More than four years after the Myanmar military’s attempted coup, companies across the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region continue to do business with the junta. They have provided the junta with a major source of revenue, as well as communications technology and aviation fuel.

These networks of corporate complicity have been essential to sustain the junta’s ongoing nationwide terror campaign, which involves indiscriminate air and artillery strikes, mass killings, the destructions of whole communities, mass arbitrary arrest, torture and the forced displacement of at least 3.5 million people.

Despite numerous companies cutting ties with the Myanmar military and the imposition of targeted sanctions, the companies featured here maintained business as usual with the junta. In some significant cases, these businesses are actually owned by ASEAN member states.

This goes against ASEAN’s claimed support for peace in Myanmar though its Five Point Consensus. ASEAN member states have not only failed to end the Myanmar military’s violence – they have allowed companies under their jurisdiction to fund and equip the military as its commits international crimes with total impunity.

Companies in the ASEAN region have helped the military generate revenue through its conglomerates, Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) and Myanma Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL), and through revenue from land controlled by the Myanmar army’s Office of the Quartermaster General. Since the coup attempt in 2021, companies in ASEAN have also financed the junta through business with state-owned enterprises illegally under junta control, such as Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), Myanma Timber Enterprise (MTE) and junta-controlled ministries.

This investigation details cases of corporate complicity from across the ASEAN region, focusing on the provision of funds, communications technology and aviation fuel to the junta. However, it is not a complete list and there are many more companies in the region that have done dirty deals with the junta. This investigation does not include arms brokers, which were the focus of an investigation we published in 2022 and detailed in reports by the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar in 2023 and 2024.

ASEAN governments have a duty to prevent companies in their jurisdiction from providing the junta with revenue, technology and aviation fuel, in line with their obligations under international law and norms. Yet, instead of taking steps to cut off the resources needed for the junta to continue its violence, ASEAN and its member states have largely turned a blind eye to business complicity, while providing false legitimacy to the junta and impeding effective international action.

Justice For Myanmar calls on companies in ASEAN to immediately cut the junta’s access to funds, arms, equipment, technology and aviation fuel. ASEAN governments must prevent continued corporate complicity.

ASEAN and its governments must support a Myanmar-led solution to solve the crisis.

Oil and gas fuelling atrocities

MOGE, the state-owned enterprise illegally seized by the junta through its 2021 coup attempt, is the junta’s single largest source of foreign revenue through fossil fuel sales.

MOGE has been sanctioned by the EU, while the US Treasury has issued a financial services directive against it.  

Despite this, oil and gas companies from Thailand and Singapore have been fuelling atrocities in Myanmar by producing oil and gas with the junta, as well as supplying the junta with the oil it needs to continue committing international crimes.

The junta-controlled oil and gas sector has been sustained by oilfield service providers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam that have continued operating in Myanmar since the military’s attempted coup, ensuring revenue keep flowing to the junta.

‍PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) and PTT
Thailand

Thailand’s partially state-owned oil giant PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP), which is publicly listed, operates two major offshore gas projects—Yadana and Zawtika— along with associated pipelines in partnership with MOGE, funding junta atrocities. Despite ongoing international crimes committed by the military, PTTEP has continued producing and even expanding its operations by drilling wells.

The Yadana gas project was formerly operated by France’s TotalEnergies until it withdrew in July 2022, at which point PTTEP took over as the operator. Chevron followed suit, divesting from the project in April 2024, and redistributing its interest to PTTEP and MOGE. These withdrawals increased PTTEP’s stake in the project to 63%.

Similarly, PTTEP operates the Zawtika gas project, where it holds an 80% controlling interest, with MOGE holding the remaining 20%.

The Yadana project has long been a lucrative source of revenue for the illegitimate junta through the sale of gas to PTT Public Company Limited, the parent company of PTTEP.

As the largest investor and operator of both the Yadana and Zawtika gas projects, Thailand’s PTTEP remains a key business partner of the illegal Myanmar junta. Through its involvement in these projects, PTTEP and PTT and its owner, the Thai government, are complicit in the junta’s war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Also see Justice For Myanmar February 2023 report: The international oilfield services companies supporting the Myanmar junta’s oil and gas industry.

‍Northern Gulf Petroleum
Thailand

In 2022, the Myanmar military junta appointed Gulf Petroleum Myanmar (GPM) as operator of the Yetagun gas project following the exit of the Malaysian state-owned oil company Petronas.

GPM is a private oil and gas company that is part of Thailand’s Northern Gulf Petroleum group. Northern Gulf Petroleum has a complex structure, with shell companies in Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, and Singapore - which are known corporate tax havens.

Northern Gulf Petroleum in Myanmar operates in partnership with the crony SMART Group of Companies, established under the former dictatorship to service the military controlled petroleum industry. The leadership of GPM includes Kyaw Kyaw Hlaing, chair and director of the SMART Group.

The Yetagun gas project was formerly operated by a consortium led by Petronas Carigali, along with Thailand’s PTTEP, Japan’s Nippon Oil Exploration (Myanmar), and MOGE. Nippon Oil Exploration (Myanmar) is jointly owned by JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration (a subsidiary of ENEOS Holdings), the Government of Japan, and Mitsubishi Corporation.

