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The Memo is published weekdays - Cambodia (every Monday), Myanmar (Tuesday), Laos (Wednesday), Vietnam (Thursday) and Thailand (Friday). The Thailand edition is free in its entirety; the others usually abbreviated for non-paid subscribers.

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US Meets Junta Again in Tokyo

The US has had a meeting with the military-backed government in Tokyo for the second time in a month. Michael Vance, the United States assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research, led more than a dozen US officials for that delegation, but it is unclear who represented the junta. Reuters says Washington wants action against scam centers that have taken billions of dollars from Americans in addition to discussions on rare earths and the possibility of sanctions relief. Trump ally Roger Stone has begun lobbying for the regime. Members of both parties in the House have urged Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the UN, to block any junta attempt to replace Kyaw Moe Tun, the envoy appointed by the ousted elected government.

Read more: Reuters (talks), Asian News Network (Japan's role), The Guardian (analysis), Organiser (Congress letter)

Parliament Approves 2.1T Kyat of CB Borrowing

The junta's parliament has given its approval for up to 2.1 trillion kyats worth of central bank borrowing to cover the 2026-27 budget deficit. The same approval will also apply to loans of undisclosed size from two Belarusian banks that need to be spent on Belarusian goods. The regime has already raised nearly 14 trillion kyats by way of treasury bill and bond auctions. A dollar will now cost you 4,670 kyats on the black market, which is significantly more expensive than the official rate of 2,100. During previous currency slides, the regime has frequently taken the opportunity to blame traders and arrest them.

Read more: The Irrawaddy (kyat), The Irrawaddy (Belarus loans)

Migrants to Thailand Must Show Remittances to Get ID

Undocumented migrants in Thailand who want to get a Certificate of Identity are now required to prove that they sent 6,000 baht home through official channels and paid the mandated 2% income tax. The Certificate of Identity document costs about 3,600 baht, but agents are currently charging up to 15,000 baht (often deducting it from wages in installments) to arrange it. Five centers are issuing the certificates. Labor Minister Maung Myint doesn’t seem bothered, saying workers should consider the remittances "a donation" to the country.

Read more: The Irrawaddy

Junta Forms ASEAN Committee to Win Back Seat

The junta has formed an ASEAN Affairs Committee to "regain the country's original role and rights" in the bloc. Foreign Minister Tin Maung Swe chaired the committee’s first meeting; the defense and home affairs ministries also joined. The effort is notable because the regime's parliament continues to make some show of rejecting the Five-Point Consensus, a peace plan that it ignored and which resulted in the barring from summits to begin with. Returning to the table will need all 11 members to agree. Singapore and Timor-Leste appear to remain opposed, while five other members have recently hosted Min Aung Hlaing.

Read more: The Irrawaddy (committee), The Diplomat (Philippines approach)

Arakan Army Seizes Outposts Near Sittwe HQ

The Arakan Army has taken control of two regime outposts about four miles from the military's regional command headquarters in Sittwe. It now holds 14 of Rakhine's 17 townships. Navy boats are trying to land troops on Ngapyi Island, about a mile from the Shwemingan naval base. An AA source claims at least 50 regime troops have been killed there, but neither side has gone public with confirmed casualties.

Read more: The Irrawaddy (fighting), DVB (airstrike)

Junta Restarts Refinery for Jet Fuel, Tanker Brings Iranian Relief

The regime has restarted the Chinese-made Thanlyin No. 1 refinery near Yangon to make jet fuel and sidestep sanctions. A Singapore-registered subsidiary of China's Peiyang Chemical Equipment got the rebuilding contract, and some parts made their way through Singapore to Thilawa Port. The first phase is expected to produce 150,000 metric tons a year, which is an amount roughly equal to the country's recent annual imports. The junta says the refinery will conserve foreign currency and steady the supply as it continues relying heavily on airstrikes to keep control. Separately, satellite images reviewed by Iran International appear to show a sanctioned tanker bringing Iranian jet fuel to Myanmar last month. The junta hasn’t said whether it got fuel or not and a US military official cautioned that the ship’s passage alone doesn’t prove that it evaded the US blockade.

Read more: The Irrawaddy

Junta Cuts Palm Oil Imports, Yangon Prices Rise

Cooking oil in Yangon now sells for 15,000 to 25,000 kyats per viss (a local unit of measure that’s about 1.6 kilograms) on the open market, up from a reported 12,000 in September. The junta has cut palm oil imports and cut the region's quota in half, squeezing supply of a product that is responsible for nearly half the country's edible oil. The dealers' association is offering subsidized oil at 8,000 kyats a viss, with weekly household limits, but shortages are pushing most buyers onto the open market.

Read more: DVB

Junta Delivers King Charles's Books to Suu Kyi

Home affairs officials have delivered two books about soil, a sealed envelope and a message from King Charles to Aung San Suu Kyi. Then they shared happy photos of the meeting. Officials say that they spent about 10 minutes with the 81-year-old, who is serving an 18-year sentence. The government's short account said that the meeting went down in Naypyitaw but gave no exact location and shared no real details about the correspondence.

Read more: Reuters (books), Hertsad (delivery), The Hindu (detention status)

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US Opens Direct Talks With the Junta

The US is talking directly with Min Aung Hlaing's government, reversing the isolation it has kept in place since the 2021 coup. Michael Vance, the State Department's intelligence chief, met Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw in mid-September and arranged for the release of American businessman Adam Castillo, a former head of AmCham Myanmar. Castillo, detained at Yangon airport in June, was freed and deported as the talks ended. In return, the junta reportedly asked for "official engagement at the right level." Washington claims to be mainly interested in scam centers targeting Americans, though the two sides also discussed heavy rare earths in territory largely held by ethnic armed groups. Min Aung Hlaing remains under US sanctions.

Read more: Reuters (direct talks), The Diplomat (diplomatic shift), Tamil Guardian (US criticism)

US Delists Junta Fuel Supplier's Daughter

The US Treasury has removed Theint Win Htet from its sanctions list after she sued for a second time. Justice For Myanmar called the decision deplorable. Her mother was delisted last year, while her father, Thein Win Zaw, remains sanctioned. Treasury says he supplied fuel to the navy and that his family owns at least 20 companies.

