A year in Myanmar junta’s theatre of absurdity as military collapse loomed

Year-end review of the junta's continued losses and lies in Myanmar

Originally published on Global Voices

This article was originally published on December 27, 2024, on The Irrawaddy, an independent news website in Myanmar that has been exiled in Thailand since the military coup in 2021. An edited version is republished on Global Voices as part of a content-sharing agreement.

Myanmar’s military regime struggled harder to maintain a charade of normalcy in 2024 as its territorial control shrank in the face of relentless resistance advances. Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing responded to losses on multiple fronts by ramping up his propaganda machine, offering empty promises and false narratives, even as two regional commands were overrun and his family’s corruption continued unabated.

Bikinis and bombs

In an ironic twist, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing decided to mark World Tourism Day on September 27 by urging ministers and tourism agencies to “boost tourism services and disseminate true information about safe travel to destinations in Myanmar to travelers.”

The expanding war zone in Myanmar means tourist landmarks have been transformed into battlefields. In July, just two months before Min Aung Hlaing claimed travel was safe in Myanmar, his forces lost the internationally renowned Ngapali Beach in Rakhine State to the ethnic Arakan Army (AA).

The façade of normalcy promoted by Min Aung Hlaing is contradicted by the loss of two regional command headquarters this year, in northern Shan State and Rakhine — defeats that are unprecedented in Myanmar military history.

The promised counteroffensive never arrives

When the junta chief finally emerged from his Naypyitaw fortress in August to visit Mandalay, he vowed to reclaim lost territories in Rakhine, Kachin, and northern Shan State, repeating a promise he made on Armed Forces Day last March.

Just weeks later, the regime saw its Northeastern Command in the northern Shan State capital of Lashio, near the Chinese border, seized by ethnic armed organizations.

After China publicly confirmed its support for a regime that has killed thousands of civilians over three years, the junta ramped up its air campaign against resistance-held areas in ethnic states and central Myanmar, vowing to restore normalcy.

The air campaign failed to turn the tide, however, with the Arakan Army capturing Western Command headquarters in Rakhine’s Ann town in December and ethnic armed organizations and their allies advancing to claim more junta positions in Karen, Chin, and Kachin states.

Far from restoring normalcy, the regime has suffered another year of territorial losses. The parallel civilian National Unity Government reported in August that the junta controlled fewer than 100 of the 350 towns in the country. Of the remaining 250, it said 75 had been captured by anti-regime groups, 105 were surrounded by anti-regime groups, 75 were being fought over, and 98 towns remained under regime control.

Keeping it in the family

During an interview with Russian media in Yangon on March 18, Min Aung Hlaing was asked what lessons he imparts to his children. His response may well be Myanmar’s funniest joke of 2024: the junta boss claimed to have taught his kids the values of hard work and honesty.

Despite officially earning a public servant’s salary, Min Aung Hlaing owns luxury mansions in affluent neighborhoods of Yangon, Naypyitaw, and Pyin Oo Lwin. His son, Aung Pyae Sone, and daughter, Khin Thiri Thet Mon, have also capitalized on their father’s power and connections, amassing wealth from ventures in pharmaceuticals, hospitals, construction, hotels, transportation, film production, entertainment, insurance, telecommunications, art galleries, restaurants, and sports facilities.

Aung Pyae Sone has profited handsomely from military-related projects, including arms procurement and uniform supply. Also, every soldier must take out life insurance with Aung Pyae Sone’s Aung Myint Moh Min Insurance Company, highlighting the greed of Min Aung Hlaing and his family.

To answer the Russian journalist’s question more accurately, Min Aung Hlaing has taught his children the shortcut to becoming top-tier cronies and exploiting their privileges for personal gain.

Artillery boast backfires

Min Aung Hlaing showered praise on the military’s artillery corps at its 75th-anniversary celebrations in Naypyitaw on Feb.3, saying he was proud of its ability to strike “enemy targets with total precision whenever and wherever necessary.”

By “enemy targets,” he appears to mean civilian populations: his artillery corps has done little damage to anti-regime groups while wreaking death and destruction on civilians, homes, schools, and hospitals over the past three years.