The selection of GPM as a successor implies that Petronas and its partners have not taken adequate measures to identify, prevent, mitigate and remedy the negative environmental and social impacts related to their withdrawal. The irresponsible divestment of Petronas and their partners will provide the Myanmar military junta with a continuing source of revenue, and heightens environmental risks from the decommissioning of the gas field, which is near depletion.
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Interra Resources
Singapore

Since the military’s illegal coup attempt, the Singapore-listed company Interra Resources has helped supply the junta with over three million barrels of oil, fuelling its ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity. The oil is worth over US$200 million.

Singapore-based Interra Resources Ltd owns 60% of one of the few companies still extracting oil from Myanmar’s onshore fields, Goldpetrol Joint Operating Company Inc., which operates the Chauk and Yenangyaung oil projects. The other 40% of Goldpetrol is owned by North Petroleum International Co. Ltd. North Petroleum International is a subsidiary of China North Industries Group Corporation (NORINCO), a Chinese state-owned arms conglomerate.

Between January 2021 and the end of 2024, Interra Resources reported more than US$72 million in revenues from Myanmar, according to data from Interra Resources’ annual reports.

Oil extracted by Goldpetrol is transferred to Myanma Petrochemical Enterprise (MPE), which controls the downstream petroleum sector and has responsibility for the refining, storage and distribution of domestically extracted petrochemical products, including aviation fuel, which the junta needs for its ongoing aerial attacks against civilians.

Also see Justice For Myanmar January 2025 report: The Singapore-listed company fuelling war crimes in Myanmar.

ENRA Group
Malaysia

ENRA Group Berhad is an oilfield services provider listed on the stock exchange of Malaysia. In September 2022, ENRA Group was awarded a contract by Gulf Petroleum Myanmar for condensate storage and offloading facilities for the Yetagun Project. The company deployed a vessel and buoy system to the Yetagun project until November 2023. The company’s 2024 annual report shows that Myanmar has accounted for the majority of the company’s revenue, 78% in 2023 and 82% in 2024. In 2024, that amounted to over US$5.5 million.

Uzma Group
Malaysia

Uzma Berhad is an oilfield service company listed on the stock exchange of Malaysia.

In May 2024, the company won a US$9.27 million contract from PTTEP for the provision of coiled tubing and pumping services for the Zawtika project. The contract was awarded to Uzma Group’s Thai subsidiary, MMSVS Group Holding Co. Ltd.

PetroVietnam
Vietnam

Vietnam National Industry - Energy Group (PetroVietnam) is a state-owned oil and gas conglomerate with three subsidiaries in Myanmar: PetroVietnam Overseas Exploration Operating; PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Service Corporation; and PetroVietnam Oil Corporation.

Another PetroVietnam subsidiary, PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PTSC) won a contract from POSCO International in June 2021 to build a steel jacket for a compression platform as part of Shwe Phase 3.  

PTSC has also directly supplied MOGE, shipping it a pressure hose reel in October 2022, according to shipping records seen by Justice For Myanmar.

In September 2021, Vietsepetro, a PetroVietnam joint venture with the Russian state-controlled Zarubezhneft, commenced construction of two rig bases for the Zawtika expansion project, under a contract with PTTEP.

In July 2022, PetroVietnam Coating JSC won a contract from PTTEP to coat a 9.5km marine pipeline in Myanmar.

Southern Petroleum Construction Joint Stock Company (AlphaECC)
Vietnam

AlphaECC is a steel fabricator that specialises in oilfield technical services. The company operates a joint venture in Myanmar, Alpha ECC (Myanmar) Private Ltd, together with Shwe Sandar Co. Ltd. and the Indian company Petro6 Engineering & Construction Pvt. Ltd.

Alpha ECC Myanmar has a contract with POSCO for the maintenance of the Shwe gas platform, which was extended for three years in 2023. The company also has a contract with PTTEP for engineering, prefabrication, installation and hook-up of flow-line for the Yadana project, which was active as of May 2025.

Destini Berhad
Malaysia

Destini Berhad is a Malaysian conglomerate operating in the oil and gas, engineering, manufacturing and defence industries listed on the Malaysian stock exchange. Its oilfield services subsidiary, Destini Oil Services, has an active presence in Myanmar, according to the company’s LinkedIn profile.

The company has won contracts from the Malaysian oil giant Petronas, and in 2018, won a US$5.2 million contract from POSCO International to provide tubular running services, according to a company announcement.

Staff from its subsidiary, Destini Oil Services, were active in Myanmar throughout 2021 and at least up to early 2022 providing services to POSCO International, according to a source with knowledge of the industry.

Muhibbah Engineering
Malaysia

Muhibbah Engineering (M) Berhad is an engineering company specialising in marine construction, including for the oil and gas sector. The company is listed on the stock exchange of Malaysia and has a branch office and a subsidiary in Myanmar.

In 2022, it completed an engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning contract for the Yetagun Acid Gas Removal Unit (AGRU) project, according to its annual report.

Advanced Offshore Services
Indonesia

PT. Advanced Offshore Services is a company that specialises in services for underwater projects in the oil and gas sector. From November 2022 to January 2023, the company was contracted by PT. Gunanusa Utama Fabricators for saturation diving services to support installation activities for PTTEP’s Zawtika project.