Read more: Bangkok Post (delisting decision), The Irrawaddy (sanctions record), The Diplomat (lawsuit details)

Anwar Hosts Min Aung Hlaing, Backs ASEAN Return

Anwar Ibrahim is promising to help bring Myanmar fully back into ASEAN after welcoming Min Aung Hlaing to Putrajaya with a guard of honor. He boasted that bilateral trade has more than doubled in a year, while Min Aung Hlaing urged Malaysian business leaders to "invest with confidence." Malaysia is the fifth ASEAN state to host the general, after Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, and Indonesia and Brunei reportedly plan to follow. Even after rolling out the red carpet, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil insisted the meeting did not amount to recognizing the junta.

Read more: Reuters (ASEAN return), Reuters (Rakhine airstrikes), AP (Putrajaya welcome), The Diplomat (regional diplomacy), Religion News Service (rights concerns)

Report Ties Malaysian State Firms to Junta Aircraft

Three Malaysian firms, two with state ties, have supplied or tried to supply the military since 2023, Justice For Myanmar alleges. The watchdog released its findings as Anwar Ibrahim was hosting Min Aung Hlaing. It says FJ Global Aeroparts secured financing from PUNB, which is owned by a foundation chaired by Anwar, and made requests for quotes of warplane and drone parts. Junta engineers reportedly approached state-backed Asia AeroTechnic about repairing a military Airbus A319. Skyways Technics Asia, the Malaysian arm of a Danish company, allegedly shipped parts to brokers registered with the army's procurement directorate, probably for the Air Force.

Read more: The Irrawaddy

Malaysia Sends 1,476 Home on Navy Ships

Navy ships have carried 1,476 nationals home from Malaysia, the first group under a deal to return 5,000 people chosen by Naypyitaw. Kuala Lumpur says the returns are voluntary, but everyone sent back had been in immigration detention, so it might have been a Hobson’s choice. The UN and rights groups say that returnees could be further persecuted and forced into conscription. Malaysia reported having more than 10,000 Myanmar nationals in immigration detention at the end of August.

Read more: The Irrawaddy (naval return), The Irrawaddy (ASEAN response), Myanmar Now (detention risks)

China Overtakes Singapore as Top Investor

China is now the top foreign investor in Myanmar, with $201.1 million approved in the fiscal year that ended in March. That was more than two-fifths of the total and about twice China's previous figure. Singapore, the longtime frontrunner, moved into second with $155 million. Total approvals were down by nearly a third to $472.6 million; much of the Chinese and Hong Kong money went into garment and shoe factories.

Read more: The Irrawaddy

Junta Bars Migrant Workers From Returning Abroad

The Labor Department has stopped more than 300 migrant workers on home leave from returning to jobs abroad. Most were unable to prove they had paid a 2 percent income tax or sent a quarter of their earnings home through the official channels. Regime banks reportedly pay 63 kyats per baht, less than half the market rate on forex. Labor Minister Maung Myint helpfully told employment agencies that workers abroad should consider the remittances "a donation."

Read more: The Irrawaddy

Myawaddy Scam Compounds Rebuild as CCTV Hails Kokang Crackdown

China tried three times to talk Kokang's four powerful families out of the scam business before police started mass arrests in 2023, according to a new CCTV documentary. Ming family boss Ming Xuechang reportedly said that, "If we stop, we have nothing to eat." The crackdown did little more than push the industry south. Syndicates driven from northern Shan State are now rebuilding in Myawaddy, where the Karen National Army and the DKBA host compounds, though the documentary is careful to name neither militia. Nearly 60 scam sites have reportedly appeared in Karen and Shan states since She Zhijiang's arrest in 2022.

Read more: Bangkok Post (Kokang families), The Irrawaddy (Myawaddy compounds), Global Times (CCTV documentary)

UN: Two-Thirds of Country Poor or Near Poverty

A new UNDP survey finds that more than 37 million people, two-thirds of the population, are poor or a single setback away from poverty. About 18 million face poverty by several measures and another 19.5 million are vulnerable. Health and living conditions account for more than four-fifths of the deprivation measured in the telephone survey of 7,463 households. Rakhine is one of the poorest areas, with more than two-thirds of residents “poor.” The report estimates that at least 1 million young people may have left the country since 2021.

Read more: UNDP (survey findings), ABC News (poverty toll), UN News (youth exodus)

Commerce Ministry Stops Online Gold License

The Commerce Ministry has stopped issuing and renewing licenses for online gold and jewelry sellers. Anyone who decides to trade without one might be subject to between six months and three years in prison in addition to a fine of up to 500,000 kyats (~$240). The ministry claims it is protecting buyers and market stability after pawnshops and gold shops rejected some jewelry bought in livestream flash sales. Online gemstone sales are still legal with a Myanma Gems Enterprise license, as long as no gold is involved.

Read more: The Irrawaddy

Embassy Brokers Sold Passports to Blacklisted Activists

Brokers working with the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok reportedly sold passports to blacklisted activists for 150,000 to 200,000 baht (~$4400-$6000) during the time that Zaw Zaw Soe was ambassador. After taking the post, he barred migrants from converting Certificates of Identity into passports and stopped doing renewals of expired documents. The brokers then took over both services as cash collected this way could reportedly bypass a rule requiring expired passports to be sent to Naypyitaw.

Read more: The Irrawaddy

Regime Wants Interpol Notice On Exile Media

The junta says it has filed charges and is asking for Interpol red notices against people behind The Irrawaddy, Mizzima, DVB, Myanmar Now and Khit Thit, as well as other opposition figures. House Speaker Khin Yi said that the cases were criminal because Interpol doesn’t handle political disputes. But Deputy Home Affairs Minister Min Thu conceded that foreign governments "mainly arrest and extradite" suspects who are accused of drug offenses and other felonies, not members of the media.

Read more: The Irrawaddy

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.

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The Memo is published weekdays - Cambodia (every Monday), Myanmar (Tuesday), Laos (Wednesday), Vietnam (Thursday) and Thailand (Friday). The Thailand edition is free in its entirety; the others usually abbreviated for non-paid subscribers.

Please go to https://www.mekongmemo.com/account to select country editions you would like to receive without affecting your overall subscription status.

Yangon Rations Power Until the 2027 Rains

Yangon is getting electricity in alternating four-hour blocks, and officials say the rationing could last until the 2027 rainy season. The Ministry of Electricity and Energy blames El Nino heat for demand that could overwhelm power plants and crash the national grid. Min Aung Hlaing promised to fix the shortages in his first speech as president, but industrial zones powered by LNG and key government departments are still getting electricity around the clock. An elderly cancer patient in Thaketa Township said outages in her neighborhood usually last longer than the official schedule.

