ASEANEWS HEADLINE | BANGKOK, Thailand: Myanmar junta leader’s family buys B100m Bangkok home

Justice for Myanmar (JFM) said the shell company through which the funds for the purchase were channelled had an executive of the listed Thai property developer as its sole director.

The 98-million-baht house at the Issara Residence Rama 9 was sold in December 2022 to the family of Min Aung Hlaing by the SET-listed developer Charn Issara Plc. It was facilitated by Tun Min Latt, a junta-linked arms broker and close associate of the general who is now tipped to become Myanmar’s president.

Tun Min Latt was arrested in Thailand along with three associates in 2022 in connection with alleged drug trafficking, money laundering and transnational organised crimes. He was acquitted in 2024.

Justice for Myanmar said it traced the property deal by analysing Thai corporate records, land records, publicly available information and confidential sources.

The luxury residence was purchased in the name of Min Aung Hlaing’s daughter-in-law Myo Yadana Htaik, the wife of the general’s son Aung Pyae Sone, in order to evade US and Canadian sanctions against the latter.

Myo Yadana Htaik has not been sanctioned in any jurisdiction, creating a loophole for the family, the rights group said.

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Tun Min Latt negotiated the purchase of the property with Charn Issara on behalf of the couple and helped transfer the funds used to buy the residence.

Payments were made through cash deposits and transfers involving at least three Thai banks: Siam Commercial Bank, Kasikornbank and Bangkok Bank. Aung Pyae Sone and Myo Yadana Htaik made the purchase with the assistance of Independence Law Office in Bangkok, transferring 74,000 baht to the firm through Kasikornbank, JFM said.

On paper, the home on a 450-square-metre lot at Issara Residence Rama 9 is owned by Emerald Princess Co Ltd, a company set up on Dec 1, 2022 as a proxy for the son and daughter-in-law of Min Aung Hlaing, according to the rights group.

The sole director of Emerald Princess at the time was Krit Hongjanya, executive vice-president of sales and marketing at Charn Issara. The company was incorporated in the Charn Issara headquarters building, Issara Tower II, according to documents reviewed by JFM.

Emerald Princess is registered as a wholesale trading business and has no stated connection to real estate, according to Thai company records.

Justice for Myanmar said Charn Issara did not respond to requests for comment.

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The deal was structured to shield the identities of the buyers and their sources of funds, making it possible for the family to bypass Thai legal prohibitions against foreigners owning land, JFM said.

The use of a nominee structure for the purchase, through Emerald Princess, circumvents Thailand’s prohibitions on foreign land ownership, and may amount to criminal offences under Section 113 of the Land Code Act and Section 36 of the Foreign Business Act, JFM said.

The group said the purchase also flies in the face of the regime’s attempts to crack down on the sale and purchase of Thai condominiums by Myanmar nationals.

Four Myanmar nationals were arrested in 2024 for selling and buying Thai condominiums, with authorities in Nay Pyi Taw accusing them of creating instability in Myanmar’s currency markets and of opening Thai bank accounts without permission from the Central Bank of Myanmar.

Min Aung Hlaing’s son, Aung Pyae Sone, also owns a luxury condominium in the Belle Grand Rama 9 development in Bangkok. The title deed for the unit was found in Tun Min Latt’s possession when his own home in the same building was raided in September 2022.

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An examination of land records confirm that Aung Pyae Sone’s condo has been frozen since September 2024 for non-payment of tax, but further action needs to be taken by Thai authorities to seize the asset.