Federal International
Singapore

Federal International (2000) Ltd. is an oil industry services and procurement company listed on the Singapore Exchange. The company said in September 2021 that it signed a procurement agreement with the Indonesian firm PT. Gunanusa Utama Fabricators, which has a contract with PTTEP to build four wellhead platforms and associated pipelines for the expansion of the Zawtika gas project. The work was completed in February 2023.

Gunanusa Utama Fabricators
Indonesia

PT. Gunanusa is a fabricator of oil and gas platforms and was awarded a contract from PTTEP in March 2021 to build and install four wellhead platforms and pipelines for the expansion of the Zawtika project. The contract was worth US$300 million and completed in February 2023. As part of the project, it signed the above mentioned procurement agreement with Federal International.

Ben Line Agencies
Singapore

Ben Line Agencies (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. is a privately-owned international shipping and logistics corporation that has provided support vessels for the Shwe gas project following the military’s coup attempt, according to a Justice For Myanmar source with knowledge of the industry.  

It has a subsidiary in Myanmar and operates in Kyaukphyu, near the Shwe Gas field, as well as Magwe and Yangon.

Also see Justice For Myanmar February 2023 report: The international oilfield services companies supporting the Myanmar junta’s oil and gas industry.

Blood timber

Timber is another source of revenue for the Myanmar military junta through its illegal seizure of the state-owned Myanma Timber Enterprise (MTE) and Internal Revenue Department (IRD). MTE effectively controls the forestry industry and has sole responsibility for the sale of timber in Myanmar, auctioning logs for export. Through MTE, the junta takes a percentage of export revenue, while it collects tax on timber sales through IRD, which helps finance their atrocities.

As a result of MTE’s role in funding the junta, the enterprise has been sanctioned by the US, EU, UK and Canada.

Despite this, companies in Singapore have continued to operate in the timber industry in Myanmar.

Greenply Alkemal
Singapore

Greenply Alkemal (Singapore) Pte Ltd is a joint venture between the Singapore timber trader Alkemal Singapore Pte. Ltd. and Greenply Industries (Myanmar) Limited, which is an Indian publicly listed interior infrastructure manufacturer. The joint venture has a Myanmar subsidiary, Greenply Industries Myanmar Private Limited, which was active following the military’s coup attempt and is still registered on the Myanmar corporate registry.

Leaked MTE tender documents show that Greenply Industries won timber at auction at least eight times between October 2021 and February 2022. Leaked tax filings show the company exported more than US$1.3 million of kanyin (dipterocarpus alatus) face veneer from Myanmar in the last eleven months to March 2022.  

Natural Forest
Singapore

Natural Forest Pte Ltd is a Singapore based teak trading company with a Myanmar subsidiary, Solid Teak (Myanmar) Ltd., which was active following the military’s coup attempt and is still registered on the Myanmar corporate registry.

Leaked tax filings show that Solid Teak exported over US$9 million worth of timber between October 2021 and January 2023. Some of these exports used MV. Keng Tung, a ship owned by the military conglomerate Myanma Economic Holdings Limited through their subsidiary, Myanma Five Star Lines.

Valency International
Singapore

Valency International Pte. Ltd. is a Singapore commodity trading company. The company has a branch office and two subsidiaries in Myanmar, Myanmar Evergreen Gurjan Wood Company Limited, through Valency Usha Pte. Ltd., and Valfert Co. Ltd. that were active following the military’s coup attempt and are still registered on the Myanmar corporate registry.

Leaked MTE tender documents and tax filings show that Myanmar Evergreen Gurjan Wood participated in MTE timber auctions and won multiple lots in 2021 and 2022. Purchases from MTE in the 11 months to March 2022 amounted to US$1.37 million. Leaked tax filings show the company exported US$1.7 million in timber to Valency International in Singapore in the 15 months to June 2022.

Also see Justice For Myanmar January 2022 report: US companies imported nearly 1,600 tonnes of Myanmar teak, circumventing sanctions.

From land leases to war crimes

Real estate is a revenue stream for the junta that funds its atrocities and creates lucrative future assets. Long term land leases are typically negotiated through build-operate-transfer arrangements where the lessor takes back the land and the structures built on it at the end of the contract.

Many land leases with the military pre-date its February 2021 coup attempt, through agreements with the Myanmar Army’s Office of the Quartermaster General, which is sanctioned by the US, UK, EU and Canada, and with the military conglomerates MEC and MEHL, which are sanctioned by the US, UK, EU, Canada and Australia. Other land leases involve government ministries that were illegally seized by the junta, redirecting lease payments to the generals’ coffers.

Toseva
Singapore

Toseva Timber Pte. Ltd. is a timber wholesaler operating in Myanmar that has a land lease with the military conglomerate MEHL. According to a leaked MEHL document detailing land leases, dated December 2021, Toseva Timber pays an annual fee to the military conglomerate.

Established in 1987 by Tien-Shang Chou (also known as T.S. Chou), the family-run business is registered in Singapore. With over three decades of operations in Myanmar, Chou has been dubbed  “Myanmar King” by the banking community.