Read more: The Irrawaddy

Junta Jets Kill Six at Rakhine Displacement Camp

Junta jets have killed at least six people at a displacement camp on the Ponnagyun-Kyauktaw Road, just a few short days after the UN and EU condemned the bombing of a market in Kyauktaw. Seven more people were critically wounded. Separate attacks on the Pan Ni Lar shelter, a nearby village and Rathedaung Township reportedly killed at least three more. The camps are said to be well outside the combat zone. An Irrawaddy tally attributes 383 civilian deaths in 21 massacres in Rakhine and neighboring Paletwa to the junta since November 2023. The Arakan Army now holds 14 of Rakhine's 17 townships and is pushing toward Sittwe and Kyaukphyu.

Read more: The Irrawaddy (Pan Ni Lar strike), The Irrawaddy (383 massacre tally), DVB (Rathedaung airstrikes)

Junta Bombs Flood-Stricken Dawei, Toll to 40

Floods and landslides have killed at least 40 people in Dawei District, where junta warplanes have bombed a village. Four 250-pound bombs hit Pi Taing in Thayetchaung despite the fact that there was no reported fighting nearby; no casualties were reported. Rescue teams are asking the military and resistance forces to stop fighting as blocked roads keep them from reaching six villages around Launglon. More than 22,000 area people are in need food and drinking water.

Read more: The Irrawaddy (infrastructure damage), The Irrawaddy (initial toll), DVB (ceasefire appeal)

Bound Remains of 12 Found Near Bagan

A mushroom picker has found the bound skeletal remains of 12 men and boys in Wetpoke village, about 45 kilometers north of Bagan. Junta troops reportedly arrested them near Gwaykone in June 2023 as they ran away from the fighting, then killed them a couple of days later. A report that was found and taken from a Pyu Saw Htee militia camp records 12 people as "cleared" that day. The Anyar Myay Civil Society Organization blamed militia leader Win Ngwe and army captain Bo Phyu for the killings. Win Ngwe reportedly died in March 2024.

Read more: The Irrawaddy

Malaysia Clears 3,524 Returns Before Min Aung Hlaing Visit

Malaysia has approved 3,524 more Myanmar nationals for return after sending an first group of 1,476 to Yangon. The junta chose the names, and Malaysia is saying the returns are voluntary. UNHCR, barred from Malaysian detention centers since 2019, questioned whether detainees had chosen freely and understood the risks of getting sent back. Malaysian officials said the operation chiefly targeted Rohingya, but community leaders said few were in the first group. Min Aung Hlaing is expected to discuss refugees and migrants with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim during his upcoming visit.

Read more: DVB (detention population), The Diplomat (UNHCR concerns), Myanmar Now (community fear)

USDP Reelects Khin Yi as Chairman

The military-backed USDP has reelected Khin Yi as chairman, brushing aside reports that President Min Aung Hlaing wanted his own loyalists in senior party posts. Power at the top is now formally split three ways. Min Aung Hlaing is president, Khin Yi leads the party and the Lower House, and General Ye Win Oo commands the armed forces. In practice, an Irrawaddy analysis argues, officers promoted during Min Aung Hlaing's 15 years as commander in chief still dominate the senior ranks.

Read more: The Irrawaddy

Hong Kong-Backed Yangon Condo Six Years Late

Marga Landmark Development promised to finish its Yangon condominium, The Central, in 2020. Six years later, buyers are coming together at its sales office and demanding answers. Some have paid nearly 2 billion kyats in pre-paid installments, but requests for contractually required compensation seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Buyers (should we say “attempted buyers”?) say Tower 8 still has no foundation.

Read more: The Irrawaddy

Junta Eyes Russian Help for Stalled Dawei Zone

The junta is trying again to restart the long-stalled Dawei Special Economic Zone on the Andaman coast, and Russia is reportedly being considered for port and energy projects. Thailand’s Italian-Thai Development lost all nine contracts for the initial phase after repeated delays and unmet financial obligations. The full project was once expected to cost more than $50 billion; a scaled-back first phase was priced at about $1.7 billion. The 138-kilometer road from Dawei to Htee Khee on the Thai border still needs major upgrades if it is ever going to be serviceable and fit-for-purpose.

Read more: The Diplomat

Belgian Awards Body Gets Legal Action Over Junta Beer

Belgian awards body Monde Selection faces legal action for possible breaches of EU sanctions connected to its former ties with military-owned alcohol companies. It has since cut those ties and withdrawn the companies' awards, but that doesn’t mean that the company is off the hook just yet. A cautionary tale.

Read more: Myanmar Now

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.

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The Memo is published weekdays - Cambodia (every Monday), Myanmar (Tuesday), Laos (Wednesday), Vietnam (Thursday) and Thailand (Friday). The Thailand edition is free in its entirety; the others usually abbreviated for non-paid subscribers.

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Fighter Jet Bombs Kyauktaw's Main Market

Three airstrikes turned Rakhine's biggest wholesale market and the adjacent Kissapanadi Bridge into a killing field. The Arakan Army says more than 40 people were killed and nearly 50 wounded, some burned so badly that they might be impossible to ever identify. An aid worker said that since the market (in AA-held Kyauktaw) was far from the fighting, it brought in traders from around the state. Official word from Naypyidaw has been quiet, despite insisting in the past that its military exercises “maximum restraint” around civilians. The AA is promising retaliation.

Read more: AP News, The Star, Freemalaysiatoday, Narinjara, DVB

Beijing Fires Warning Shots as Jets Circle Laiza

Chinese security forces fired warning shots as junta fighter jets and Y-12 planes circled the KIA's Laiza headquarters for two days in a row. Kachin Colonel Naw Bu said the aircraft flew so close to the border that he was able to hear the shots from China. The show of force comes after the KIA's destruction of nearly 20 regime vessels that were resupplying Bhamo, an operation in which almost 200 soldiers and relatives surrendered. Schools in Laiza are closed, and the KIA is telling residents to dig shelters and to stay away from crowds. The jets didn’t hit the town, but reportedly bombed KIA positions in Hpakant.

Read more: The Irrawaddy

Regime Bombs Kill Its Air-War Analyst

The junta unleashed six bombs and opened sustained artillery fire on the NUG's Special Region Command headquarters on the Mon-Bago border, killing former Air Force sergeant Nay Win Aung. The defector had become a widely quoted analyst of the air war the he, once upon a time, helped orchestrate. Five resistance fighters were also reported killed. The attackers reportedly used bomb-carrying Chinese-made Y-12 aircraft, backed up with shelling from Artillery Battalion 310 in Theinzayat. Neither side has published an official account of what went down yet. Asked how the base was discovered, NUG Deputy Home Affairs Minister Kyaw Ni only offered the discomforting observation that both sides use “every available means” to gather intelligence.

