a distance of 100 meters, he pointed toward the sky and fired three shots.”
There were no injuries to the passengers or damage to their supplies, the spokesperson said, adding that the soldiers had not been informed about the convoy and that further investigations would be conducted.
The Chinese embassy in Yangon has not responded to Radio Free Asia’s request for comment.
Ming Aung Hlaing’s remarks came after the anti-junta force Ta’ang National Liberation Army, or TNLA, reported the incident, saying that the envoy would be escorted to Mandalay by their soldiers from that point forward.
Separately, TNLA, alongside three other allied groups, including the Arakan Army, declared a unilateral ceasefire to facilitate international humanitarian efforts.
The ceasefire, announced on Tuesday, is set to last for one month, during which the alliance pledged to refrain from offensive operations, engaging only in self-defense if necessary.
Similarly, the exiled civilian National Unity Government, comprised of members of the civilian administration ousted in a 2021 coup, declared a ceasefire shortly after the disaster.
But the junta rejected these proposals, with its chief accusing ethnic armed organizations of using the pause to regroup and conduct military training.
Responding to reports and witness accounts that the military continued operations – including airstrikes – that disrupted rescue efforts, the junta chief claimed they were only targeting “terrorist activities” by armed groups.
“Tatmadaw has not launched any attacks on the camps of ethnic armed groups but has only responded when attacked,” Min Aung Hlaing said, referring to the junta’s military. “The government has continuously kept the door open to meet and discuss with all ethnic armed organizations to make effective peace efforts.”
Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by Taejun Kang.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Burmese.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Digging with their bare hands, rescuers in Myanmar have pulled several trapped people to safety in the days following a devastating 7.7-magnitude earthquake, videos circulating on social media show.
In one, a cell phone video taken by two teenage girls, ages 13 and 16, shows them trapped with their 75-year-old grandmother in the cramped darkness of a collapsed apartment building in Mandalay, a city near the epicenter of Friday’s quake.
Video: ‘We’re trapped in here!’ 75-year-old woman and her two teenage granddaughters call for help “We’re trapped in here! We’re trapped in here!” one of them calls out desperately. One girl taps with something metallic on a concrete slab to signal to rescuers where they are.
Only the light of a mobile phone illuminates the claustrophobic scene. Briefly, we get a glimpse of the grandmother’s bloodied face.
Their cell phone signals reached residents, who worked feverishly to dig them out. Separate video footage shows a cluster of men lifting chunks of cement with their bare hands. “We’re ready to uncover them!” one shouts.
The final seconds of the footage shows the three being carried out of the rubble on stretchers on Sunday — a happy ending amid the gloom of the worst earthquake to hit Myanmar in decades.
The military-run country is ill-equipped to respond to the disaster. It is mired in a four-year civil war that has already displaced 3 million people.
So far, the quake has killed more than 3,000 people in Myanmar, according to the military junta that took power in a 2021 coup.
Video: 13-year-old rescued from collapsed monastery in Mandalay, Myanmar In another video, a 13-year-old girl named Pan Aye Chon is unearthed from the rubble of a collapsed monastery in Mandalay after three hours of digging by rescue workers.
While she survived the quake, family members say she’s heartbroken that many of her friends who were with her died.
When the shaking started midday Friday, the girl ran out of the monastery, but then turned around to go back to try to rescue her friends. Then part of the structure fell and trapped her, family members said.
Video: Woman rescued from building in Naypyidaw after Myanmar earthquake. In the capital, Naypyidaw, a 63-year-old woman was rescued from the rubble after being trapped for 91 hours, or nearly four days, Reuters reported.
Video showed orange uniform-clad rescuers in white helmets searching the partially collapsed remains of a building before the woman was carried out on a stretcher.
Reuters was able to confirm the location of the video as Naypyitaw from the buildings, the road layout and the entrance to the hospital, which matched satellite imagery of the area.
The date when the video was recorded could not be verified independently, Reuters said. However, a Myanmar Fire Services Department statement said the rescue took place on the morning of April 1.
Edited by Mat Pennington and Malcolm Foster
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Staff.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