During battles in northern Shan, Chin, Rakhine, and Karenni (Kayah) states, resistance forces seized not only small arms and ammunition but also heavy artillery like howitzers from defeated junta bases. These weapons have now been turned against the junta.

In Rakhine, the AA used artillery seized from the regime to attack its Western Command headquarters in Ann Township, finally capturing it earlier this month.

Min Aung Hlaing must have been furious to see video released by the AA on December 26 showing its fighters firing mortars and artillery to capture Western Command HQ. The social media clip was captioned, “The enemy’s weapon is our weapon.”

Propaganda shot down in flames

After the ethnic Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) announced its seizure of Mandalay Region’s Mogoke town in late July, with photos showing jubilant locals welcoming its troops to the world-renowned “Ruby Land,” the regime rushed to dismiss the event as choreographed propaganda. Meanwhile, reports of junta soldiers surrendering en masse across the border in northern Shan State’s Lashio were empty rumors, it said. Troops there were just “tactically regrouping,” junta spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun insisted.

Mogoke, located on the Mandalay-northern Shan border, has remained under TNLA control. Meanwhile, Lashio and its Northeastern Command fell in early August, just a few days after the regime’s information team dismissed the reports of surrender as rumors.

When the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) seized northern Shan’s Kunlong during the first phase of Operation 1027 in November last year, the regime claimed MNDAA troops had merely crept into the town to take photos. The regime quickly fell silent when the MNDAA issued images of its troops wandering in Kunlong’s junta battalion bases. The town remains under MNDAA control.

Perhaps a better title for the junta spokesman would be “liar-in-chief.”

‘Guardian of Buddhism’ kills monk

In what might just be the regime’s biggest blunder of 2024, its troops shot dead prominent Buddhist monk Sayadaw Bhaddanta Munindabhivamsa near Tada-U Airport in Mandalay Region on June 19 after his car failed to stop at a checkpoint. Junta officials immediately blamed the abbot’s killing on anti-regime People’s Defense Forces (PDFs).

However, a monk traveling with Bhaddanta Munindabhivamsa witnessed the whole incident and bravely stepped forward to reveal the truth: it was junta soldiers who fired the shots. The bombshell left the junta floundering, forcing Min Aung Hlaing to issue a public apology in person.

As the military, which portrays itself as the guardian and promoter of Buddhism, faced widespread fury from monks and laypeople, influential pro-junta monk Sitagu Sayadaw swooped to the rescue, urging the monastic community to forgive and forget.

Honors among thieves

Seeking to portray himself as the head of a legitimate government, Min Aung Hlaing has abused the country’s honor system, showering awards on loyalists, potential supporters, artists, soldiers and police. The junta boss has handed out honorary titles and medals like candy since the coup, rendering them meaningless, with some awardees even receiving the same medal repeatedly.

Meanwhile, others had their hastily awarded honors rescinded by the regime. State Administration Council member Moe Myint Tun and Home Affairs Minister Soe Htut lost their titles after a corruption scandal. Actress Khine Thin Kyi, who starred in numerous propaganda films under the previous junta, was stripped of her Excellent Performance in Social Field (Second Class) medal after implying she was unhappy with the award from the regime.

Brink of collapse?

The military has been regarded as Myanmar’s strongest institution ever since the country gained independence in 1948, with history books penned by retired officers boasting about its victories over rebels in ethnic states.

But all that changed on January 31 last year when Min Aung Hlaing moaned during a meeting of the National Defense and Security Council that his troops were being outgunned by ethnic forces with superior drone technology in northern Shan State.

For someone fond of boasting about his “modern Standard Army,” his admission was nothing short of disgraceful.

The Myanmar military has a massive advantage in terms of manpower and weaponry over the resistance groups it is fighting. It also enjoys total air superiority, being the only combatant in the civil war with an air force. As such, its ongoing military defeats raise serious questions about the competence of Min Aung Hlaing’s “Standard Army.” All this points to one conclusion: Min Aung Hlaing’s “Standard Army” is fundamentally flawed and toothless.

Written by The Irrawaddy