Read more: The Irrawaddy

Snatch Squads Empty Hpa-An's Streets

Plainclothes junta units are grabbing men in their 20s and 30s off of the streets of Hpa-An after (leaked) orders instructed regional authorities to fill recruitment quotas. Residents say they are staying home after dusk. In Naunglon Village, the snatching of two men outside their homes caused locals to put their own (self-imposed) evening curfew into effect. Recruiters are also hunting migrant workers who have escaped from other regions. The military has conscripted more than 30,000 young people since February 2024 to shore up forces that now fully control only about one-fifth of the country.

Read more: Karen News, The Diplomat (deportation risk)

Dawei Floods Kill 13 as Resistance Runs Rescue

At least 13 people are dead and 30 missing after floods and landslides tore through Dawei, Launglon and Thayetchaung townships during the area's heaviest rain in 80 years. The resistance-aligned Tavoyan National Federation says more than 10,000 people in 60 villages are affected, and the phone “lines” are down. Most of the flood zone is outside regime control, so resistance forces have been left to run the rescue. Nearly 400 displaced people are sheltering in Launglon's Aukyaehpyu village, where relief groups say food, clothing and medicine are in short supply.

Read more: Straits Times, The Irrawaddy, DVB (regime response)

Malaysia Ships 1,476 Home on Junta Warships

Two junta warships and a hospital ship left Malaysia carrying 1,476 people, the first of 5,000 that are expected to eventually return under a deal between Anwar Ibrahim and Min Aung Hlaing. Kuala Lumpur says that the program is voluntary, an label that as many as 166 civil society groups dispute as they demand a stop to the program. They claim that Rohingya sent back to Rakhine will be subject to forced recruitment by both the junta and the Arakan Army. Chin community leader James Bawi said fear of detention is now keeping children out of school. Malaysia is host to almost 194,000 UN-registered refugees but formally recognizes none of them as refugees.

Read more: Straits Times, Arab News (the return deal), The Diplomat (rights groups' warning)

UN Envoys Say Nobody Is Going Home

Most of Rakhine is now Arakan Army territory, not Naypyidaw's to bargain away with Dhaka, UN Special Envoy Julie Bishop told the General Assembly. Special Rapporteur Kelley Currie was equally forthright, saying that the AA is targeting Rohingya and telling host countries not to send refugees back to persecution. UN investigators refer to the bombing, shelling, drone attacks and arbitrary detention that’s been ongoing as reasons return remains unsafe. More than 1.2 million refugees are now living in Cox's Bazar, where Bishop says more than 30,000 children are born in the camps each year.

Read more: DVB (Bishop's warning), DVB (Currie's warning), Jurist, ReliefWeb (investigators' findings)

Beijing Nudges Kokang's MNDAA to the Table

Kokang's Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army has sent its political wing to Naypyidaw for talks with the junta, becoming the second armed group from Operation 1027 to do so after the Ta'ang National Liberation Army. The agenda covered Chinese investment, border trade, online scam centers and a possible MNDAA seat in Parliament. Beijing's fingerprints are evident in the deal. The MNDAA wants the territory it captured recognized as part of Special Region 1, but the 2008 Constitution shows much tighter boundaries and would force it to return several important districts.

Read more: The Irrawaddy

Chinese Warships Dock in Yangon

Three PLA Navy vessels, the destroyer Tangshan, frigate Daqing and supply ship Taihu, have docked at Yangon Port for a five-day goodwill visit after piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden and a stop in Bangladesh. More than 300 greeters, including Chinese diplomats, community representatives and military officers, gave the aging deployment a conspicuously warm welcome. The task group left China nearly a year ago for escort missions off Somalia and is now on its way home.

Read more: Bastillepost

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.

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Horton International is your premier partner for executive search in Southeast Asia. Whether you're a small startup or a global corporation, our reliable and effective recruiting solutions are tailored to meet your unique needs. With extensive experience and offices across the region, we excel at overcoming recruitment challenges and securing top talent for your organization.

Click here to learn how Horton can make your life easier.

The Memo is published weekdays - Cambodia (every Monday), Myanmar (Tuesday), Laos (Wednesday), Vietnam (Thursday) and Thailand (Friday). The Thailand edition is free in its entirety; the others usually abbreviated for non-paid subscribers.

Please go to https://www.mekongmemo.com/account to select country editions you would like to receive without affecting your overall subscription status.

Junta Trades Marine for a Meeting

Adam Castillo walked free from Naypyidaw on September 16 after being held for 97 days. He flew out as a US delegation was convening what the State Department said was Washington's highest-level meeting with the military government since the 2021 coup. The former US Marine and AmCham Myanmar president had been arrested at Yangon airport thanks to a breach of trust lawsuit connected to his lobbying in Washington. His sister blamed business rivals, and the junta (rather hopefully, maybe) tried to frame (no pun intended) his release as a gesture of friendship toward Washington. Neither government announced the names of any of the officials at the meeting. Danny Kyaw, the Australian AmCham executive arrested in the same case, remains unaccounted for.

Read more: AP (business dispute), The Irrawaddy (possible sentence), CNN (US visit)

Norwegian Police Raid Telenor Over Data Handover

Norwegian police searched Telenor's Oslo headquarters last weed in a criminal investigation of possible complicity in crimes against humanity. The inquiry covers the period between the 2021 coup and Telenor's sale of its local business in March 2022. Customers say that the company handed over call logs and location data to the military that helped it track and arrest activists, including Ko Jimmy, who was later executed. Police are also trying to determine whether surveillance equipment included in the sale was a breach of sanctions. Telenor says its local staff was put at risk of prison, torture or death if they refused military orders.

Read more: The Irrawaddy (customer lawsuit), CIVICUS Lens (rights complaint), Webwire (police search)

Junta Pitches Roads It Doesn't Hold

Min Aung Hlaing has been touring regional capitals and is promising $5 billion in trade with India by 2030, in addition to a finished Kaladan corridor and a highway the would connect India, Myanmar and Thailand within five years. Both routes go through Rakhine and Chin territory that’s now controlled by the Arakan Army, however, which may be a fly in that ointment.