Toseva Timber has deep connections to Manaw Phyu, a timber trading company previously sanctioned by the EU under Myanmar’s previous military dictatorship. Manaw Phyu appears to share operations in Myanmar with Toseva, and is listed on the Toseva website as the location of its office in the country. Chou’s son, Chien-Hsiang Chou (also known as J.X. Chou), is listed as Toseva’s Director in corporate records and according to his LinkedIn profile, was appointed Managing Director of Manaw Phyu in 2019.

Krislite Group
Singapore

Krislite Group is a lighting distributor in Singapore led by Teo Cheng Sim and the developer of the New Strand Development on land leased from MEC.

According to data leaked from the Myanmar Investment Commission, New Strand Development has been approved to construct office and retail space, a hotel and serviced apartments at the military controlled Ahlone port. The 50-year lease on 1.366 acre of land directly lines the pockets of the Myanmar military and its generals. The project has involved two Krislite companies: Properties Outshine Pte. Ltd. in Singapore, struck off in 2024, and Lighting Specialist Co., Ltd., Krislite’s operational office in Myanmar.

Krislite has also worked on other military-linked projects in Myanmar, including the army museum, the MEC-linked Bago River Bridge and the Y Complex Project, on land leased from the Myanmar Army’s Office of the Quartermaster General.

Grand Ally Investments
Singapore

Grand Ally Investments Pte. Ltd. is the purchaser of the Golden City real estate development on land leased from the Myanmar Army’s Office of the Quartermaster General. The prime, mixed-use Yangon real estate project was developed by the Singapore-listed company Emerging Towns & Cities Singapore (ETC), which divested from Myanmar in 2024.

The sale comes after a February 2021 Justice For Myanmar report into ETC that exposed its payments to the Myanmar Army, which included a US$6.8 million “land use premium” and annual payments of US$2.8 million. Total payments to the army over the full 70 years would amount to US$191.1 million, according to an earlier Justice For Myanmar investigation.

Grand Ally Investments was established in February 2023 to purchase the Golden City project and is owned by key members of ETC who manage the Golden City project.

Allure Group
Thailand

Allure Group Company Limited is a Thai company involved in operating an illegal casino in Tachileik through the recently defunct Myanmar company, Myanmar Allure Company Limited.

In 1999, under the former military junta, Khin Maung Latt, in his role as the Director General of the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, signed a 30-year deal with the Thai-registered company Allure Group for a casino resort in Tachilek, a town bordering Thailand. Khin Maung Latt is the father of Myanmar military arms broker Dr Tun Min Latt, who benefitted from the deal, developing and operating an illegal casino with Upakit Pachariyangkun, a Thai businessperson and former Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs official.

The original agreement specified an annual lease payment to the military-controlled Directorate of Hotels and Tourism of US$120,000 or 6% of total gross revenue. In November 2017, the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, under the National League for Democracy, handed the casino to the Myanmar Army’s Office of the Quartermaster General, diverting the revenue away from the Union Budget, hidden from parliamentary scrutiny.

Thai authorities arrested Tun Min Latt on charges of organised crime, money laundering and drug trafficking in 2022, and a Thai court dropped the charges in January 2024. When Thai police arrested Tun Min Latt, police found documents belonging to the children of junta head and war criminal Min Aung Hlaing.

See Justice For Myanmar January 2023 report: Min Aung Hlaing’s family assets caught in Thai drug raid.

Myanmar Allure Group is associated with the Star Sapphire Group of Companies, which has close links to senior junta members.

See Justice For Myanmar April 2022 report: Star Sapphire companies funnelling arms and money to military.

Richy Regina
Thailand

Thai hotel, gaming and leisure company Richy Regina Co. Ltd. operates Myanmar Richy Regina Golf Club & Hotel on land leased from the Myanmar Army’s Office of the Quartermaster General through a build-operate-transfer agreement. The hotel is in Tachileik, a town in eastern Shan State bordering Thailand. While casinos are illegal in Myanmar, websites offering information on casinos advertise gambling tables and slot machines at Regina.

Pannarong Khunpitak, an alleged online gambling boss who is on the run, is a director of both Myanmar Allure and Richy Regina in Myanmar, connecting the two projects.

Kuok Group
Malaysia/Singapore

Kuok Group and its associated company, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, is behind the Sule Square real estate development on land leased from the Myanmar Army’s Office of the Quartermaster General.

In 1996, the Kuok Group, which operates through holding companies in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, signed the lease agreement for Sule Square with the Myanmar Army’s Office of the Quartermaster General—the same year the military brutally suppressed student democracy protests.

Sule Square officially opened in 2017, managed by the Bermuda-domiciled and Hong Kong stock exchange listed company, Shangri-La Asia, which also holds a majority stake in Traders Square Company Limited, the Myanmar company behind the development.

Neither Kuok Group, Shangri-La Asia nor the Myanmar Army have disclosed the terms of the land lease, but given the high value of the property, payments to the military could be substantial.

See Justice For Myanmar April 2021 report: Shangri-La financing crimes against humanity.‍‍

KT Pegu Development
Singapore

KT Pegu Development Pte. Ltd. is a Singapore subsidiary of the Myanmar crony conglomerate KT Group. It was awarded the rights to redevelop the Pegu Club on land leased from the Myanmar Army’s Office of the Quartermaster General, in partnership with MEC.

