The case of a Thai senator and a Burmese arms dealer

Two years have already passed since the February 2021 coup, during which Myanmar’s military deposed a civilian-led government that was elected in free and fair elections. While the coup itself was technically ‘bloodless,’ the ensuing violence and crackdown against ordinary civilians has been anything but. As of 27 February 2023, the death toll stands at 3,062, and another 16,065 remain imprisoned.

Source: Bangkok Post

These past two years, Thailand’s government has unwittingly stood by the Burmese military junta’s side, shielding it within ASEAN from any shred of accountability and progress toward the Five Point Consensus. Not that I’m surprised: Thailand’s government would risk exposing its own hypocrisy, given the current prime minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, led the 2014 coup when he was the Thai army’s chief.

But an ongoing criminal trial in Thailand risks exposing and embarrassing the militaries of both Thailand and Myanmar. Upakit Pachariyangkun, Thailand’s wealthiest sitting senator and an ally of Thailand’s PM, has been implicated in a major money laundering and drug trafficking scandal. His son-in-law and Tun Min Latt, a Myanmar arms dealer, have been jailed and are facing criminal charges.

Source: Justice for Myanmar

Tun Min Latt is a well-known proxy of Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar’s commander-in-chief and the coup leader. A Thai law enforcement raid in September 2021 uncovered $5.4 million in assets, including the assets of Min Aung Hlaing’s children, namely Aung Pyae Sone’s title deed to a Bangkok property of Min Aung Hlaing’s son, and Khin Thiri Thet Mon’s bank records.

Why it matters

The ongoing criminal trial exposes the deep (and poorly understood) connections between prominent Thais and Burmese businessmen who act as proxies for the Burmese military, and demonstrating the scale of military family assets that funnel into neighbouring countries like Thailand through proxies. The ongoing trial also highlights potential points of leverage with respect to dealing with Myanmar’s junta, as high-ranking military officers scramble to secure their family assets in other countries through middlemen like Tun Min Latt.

What will be telling is whether Thailand’s military intervenes in the ongoing trial, as it prepares for national elections this year. And to what extent Myanmar’s military junta will lobby to free Tun Min Latt. And whether both Thailand and Myanmar will force Upakit and Tun Min Latt to be sacrificial lambs.

Text messages between Upakit and Tun Min Latt. Source: Rangsiman Rome

The criminal investigation has already roiled some Thai authorities, with the lead police investigator suspiciously transferred to a remote post, likely in retaliation for ruffling feathers. And it remains unclear if Upakit himself will be arrested once the current legislative session ends.

Key players

Source: Justice for Myanmar

• Tun Min Latt — Burmese arms dealer and military proxy
• Khin Maung Latt — Tun Min Latt’s father (a former tourism ministry official and military officer)
• Upakit Pachariyangkun — Thai senator and businessman
• Dean Young Gultula — Upakit’s son-in-law

Timeline of events

• 1999 to 2000 — Tun Min Latt and Upakit open Allure Hotel, an illegal casino in the Burmese-Thai border town of Tachileik. Tun Min Latt’s dad blesses the deal from the Myanmar government’s side, and Myanmar’s military receives 6% of annual profits in the deal.
• 2015 — Upakit also opens power plants in Myanmar’s Dawei Special Economic Zone with Tun Min Latt as a business partner.
• 2019 — Upakit is appointed by Thailand’s military junta to the Senate. He supposedly divests in his foreign businesses, including the hotel in Tachileik. He gains notoriety as Thailand’s wealthiest sitting senator.
• April 2022 — Justice for Myanmar first reports on the links between Upakit and Myanmar’s military through Tun Min Latt.
• August 2022 — The UK government sanctions Tun Min Latt’s company for brokering arms on behalf of the Burmese military.
• September 2022 — Thai police conduct a raid and arrest Tun Min Latt and Upakit’s son-in-law. They unearth $5.4 M in assets, including the bank and property records of Min Aung Hlaing’s children. Upakit quickly distances himself from Tun Min Latt despite their longstanding business partnership.
• October 2022 — An arrest warrant for Upakit is issued, but quickly withdrawn.
• December 2022 — Thai prosecutors indict Tun Min Latt and Upakit’s son-in-law on drug trafficking, transnational organized crime, and money laundering charges. Both men are accused of converting proceeds from drug trafficking into commodities that were exported back to Myanmar through companies owned by Upakit and Tun Min Latt.
• January 2023 — Both men plead not guilty. The same day both are arraigned, Kritsanat Thanasupanat, the Thai lead police investigator, is mysteriously transferred to a remote post, likely in retaliation by authorities.
• February 2023 — Rangsiman Rome, a Thai MP, re-centers attention on Upakit during a parliamentary debate. We learn a few new things: (1) Upakit could not be arrested because under Thai law, sitting legislators can’t be arrested until the end of the legislative session (which is scheduled to end tomorrow); (2) Upakit may not have actually sold the Tachileik hotel before joining the Senate; and (3) Upakit owns the plot of land atop which the headquarters of the Thai PM’s political party (the United Thai Nation Party) sits.

Further reading

• Justice for Myanmar has an excellent report that clearly documents all these murky business ties.
• Rangsiman Rome has a series of tweets outlining his parliamentary presentation (in Thai).