Read more: The Irrawaddy (trade promises), BNI (Mrauk-U bombing), Narinjara (pagoda damage)

Reshuffle Sidelines Top General After Losses

The regime has replaced Home Affairs Minister Lt-Gen Nyunt Win Swe with General Ko Ko Oo, the armed forces' general staff chief, in what is seen as a demotion disguised as a promotion. Ko Ko Oo oversaw two failed campaigns, an offensive in Rakhine that was pushed back by the Arakan Army and river convoys to Bhamo (see next story) that have been battered by Kachin Independence Army ambushes. Min Aung Hlaing made the appointment without trying to get (the military-dominated) parliament's approval, although technically the constitution requires it. This might indicate that his grip on the regime's political wing may be less secure than he would prefer. The Union Solidarity and Development Party has kept Khin Yi in place as chairman, and only two of four supposed Min Aung Hlaing allies won places on its 46-member executive committee.

Read more: The Irrawaddy (convoy losses), The Irrawaddy (party struggle), DVB (USDP membership), New Day Myanmar (leadership)

KIA Sinks Junta Convoys on the Ayeyarwady

Nearly 20 junta vessels have been sunk, burned or forced in for repairs on the Ayeyarwady between Katha and Bhamo, according to Kachin Independence Army officer Colonel Naw Bu. Only seven vessels were able to make it as far as Bhamo, and junta shipping farther south has stopped. Another 33-ship convoy is at the Chinese-linked Tagaung nickel plant, which the junta recaptured in March. Most of those vessels are unloading coal and preparing to carry ferronickel and copper to China. The other six were heading upriver when resistance fighters ambushed and set them alight near Tigyaing.

Read more: Narinjara (vessel losses), BNI (Tagaung convoy)

H&M Exit Shuts Five Hlaing Tharyar Plants

Seventeen Yangon factories have applied to close as orders have dried up and raw materials continue to run short. Teng Hui, which runs five plants in Hlaing Tharyar, is stopping production at the end of September after losing its H&M business. Exporters are required to exchange their earnings at the official rate of 3,660 kyat to the dollar, which is more than 700 kyat below the market rate. The value of national garment exports fell from more than $5.2 billion in 2023 to about $4.46 billion in 2024 - we don’t have more recent figures yet.

Read more: The Irrawaddy

Anwar Offers Min Aung Hlaing a Visit for 5,000 Souls

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim says he will invite Min Aung Hlaing for an official visit after the junta agreed to take 5,000 Rohingya back to Myanmar. That’s only a sliver of the more than 126,000 Rohingya who are registered as refugees in Malaysia. Once upon a time, Anwar called the coup a seizure of power, but his public stance has softened and he now argues that someone needs to deal with the junta because the Rohingya have nowhere else to go. If the meeting happens, Malaysia would become the fifth ASEAN state to host Min Aung Hlaing.

Read more: Reuters (refugee figures), The Irrawaddy (Malaysia policy)

PDF Urges Conscripts to Desert With Weapons

The junta has conscripted about 135,000 people since July 2024, according to the People's Defence Force, which is calling on people to resist call-up orders and suggesting that recruits already pressed into service should desert. The PDF claims about 20,000 conscripts have already deserted, but that’s a bold claim that hasn’t been verified yet. The PDF says that its offering cash and safe passage to recruits who leave their posts and bring along their weapons. Forced recruitment, which, at the beginning, afflicted mostly at young men, is now happening to women too.

Read more: Shan Herald (Mon State recruits), BNI (conscription law)

Scam Centers Still Hiring for Night Shifts

More than four-fifths of 9,322 recruitment ads tracked in Karen State sought workers for "US chatting." The jobs pay about $600 a month for overnight shifts (which is daytime in America). New sites in Thitkate and Hpakalu are replacing the raided compounds at KK Park and Shwe Kokko. English language skills are no longer a barrier, according to one recruiter, because workers are able to carry out their schemes by typing in Burmese. Chinese scam operators fleeing fighting near Kasawwahlay are moving under armed Democratic Karen Benevolent Army escort into Sone See Myaing, the militia’s headquarters village. Syndicates are reportedly renting officers’ houses for $9,000 to $12,000 a year and building new compounds, including one called Shwe Taungni. The operators had already moved once after a $10 million US bounty on three alleged ringleaders made their previous base too exposed. The DKBA did not respond to requests for comment.

Read more: The Irrawaddy (night shifts), The Irrawaddy (new compounds), Karen News (fighting nearby)

Drone Trainers Walk After Missed Filing Deadline

Matthew Van Dyke and six Ukrainians won bail from a Delhi court after India's National Investigation Agency missed a filing deadline. They were arrested in March for allegedly training ethnic armed groups to use drones. The agency dropped terrorism charges from its first filing, though a prosecutor said they could still appear in a later one. Van Dyke is not currently able to leave India without the court's permission while the case continues.

Read more: The Tribune (arrests), ThePrint (court hearing)

Visa-on-Arrival for Chinese, Indian Tourists

Visa on arrival for Chinese and Indian travelers will continue through August 29, 2027, in a third “one-year” trial. The country saw more than 700,000 foreign visitors roll in through the first eight months of 2026, which was a modest annual increase, with Thailand and China providing the most muscle.

Read more: VnExpress

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Drone Strike Hits Yak-130 Jets at Mandalay

Resistance fighters flew fiber-optic FPV drones into Yak-130 jets parked at Tada-U Airbase. Footage appears to show one drone striking the nose of a $15 million Russian-built trainer inside a shelter. The Myingyan District Drone Strike unit says female pilots led much of the assault and that its forces hit four jets, destroying two. NUG spokesperson Nay Phone Latt said the strike killed five soldiers, including a colonel, and three resistance fighters died. The junta insisted that all six drones were intercepted and no aircraft were damaged. Mandalay International Airport was shut for two days, forcing Myanmar Airways International to divert flights to Pyin Oo Lwin.

Read more: AP News (NUG account), The Irrawaddy (attack), The Irrawaddy (airport), Al Jazeera (deaths), SOFX (drone unit)

Operation 4926 Stalls, Junta Can't Get Its Dead

The military's Operation 4926 has ground to a halt after ten days of fighting. Five columns of about 1,000 troops (total) had pushed into Sittwe, Ponnagyun and Kyaukphyu. More than 100 regime troops were reportedly killed in Ponnagyun, including two battalion commanders. "The army couldn't even retrieve its dead and wounded," a Sittwe resident said. The Arakan Army still holds 14 of Rakhine's 17 townships plus Paletwa in Chin State, leaving the junta clinging to Sittwe, Kyaukphyu and Manaung. Recent airstrikes killed at least five more civilians.