KT Group has multiple land leases with the Myanmar military and is also involved in military procurement. The group is led by Jonathan Myo Kyaw Thaung, who is sanctioned by the US.

See Justice For Myanmar December 2021 report: The Kyaw Thaung family’s business with the Myanmar military.
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Coastal International Terminals
Singapore

Coastal International Terminals Pte. Ltd. (formerly known as Adani International Terminals Pte. Ltd.) is a Singapore company established by the Indian corporation Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone to develop Ahlone International Port Terminal (2), a container terminal in Yangon through a lease with MEC.

The port development involved an upfront payment of US$90 million to MEC that was completed in 2019, according to company disclosures. A leaked Myanmar Investment Commission decision letter shows that the payment consisted of a rental fee of US$30 million, a land use premium of US$38 million and a “land clearance fee” of US$22 million, in addition to annual payments.

In 2023, Adani Ports sold its Myanmar port project to Solar Energy Limited, a company domiciled in the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla, Solar Energy Limited. The sale of this lucrative military asset was made through Singapore. Coastal International Terminals continues to operate in Singapore with the new owners, facilitating business with a brutal military.

See Australian Centre for International Justice and Justice For Myanmar March 2021 report: Port of Complicity: Adani in Myanmar.

Also see Justice For Myanmar March 2023 report: Adani Group’s deepening complicity with the Myanmar junta.
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MAMEE-Double Decker
Malaysia

Malaysia’s MAMEE-Double Decker operates a manufacturing facility in the Pyinmabin industrial zone, leasing land from MEHL. The industrial zone, situated on the western outskirts of Yangon, is a project of MEHL, providing a stream of revenue to its shareholders, which include war criminals and military units committing international crimes.

The factory producing instant noodles among other food was founded in 1997 as a joint-venture under a build-operate-transfer agreement between MAMEE-Double Decker and MEHL. Leaked documents from December 2021 indicate that MAMEE-Double Decker pays MEHL for its use of land.

The Melaka-based snack brand started by Pang Chin Hin is a household name in Malaysia that has grown to export instant noodles, Mister Potato crisps and other products to over 80 countries.

Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group
Thailand

Myanmar C.P. Livestock (MCPL), a subsidiary of Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group), operates an animal feed mill located in the Pyinmabin Industrial Zone, controlled by MEHL on land leased from a junta controlled ministry. Founded in 1997, MCPL is a major agro-industry and food business in Myanmar. The mill was built with a US$19.49 million investment on 27.3 acres of industrial land, leased for 50 years with the option to renew twice for 10 years each.

In September 2024, ASEAN selected MCPL for an award alongside the military owned Dagon Beverages. The nomination for the award was made by the junta’s Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population.

CP Group has previously been accused of using slave labour in its prawn supply chain, which include workers from Myanmar.

Truong Hai Group Corporation (THACO)
Vietnam

Vietnamese automobile conglomerate Truong Hai Group Corporation (THACO) operates the Myanmar Centre Complex on over 18 acres of prime land leased from the Ministry of Hotels & Tourism, which is illegally controlled by the junta.

In 2019, THACO acquired Hoang Anh Gia Lai Myanmar Company Limited (HAGL Myanmar), the developer behind the more than US$700 million Myanmar Centre venture which includes a 5-star hotel, apartments and a major shopping mall. The project is expected to bring in US$110 million in revenue upon completion.

The complex’s mall, Myanmar Plaza, faced months of boycotts following the military’s coup attempt as recordings of young protesters being beaten by the shopping mall security guards for staging a protest went viral on social media.

Yoma Group
Singapore

Yoma Group, which was led by Serge Pun until 2024, is a Myanmar crony company operating in the real estate, food and beverage, leasing and finance sectors. Its company, Yoma Strategic Holdings Ltd, is registered in Singapore and listed on the Singapore stock exchange. Through the Meeyahta Development Limited consortium, Yoma Strategic Holdings is the lead developer of the Yoma Central project, on land leased from the Ministry of Transport and Communications, which is illegally controlled by the junta. While construction was suspended on the Yoma Central project after the military’s coup attempt, the company announced plans to resume construction in 2023.

Ayala Corporation, a holding company founded in the Philippines, invested up to US$237.5 million for a 20% stake in each of Yoma Group’s companies, Yoma Strategic Holdings and the linked First Myanmar Investment (FMI), which owns Yoma Bank. Yoma is a private Myanmar bank that transacts with MEC and has loaned funds to a company of Khin Thiri Thet Mon, the daughter of junta head Min Aung Hlaing. Ayala’s investment is the largest ever made to Myanmar by a Philippine company, according to a press release announcing the partnership. This also makes Ayala complicit in Yoma Strategic Holdings’ land lease payments to the junta.

Drinking with complicity

Through its illegal coup attempt, the Myanmar military seized the Internal Revenue Department (IRD), funneling tax payments to finance its ongoing campaign of terror.

Large companies subject to Special Goods Tax, such as those in the alcoholic beverages sector, pay significant amounts of tax to the illegal junta. Tax payments should not be paid to the junta in accordance with Pillar Three of the investment guidance of the legitimate National Unity Government: “Withhold payment of all taxes and other fiscal obligations to military-controlled authorities and instead discharge such payments to an escrow account.”