Read more: The Irrawaddy, The Irrawaddy, DVB, Narinjara, Shan Herald

KIA Sinks Navy Convoy, Rejects Peace Talks

The Kachin Independence Army says it took 151 prisoners after ambushing a 14-vessel navy convoy on the Irrawaddy, destroying or damaging seven ships between Bhamo and Shwegu. The prisoners include 33 military family members and, incredibly, a four-month-old baby. The KIO has rejected an invitation to Naypyitaw from junta negotiator Yar Pyae and is insisting that any talks happen abroad. The regime sent another 30-vessel supply convoy from Mandalay, and the KIA says five more vessels, including two gunboats, were destroyed in Shwegu. The KNPP, KNU and Chinland Council have brushed off separate overtures too. Chinland foreign minister Sui Khar says that they’re "not genuine."

Read more: The Irrawaddy (convoy), The Irrawaddy (KIA), DVB (prisoners), BNI (rejections)

Junta Asks Interpol to Retrieve Its UN Ambo

Naypyidaw is looking to turn its five-year-old case against its UN ambassador into an international manhunt. The Foreign Ministry says that Kyaw Moe Tun's status has been "revoked and withdrawn," accused him of treason, sedition and unlawful association, and said it is working with Interpol and the US National Central Bureau to get him arrested. It also said that he misused $2.76 million AND 38,233 euros from the UN mission's bank account. None of this will immediately change his position at UN Headquarters. The Credentials Committee is expected to make a decision in November whether to keep him or replace him with the junta's nominee, retired colonel Aung Thurein. So far it has doggedly avoided the question every year since the takeover. Kyaw Moe Tun said the announcement was an indication of "how much desperation the junta is now in."

Read more: Reuters, The Irrawaddy, Asia Times, DVB, DVB

Militia Moves Scammers to Karen Battlefields

Chinese-run scam compounds that were forced out of Shwe Kokko and KK Park have regrouped and resurfaced under armed KNA escort at Maw Poe Kay, Mae La and Kyawkayhta. It’s quite the venue, since the KNU has bled for this ground over decades of war. Telegram messenger job ads are offering as much as 12,000 yuan for experienced female interpreters; it seems that the new scam targets will be Americans and Japanese. The KNU says it has objected and demands a ban on construction, but it isn’t clear if they will be able to enforce anything.

Read more: The Irrawaddy (acreage size), Karen News (relocation destinations)

Min Aung Hlaing's Son Clears Monasteries for Cyber City

More than 70 monasteries, nunneries and monastic schools in Pyin Oo Lwin have been told to vacate their land by this Friday. The evictions are intended to clear space for a 10,000-acre Yadanabon Cyber City, a project that is to be overseen by Min Aung Hlaing's son Aung Pyae Sone. Officials claim that the buildings encroach on the project site, but locals say some have been there for more than 30 years. Residents suggest that a network of military officers and civil servants has already sold the land to businessmen and speculators for large sums, and more than 100 shophouses in the zone were razed on similar grounds in June.

Read more: The Irrawaddy

US Accreditor Certifies Two Junta-Linked Hospitals

American Accreditation Commission International has given their accreditation to two Yangon hospitals connected to Min Aung Hlaing and others under US sanctions. It, apparently without irony, said the awards were "historic" firsts. Kan Thar Yar International Specialist Hospital is registered to Myanmar Economic Corporation, a military conglomerate that was sanctioned in 2021. Moe Kaung Treasure Maternal and Child Hospital was built by Sky One Construction, which is run by the general's son Aung Pyae Sone (same fellow from the previous story). AACI chief executive Kreso Paliska toured both sites in person before the accreditation was given. Full-page ads have appeared in the Bangkok Post, promising "the safest, most reliable hands" in Myanmar medicine.

Read more: The Irrawaddy

Cambodia Endorses Min Aung Hlaing's ASEAN Bid

Min Aung Hlaing left Phnom Penh with four deals signed and something even better: Cambodia’s public rejection of any "downgrading or exclusion" of Myanmar from ASEAN. He also pitched a transport corridor from Ho Chi Minh City through Phnom Penh and Bangkok to the Dawei deep-sea port, but didn’t share any suggestion about where the money would come from to do so. Human Rights Watch said that a red-carpet reception was premature, and the International Criminal Court is still considering an arrest warrant request because of the 2017 Rohingya crackdown.

Read more: The Irrawaddy (visit), KDH News (criticism), DW (regional push), The Diplomat (court case)

Scholar Serves 100 Days in Chinese Detention

Min Zin, a naturalized US citizen and head of ISP-Myanmar, has now spent 100 days in Chinese custody on charges of espionage. He had gone to Kunming for what his think tank says was an academic workshop. Washington says the detention is wrongful, but Beijing, so far seemingly unmoved, insists that Min Zin violated its national security laws. ISP-Myanmar, naturally, is demanding his immediate release.

Read more: DVB

Wa State's Tin Mine Wakes Up

Man Maw, the Wa State mine that once supplied almost all of China's tin ore imports, is stirring again for the first time since it was shut in 2023. Satellite images show large new buildings going up and brighter nighttime activity in and around the site. Chinese customs reports show that tin ore imports from Myanmar were almost 40,000 metric tons in the first half of 2026, which is already more than in all of 2025 (although it should be said that output is still far below previous highs). Flooded shafts and depleted high-grade ore could limit the recovery. The United Wa State Army tightly restricts access; reports suggest that a fight between Wa power brokers was the original cause of the closure, but the reason for re-opening remains murky.

Read more: The Irrawaddy

Post-Coup FDI Falls to $7.4 Billion Over Five Years

Foreign direct investment totaled more than $28.7 billion in the five years before the 2021 takeover, according to ISP-Myanmar. In the five years since, it has reached only $7.4 billion, less than the country pulled in during 2016 alone. Min Aung Hlaing has been courting Beijing, Moscow and New Delhi for capital since taking the presidency after a contested election.

Read more: BNI Online

Pandaw Cruises Returns to the Irrawaddy Delta

Pandaw Cruises is sending the RV Kanee Pandaw on its first Irrawaddy Delta run since suspended operations six years ago. The 10-night round trip from Yangon will cost around $4,700, and more than 200 passengers have already booked. Sister ship RV Kha Byoo Pandaw is expected to join in December. The UK Foreign Office's conflict advisory covers most of Myanmar but not the delta, apart from Pathein. Pandaw says it will inspect that port before departure and replace the stop if conditions look inappropriate for a stop.

Read more: Cruise Mapper

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.

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Min Aung Hlaing Takes His Roadshow to Hanoi

Myanmar's president finished a three-day visit to Vietnam on Sunday, his third stop in ASEAN since he took office in April and part of a campaign to (try to) normalize relations with a bloc that has kept him excluded from top-level meetings since 2021. To Lam and Min Aung Hlaing made a show of putting defense and security forward as "key pillar" of their relationship, with military training, officer swaps, search-and-rescue work and information sharing about cross-border crime all in the mix. Viettel, Vietnam's (military-run) telecoms group, now runs Mytel with Myanmar's military-connected partners. The delegation took time for a tour of VinFast's Hai Phong EV plant and got a pitch on digital infrastructure and cybersecurity. Despite the rosy stories, though, the money picture is less… inspiring. Two-way commerce dropped from $853 million in 2020 to $590 million in 2025, then accelerated pace a little in order to find $335 million in the first half of 2026, but that’s versus the talk of a billion dollar target. Vietnamese firms are invested in 107 active projects in Myanmar. The President’s next stop is Cambodia.

Read more: The Irrawaddy (rights criticism), Vietnam News (investment total), The Diplomat (visit count), QDND (trade target), Independent (Russia and Kazakhstan trips)

Turk Ask Council to Send Generals to The Hague

UN human rights chief Volker Turk told the Human Rights Council in Geneva that member states should be sending Myanmar to the International Criminal Court. He said that credible sources have verified more than 1,200 civilian deaths, and open-source figures are even worse, with suggestions that the real figure could be more than 3,000. Turk also called for a stop to arms, ammunition, jet fuel and dual-use transfers "where there is a clear risk" they will allow for violations. A separate OHCHR document reported on 2,353 instances of Rohingya forced labor in northern Rakhine in the month of January. The grim findings included 75 counts involving children (some as young as six), as well as a booming (and unregulated) rare earths mining industry in Kachin and Shan states. The UK says military-driven displacement has passed 3.6 million. Despite Turk’s pleas, no state has yet filed an ICC referral.

Read more: Yenisafak (non-refoulement warning), Anadolu (IIMM findings), ReliefWeb (Rohingya exodus), OHCHR (rare earths), UK Government (UK statement)

Navy Triples Force to Reopen Chinese Nickel Plant

A 38-vessel Navy convoy arrived in Singu a couple of days ago, and the force is nearly three times the size of the 14- or 15-vessel flotilla (accounts differ) that left the Gaw Wein jetty in Mandalay on August 21. The earlier convoy lost seven boats to Kachin Independence Army attacks near Shwegu, and about 100 personnel surrendered. Only seven boats carrying about 800 troops in addition to weapons and food arrived in besieged Bhamo after Myanmar Air Force jets ran strikes to clear the river. The new convoy is trying to push further upstream to Tigyaing, where China Nonferrous Metal Mining and Construction's Tagaung nickel processing plant has been sitting idle since a People's Defence Force takeover in July 2024. Regime forces have retaken Tigyaing and Singu, 58 miles north of Mandalay, but there’s no confirmed date for the plant’s re-opening.

Read more: The Irrawaddy (ambush), DVB (convoy confirmation)

UNHCR Rejects Role in Malaysia's Deportation Plan

Malaysia is expected to load 1,476 Myanmar nationals onto two Navy warships and a hospital ship later this month, and the UN refugee agency says it wants nothing to do with it. UNHCR stands by its position that conditions in Myanmar are not sufficient for a safe return and referred to customary international law that prohibits sending people back to places where their rights are at risk. The sailing is expected to be the first phase of a program that will eventually include about 5,000 people. The shipment is still planned despite communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil saying last month that deportees would not be sent back "if they would either be persecuted or their lives would be threatened."

Read more: The Diplomat

Filmmaker Charged Over Drone Strike on Plane

American filmmaker Matthew Aaron VanDyke, whose 2014 documentary "Point and Shoot" won Best Documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival, is currently in Delhi's Tihar Jail after an NIA court approved his interrogation over a drone strike on a Myanmar passenger plane. The (Indian) National Investigation Agency says VanDyke and six Ukrainians ran drone-warfare training for ethnic armed groups after they crossed into Myanmar without the required permits. According to the agency, at least two FPV kamikaze drones sporting RPG-type warheads hit and damaged a Myanmar National Airlines ATR-72-600 at Myitkyina airport as passengers were boarding for a flight to Mandalay. No injuries were reported.

Read more: The Tribune (flight details), Independent (war toll), India Today (mercenary framing)

H&M Supplier Shuts Yangon Plant, 3k Jobs Gone

Teng Hui, a garment supplier to retailer H&M, has shuttered its factory in Yangon with the loss of more than 3,000 jobs. The exit is the latest in a run of foreign brands getting their garment sourcing out of Myanmar. Garments are one of the last industries that still bringing dollars in despite Western sanctions, so the loss will be felt by more than just the people who have most recently lost their jobs.

Read more: The Irrawaddy

Yangon Dams Overflow

Nga Moe Yeik Reservoir, 26 miles north of Yangon, overflowed by 2.5 feet on September 3, sending creek water into seven Hlegu Township wards. Mahura Dam is spilling 1.5 feet over its spillway and Paunglin Dam is nearing full capacity, so now nine more townships are under flash flood warnings as thunderstorms continue to be forecast in Yangon and Bago through tomorrow.

Read more: DVB (evacuation advisory)

Hpa-An Checkpoints Become Conscription Traps

Soldiers at Hpa-An's checkpoints and Thanlwin River bridges are stopping masons, shop clerks and commuters to inspect ID cards, then taking the men aside to get them conscripted. It seems that showing an ID card and proving local residence is no longer always enough to dodge the impromptu drafts. Rural villages have not yet seen open raids to grab manpower, but quotas have to be filled every three to four months, and when locals refuse to go, villages sometimes are paying migrant workers to serve as substitutes. Karen State's government has denied social media reports that Chief Minister Saw Myint Oo told officials to issue military summonses and authorize arrests if quotas ran short. Separately, in Mandalay, workshops and small businesses are losing staff as young workers quit or leave town rather than risking callup under the junta’s conscription law. Owners are reporting empty workbenches and delayed orders as young men disappear from the workforce as they go into hiding.

Read more: Karen News (checkpoints), The Irrawaddy (Mandalay conscription)

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.

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Tugboat Lost, Airstrikes to Cover the Retreat

A pusher tugboat with its hull torn open by drone strikes near Katha was what it took to bring the junta's air force down on Shwegu. The 15-vessel flotilla, loaded with rations and reinforcements for an encircled garrison at Bhamo, left Mandalay on August 21 and has been bleeding boats ever since. It lost a base at Zinbon, saw escort vessels routed there, and then abandoned the tugboat near Bokone Village, where KIA and PDF forces took it. The remnants of the convoy are now stuck unloading at Shwegu's river port under suicide drone and rocket fire, as fighter jets and Y-12 transports are working overtime to keep it there.