‍ThaiBev
Thailand and Singapore

Thailand’s Thailand Beverage Public Company (ThaiBev), which is publicly listed on the Singapore stock exchange, is paying huge sums of tax to the illegal junta for their drink businesses, according to leaked documents released by Distributed Denial of Secrets. ThaiBev controls Grand Royal Group, which produces Grand Royal whiskies, Royal Special gin and vodka, and bottles MacArthur’s, a blend of whiskies imported from Scotland, and Fraser & Neave which produces Chang Beer.

ThaiBev and its subsidiaries pay substantial taxes to the junta, including a 60% Specific Goods Tax (SGT) on beer and variable rates on spirits. In the fourth quarter of 2021, ThaiBev’s Myanmar subsidiary paid over US$14 million in SGT alone.

See Justice For Myanmar April 2023 report: Heineken, Carlsberg and ThaiBev pay tens of millions of dollars in tax to Myanmar junta.

Communications technology wired for control

The Myanmar junta is building a digital dictatorship as part of its nationwide terror campaign, deploying communications technology for surveillance and widespread censorship. It relies on a network of companies in ASEAN member countries to equip the military with its combat communications needs and to facilitate surveillance.

Viettel Global Investment
Vietnam

Mytel, Myanmar’s newest national mobile operator, trades under the name Telecom International Myanmar Co. Ltd., a joint venture between MEC, Viettel Global Investment JSC (owned by Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defence) and Myanmar National Telecom Holdings, an investment vehicle for Myanmar cronies. It is a key pillar in the Myanmar military’s business network, providing generals with access to a lucrative revenue stream, advanced technology and surveillance capabilities.

Mytel is incredibly lucrative. Justice For Myanmar estimates that the Myanmar military is projected to earn more than US$700 million from Mytel within its first 15 years.

See Justice For Myanmar March 2021 report: How hundreds of millions of dollars from Mytel subscribers will flow to military generals.

Also see Justice For Myanmar June 2022 report: Leaking military secrets for profit.

In June 2023, the Myanmar military introduced online sales of the long-running state-run Aung Bar Lay Lottery system in partnership with Mytel. The launch event was attended by junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, alongside several junta ministers and cronies.

The Aung Bar Lay application allows players to check results for the Myanmar-junta’s monthly lottery, which is operated by the Internal Revenue Department under the military junta’s Ministry of Planning and Finance. Mytel won the tender to develop and manage the new online lottery ticket system, another source of revenue for the military.

The move to digitise the lottery followed a public boycott, which had led to a decline in revenues from lottery ticket sales.

OSB Investment and Technology
Vietnam

Vietnam has played a significant role in supplying satellite communications equipment to Myanmar’s military, even after its illegal coup attempt. Through leaked and publicly available evidence, Justice For Myanmar revealed that Vietnamese company OSB Investment and Technology JSC (“OSB”) has been involved in brokering key transactions.

OSB, which claims to be a leader in defence communications with its own research and development program, partnered with the Myanmar arms broker company Terabit Wave Company Limited, a subsidiary of the crony A1 Group of Companies. Together, they operate a joint venture in Myanmar called Com & Com Company Limited, which provides military and civilian satellite services, including maintenance of German satellite communications company ND SatCom’s equipment for the Myanmar Army.

After Myanmar’s military coup attempt, satellite communications equipment, including German ND SatCom satellite modems, were shipped from Vietnam to the Myanmar Army’s Directorate of Procurement. These shipments were brokered through Terabit Wave and OSB, further entrenching Vietnamese involvement in Myanmar military communications, Justice For Myanmar has found.

Additionally, Interspace Engineering Service Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based company owned by Nguyen Hong Son—the co-founder, chairperson, and CEO of OSB, played a role in supplying ND SatCom equipment to the Myanmar military, according to documents leaked to Justice For Myanmar.

Also see Justice For Myanmar December 2020 report: Nodes of corruption, lines of abuse.

Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT)
Vietnam

VNPT is a Vietnamese state-owned enterprise that has been providing satellite services directly to the Myanmar military. In 2014, Myanmar-based private arms broker company Terabit Wave signed a memorandum of understanding with VNPT to provide the Myanmar Army’s Directorate of Signals with access to Vinasat-2 satellite capacity. The contract between Terabit Wave and the army was renewed annually.

VNPT has also provided sattelite services to Mytel through Com & Com.

Also see Justice For Myanmar December 2020 report: Nodes of corruption, lines of abuse.
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Mascots Group and its associates
Thailand

Mascots Group and companies in its network have played a significant role in facilitating the transfers of military equipment and technology to the Myanmar military since the coup attempt in February 2021.

Mascots Technologies Co. Ltd. in Myanmar is a registered supplier of the Myanmar military’s Directorate of Procurement and is involved in the brokering of surveillance technology from China. In 2024, Mascots Group opened a company in Thailand with the same name, suggesting they will use Thailand as a base for military procurement.

Mascots Group also has one other Thai company in its network, Astronica Co. Ltd., established in April 2022, and both companies have been named by the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar in relation to military procurement.

Also see Justice For Myanmar June 2024 report: The Myanmar junta's partners in digital surveillance and censorship.