Read more: The Irrawaddy (casualties), BNI Online (convoy timeline)

Airstrikes Kill 88 Civilians in Two Weeks

The Burma Air Force flew 239 airstrikes in nine regions between August 8 and 23, killing 88 civilians and wounding 157, according to National Unity Government figures. Rebels abandoned Falam, Chin State's only airport town, in April after running out of ammunition under a six-month assault. By late May the military claimed the entire northern half of the state. Mass conscription has refilled army ranks with tens of thousands of troops, although China has brokered ceasefires with some ethnic armed groups and helped choke off weapons routes to others.

Read more: DVB (floods), Myanmar Now (Mindat), Al Jazeera

Rosatom to Break Ground on Nuclear Plant

Rosatom signed the site-survey contract this month, and director general Alexei Likhachev said that "this is essentially the start of construction." The company is expected to break ground not far from Naypyidaw sometime next year. The 110MW plant, modest when compared to installed national capacity of roughly 6,900MW, is expandable to 330MW and will run on two RITM-200N reactors adapted from Russia's nuclear icebreaker fleet. Putin said its a "flagship" project during Min Aung Hlaing's August visit to Moscow. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin laid it on thicker, saying it is "a new symbol of Russia-Myanmar friendship." Nobody has revealed who is going to be paying for the thing. Observers expect the junta, already funding a multi-front war it can barely afford, to take Russian soft loans that would be repayable once the plant starts generating power, or to settle the bill in kind from natural resources. Rosatom is making a similar pitch to Vietnam, Indonesia, and Laos.

Read more: The Irrawaddy (March 2025 agreement), The Irrawaddy (arms trade)

UN Ties $1.4B Rare Earth Boom to Chinese Buyers

Satellite imagery showed 302 new mining sites in Kachin State since the coup, almost two and a half times the previous total, feeding a trade to the Chinese market that peaked at $1.4 billion in 2023, the UN Human Rights Office said in a report. The report also put confirmed civilian deaths at 8,075 since the coup, a lower count than ACLED's estimated 100,000-plus total deaths (that one includes combatants). Internal displacement is 3.6 million people, with 12.4 million people facing acute hunger. Rights chief Volker Turk called on "all states, companies and investors to undertake serious soul-searching" about their dealings with the country.

Read more: Al Jazeera (annual death toll), Myanmar Now (100,000 death toll)

Scam Compounds Move Into Yangon Hotels

Chinese-linked syndicates once confined to barbed-wire compounds in Shan and Karen states are now running entire floors of fraud out of leased hotels and "IT training centers" in Yangon, guarded by digital locks and elevators instead of jungle fences. The venues often carry the names of legitimate hospitality chains, with windowless upper floors converted into secure facilities. The Tatmadaw and allied militias have been reported to be active partners as illicit cash flows into local real estate and business licenses.

Read more: Shan Herald

Junta Navy Sails to Malaysia to Collect 1,476

Two navy warships and a hospital ship will pick up 1,476 nationals from Malaysia on September 29. It’s the opening batch of a 5,000-person voluntary return deal that Anwar Ibrahim announced in July. Kuala Lumpur has been holding more than 10,000 Myanmar nationals in immigration detention and wants their identities and refugee claims verified by year-end. Malaysia is host to 215,600 UNHCR-registered refugees, almost all from Myanmar, including more than 126,000 Rohingya. No independent monitoring of the September 29 group is expected, and Malaysia's main Rohingya rights group has asked that government to put the plan on pause because returnees' lives would be at risk.

Read more: AP News (registration document rollout), Myanmar Now (Refugee Convention status)

Nine Years on, Rohingya Camps Run Low on Food

Tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees rallied in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar camps, as they pass the nine year mark since Myanmar's military drove them out. They are protesting conditions that have reportedly gotten worse. More than 1.2 million refugees are packed into about 30 camps, where almost everyone still lives in bamboo-and-tarpaulin lean-tos. More than half the shelters need repairs. Funding has collapsed.

Read more: Myanmar Now (repatriation), ReliefWeb (children), ReliefWeb (aid), ReliefWeb (Canada funding)

Naypyidaw Presses Bangkok Again on Rebel Arms

General Ye Win Oo met Thai National Security Council chief Chatchai Bangchuad in Naypyidaw in an attempt to cut cross-border arms shipments to resistance forces. The meeting is the latest of at least three similar approaches since early August when Min Aung Hlaing raised it with Thai PM Anutin Charnvirakul. Ye Win Oo then held his own Bangkok meeting with counterpart General Ukris Boontanondha before the two militaries' annual summit. The regime readout also mentioned cooperation on cyber-scam and gambling operations, drug smuggling, and restricted chemicals, but the arms pipeline into Karen, Karenni, and Tanintharyi is the one Naypyidaw keeps beating the drum on.

Read more: The Irrawaddy

Fuel Caps, Rice Prices, and Floodwaters All Rise

The Petroleum Products Regulatory Department raised its weekly cap on 92 RON gasoline to 3,710 kyats a liter, about $1.40 at the parallel rate, up from 3,575 the week before, and diesel climbed to 4,240 kyats from 4,070. Rice prices were up almost 4 percent month-on-month in July and about 10 percent over a year earlier. Fertilizer prices are also still well above last year but crop prices have barely moved. In the south, the Taninthayi River rose to a level of 7.5 meters, past its 7.3-meter danger mark, submerging a stretch of the Union Highway by more than three feet and sending 700 people into evacuation shelters.

Read more: The Star (floods), Cambodianess (fuel caps), ReliefWeb (food prices)

MEHL Detains Three Over Import Deals

Three senior officials at Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited, the military's flagship conglomerate, have been detained because of improper import dealings in a rare internal corruption case. The arrests have opened up a look into wider irregularities in how MEHL brings goods into the country. The conglomerate's import operations have never been subject to independent audit. No names have been released, and no charges have been so far been made public.

Read more: Myanmar Now

Bo Kyi Wins Magsaysay Award

Bo Kyi, jailed for seven years after Myanmar's 1988 uprising, won the 2026 Ramon Magsaysay Award for more than 26 years of documenting political detentions through the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. AAPP reports more than 22,000 political prisoners still behind bars since the coup. Bo Kyi dedicated the award to them, as well as making a call for Aung San Suu Kyi's unconditional release.

Read more: The Irrawaddy (founding history), DVB (fifth Myanmar laureate)

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.

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