OCK Group
Malaysia

OCK Group Berhad is a Malaysian publicly listed telecommunications infrastructure company that leases towers to Mytel. In Myanmar, OCK Group formed a partnership with King Royal Technologies, a Myanmar military arms broker that has since been sanctioned by the UK, according to a Justice For Myanmar investigation.

By providing services to Mytel, OCK Group is transacting with and enabling a military company and faces risks that its infrastructure could be used for military purposes within the Myanmar military's communications network.

Axiata Group
Malaysia

Axiata Group Berhad is a Malaysian publicly listed telecommunications infrastructure company that provides tower services to mobile operators in Myanmar, including Mytel, through its subsidiary, EDOTCO Group. According to information from the Viettel Construction Myanmar data breach reported previously by Justice For Myanmar, EDOTCO leases towers to Mytel.

By providing services to Mytel, Axiata is transacting with and enabling a military company and faces risks that its infrastructure could be used for military purposes within the Myanmar military's communications network.

Axiata is currently in the process of selling its Myanmar investment through its Singapore subsidiary, EDOTCO Investments Singapore (formerly Digicel Asia Holdings). The company expects to complete the sale in June, and is not disclosing the identity of the buyer, raising serious transparency concerns.

Banking on terror

The junta relies on banks in ASEAN countries to facilitate transactions for the procurement of arms, dual use goods, technology and aviation fuel, which enable its ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity. International banks, many of which have continued to provide nostro accounts for junta-controlled banks, sustain these international crimes. Some banks also finance military companies and provide services to cronies that provide funds and arms to the junta.

Ho Chi Minh City Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank (HDBank)
Vietnam

HDBank is a major Vietnamese bank that has opened a representative office in Myanmar. HD Bank provides loans to Mytel, financing MEC's telecoms network that funds the military and boosts its surveillance capabilities. The bank signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement with Mytel in 2019 for “providing credit and other services”.

The loans and financial services provided by HDBank to Mytel are significant as Mytel is directly complicit in the Myanmar military’s international crimes.

Also see Justice For Myanmar December 2020 report: Nodes of corruption, lines of abuse. ‍

Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV)
Vietnam

BIDV is a major Vietnamese bank that finances Mytel—including through their direct operations in Myanmar and has signed a comprehensive partnership agreement with Viettel to offer credit and financial services, including for Mytel.

Records released by Distributed Denial of Secrets show at least 18 transactions between BIDV and Mytel following the Myanmar military’s coup attempt, including payments to MEC and its subsidiaries.

The loans and financial services provided by BIDV to Mytel are significant as Mytel directly supports the Myanmar military’s international crimes.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC)
Singapore

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (OCBC) is a major, publicly listed Singapore bank with a branch in Myanmar. According to the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar's June 2024 report, OCBC holds nostro accounts for state banks illegally under junta control, namely the Canadian sanctioned Myanma Economic Bank (MEB), and the US, Canadian and Australian sanctioned Myanma Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB) and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank (MICB). The junta uses those banks to facilitate military procurement.

OCBC has also provided services to Myanmar cronies and arms brokers, including Star Sapphire Group of Companies and Htoo Group, according to Justice For Myanmar sources.

DBS Bank
Singapore

DBS Bank Limited (DBS) is a publicly listed Singapore bank that was originally founded by the Singapore government and is partially state-owned. The bank has a representative office in Myanmar.

According to the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, DBS Bank has continued to hold nostro accounts for state banks illegally under junta control, namely MEB, MFTB and MICB. The junta uses those banks to facilitate military procurement.

Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank)
Malaysia

Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank) is a major Malaysian bank with a branch office in Myanmar. According to the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar's June 2024 report, Maybank has continued to hold nostro accounts for MFTB and MICB. The junta uses those banks to facilitate military procurement.

The Special Rapporteur found that the junta was using Malaysian banks for military procurement and that the amount had decreased from over US$5 million in the 2022 financial year to under US$1 million in the 2023 financial year.

Maybank’s apparent lack of action contrasts with CIMB, which confirmed to the UN Special Rapporteur that it had stopped providing accounts for junta controlled banks in early 2023.

Krungthai Bank
Thailand

Krungthai Bank Public Company Limited (KTB) is a Thai publicly listed bank with a representative office in Myanmar. According to the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar's June 2024 report, KTB has continued to hold nostro accounts for state banks illegally under junta control, namely MFTB and MEB. The junta uses those banks to facilitate military procurement.

The UN Special Rapporteur reported that KTB was involved in transactions for the shipment of aviation fuel to the Myanmar junta, which is essential to sustain the junta’s widespread campaign of airstrikes, which indiscriminately target civilians.

Siam Commercial Bank
Thailand

Siam Commercial Bank Public Company Limited (SCB) is a major Thai bank with a representative office in Myanmar. According to the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar's June 2024 report, SCB has continued to hold nostro accounts for state banks illegally under junta control, namely MFTB and MICB. The junta uses those banks to facilitate military procurement.

While the Singapore government and its banks have taken steps to prevent transactions related to Myanmar military procurement, the junta has increasingly turned to Thailand to sustain its terror campaign. The Special Rapporteur reported that SCB played a crucial role in the shift, with transactions related to Myanmar military procurement increasing from over US$5 million in the 2022 financial year to over US$100 million in the 2023 financial year.

In a statement published in June 2024, SCB responded that “these transactions are not connected to the arms trade as reported in the news, and total value has not significantly increased compared to last year. The bank performs due diligence to verify accuracy and reports these transactions to relevant authorities before processing”.

SCB’s apparent lack of action contrasts with Kasikorn Bank, which confirmed to the Special Rapporteur that it had terminated its relationship with junta-controlled banks following sanctions.

In July 2024, Thai banks told a parliamentary committee that they lacked capacity to investigate transactions related to Myanmar military procurement. The same month, Thai authorities announced that they will establish a task force to investigate transactions related to Myanmar military procurement and review measures to enhance the due diligence of Thai banks.

Aviation fuel for destruction

The Myanmar military's indiscriminate air strikes are intensifying, enabled by the continued supply of aviation fuel from ASEAN member countries. Junta airstrikes have even continued following the devastating earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28. According to a May 2 statement from the United Nations, the junta launched at least 171 airstrikes since the earthquake. Airstrikes are indiscriminate or even targeted at populated civilian areas, including one attack on 12 May that killed 22 students and two teachers at a school in Sagaing. Justice For Myanmar calls for an immediate ban on the export of aviation fuel to Myanmar.

Shoon Group companies
Singapore

Shoon Group (formerly Asia Sun Group) is a group of Myanmar crony companies involved in procuring, storing and distributing aviation fuel in partnership with the junta. It has subsidiaries in both Singapore and Myanmar that have been found to import aviation fuel and directly deliver it to the Myanmar military.

The group has three Singapore companies:

• PEIA Pte. Ltd. is a beneficial shareholder of National Energy Prime Aviation Services Co. Ltd. (NEPAS), a joint venture with the junta controlled Myanma Petrochemical Enterprise, which is responsible for the import, storage and sale of aviation fuel in Myanmar.
• P.E.I Energy Pte. Ltd. (formerly Puma Energy Irrawaddy Pte. Ltd.) is the owner of Myan Oil Terminal Company Limited (formerly Puma Energy Asia Sun Company Limited), which operates a major fuel terminal and storage tanks in Yangon.
• Shoon Energy Pte. Ltd. (formerly Asia Sun Aviation Pte. Ltd.) is involved in aviation fuel export and distribution.

Recognising the role of Shoon in enabling junta atrocities, all three Singapore companies have been sanctioned by the US, and Shoon Energy Pte. Ltd. has also been sanctioned by the UK. Despite this, they remain active, according to Singapore’s corporate registry.

See Justice For Myanmar November 2022 report: Myanmar military jet fuel companies for targeted sanctions.

Also see Amnesty International November 2022 report with research supported by Justice For Myanmar: Deadly Cargo: Exposing the supply chain that fuels war crimes in Myanmar.

Hai Linh
Vietnam

Hai Linh Co. Ltd. is a Vietnamese company and operator of Cai Mep Petroleum terminal, near Ho Chi Minh City. Research from Amnesty International shows that its storage terminal, Cai Mep Petroleum, was a key transit point in seven shipments of aviation fuel to Myanmar in 2023 and two shipments in 2024.

Cai Mep’s role in the Myanmar military’s aviation fuel supply chain undermines sanctions and sustains the junta’s campaign of airstrikes that target civilians. Hai Linh’s activities have continued despite the US Government’s issuance of a determination on the jet fuel sector that “allows for sanctions to be imposed on any foreign individual or entity determined to operate in the jet fuel sector of the Burmese economy.”

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Profiting from the Myanmar crisis

As exposed here, companies across ASEAN, some which are state-owned, continued business or even expanded operations in Myanmar after the coup attempt, profiting as the military’s nationwide terror campaign against the people widened.

That is despite the Five Point Consensus, agreed upon by ASEAN leaders and junta chief Min Aung Hlaing in April 2021, which has proven to be a complete failure. The Consensus calls for an immediate cessation of violence. Yet, four years on, the Myanmar military has only intensified its brutal attacks on the people of Myanmar—enabled by revenue, aviation fuel and communications technology from companies operating in ASEAN member states.

Corporate complicity has allowed the junta to continue its relentless shelling and airstrikes, killing children and targeting schools, places of worship, displacement camps, and civilian infrastructure. Without its corporate enablers, the junta would be choked of funds, arms, technology and aviation fuel. Its campaign of terror would grind to a halt.

The junta has escalated its violence further through forced conscription, causing widespread displacement. Even in the wake of a devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake, the military has persisted in launching more than 700 air and artillery strikes, and obstructed aid and recovery efforts.

While ASEAN partners the US, Australia, EU, UK and Canada have sanctioned the junta, enterprises under its control, and its associates, ASEAN members and companies in their territory have largely maintained business as usual.

ASEAN must encourage member states to cut off the junta’s access to funds, arms, dual use goods, technology and aviation fuel, and immediately stop legitimising the junta. Member states must use their financial, policy, and legal levers to regulate their companies that still trade with the junta.

This must mean moving beyond the Five-Point Consensus to achieve a Myanmar people-led solution to resolve the crisis, as demanded by civil society groups. Without changing course, Myanmar civilians will continue to die and the crisis will only worsen. It is time for ASEAN, its member states and businesses to end their complicity with the Myanmar junta. The lives of Myanmar people depend on it.