Thai Government Moves to Legitimize War-Criminal Junta Leader Min Aung Hlaing
◾️ Recognized by the Thai Government, but Rejected by the Thai People: Min Aung Hlaing, the 'Murderer'"
The people of Myanmar continue to endure brutal oppression under a military dictatorship. Every day, they face violence, grave human rights violations, and war crimes at the hands of the junta.
Therefore, Myanmar people both inside the country and abroad have continuously urged the EU, ASEAN, neighboring countries, and the international community not to recognize coup leader Min Aung Hlaing, not to grant him legitimacy, and not to provide any support that would help prolong the military dictatorship.
The Thai government, which owns a 51% stake in PTT, transfers at least US$55 million every month to the Myanmar military junta through gas revenues. The junta uses these payments as hard currency to purchase weapons, aviation fuel, and military aircraft that it deploys against civilians. Since 1989, Thailand has served as one of the military junta's strongest financial backers, helping successive military dictatorships sustain their grip on power. That support continues today.
Now, the Thai government has openly chosen to ignore the demands of the people of Myanmar and provide political support to the dictatorship.
The Myanmar military junta, led by Min Aung Hlaing, continues to commit widespread human rights violations and atrocities every day. These crimes have spilled across the Thailand–Myanmar border and destabilized the wider ASEAN region. Despite knowing the consequences, the Thai government has chosen to look the other way. Instead, it has welcomed a perpetrator of genocide in pursuit of its own business interests.
Min Aung Hlaing has failed to implement even a single point of ASEAN's Five-Point Consensus. Nevertheless, ASEAN continues to engage with him on matters concerning Myanmar, while Thailand has invited him under the title of "President." These actions help restore Min Aung Hlaing's international legitimacy and pave the way for his political rehabilitation. In doing so, the Thai government also undermines ASEAN's own commitments under the Five-Point Consensus.
While the people of Myanmar continue to call on international companies to stop paying gas revenues to the junta-controlled Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) and reject new oil and gas projects, Thailand's Northern Gulf Petroleum has established its subsidiary Gulf Petroleum Myanmar and now operates the existing Yetagun Gas Project. On 29 May 2025, Gulf Petroleum Myanmar also signed a Production Sharing Contract with MOGE for the new Min Ye Thu Project, creating another source of blood-stained revenues. In addition, on 31 July 2026, Thailand's state-owned PTTEP signed an agreement for the Aung Thein Kha Project in Offshore Block M-3 in the Gulf of Mottama.
Moreover, as Thailand seeks membership in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), it is contravening OECD standards by conducting business with the sanctioned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) under signed agreements.
In summary, the Thai government is helping to legitimize war criminal Min Aung Hlaing politically, while Thai gas companies continue to provide financial support for the military junta’s violence, war crimes, and atrocities against the people of Myanmar.
Recognizing and engaging with Min Aung Hlaing will not bring genuine peace to Myanmar. Instead, it will prolong the military dictatorship.
We urge the people of Thailand to call on their government and Thai energy companies to immediately end their support for Myanmar’s military junta and stop enabling its human rights violations and war crimes.
The Blood Money campaign, together with the people, urges the Thai government to stop enabling Myanmar’s military junta to gain political legitimacy through gas-project revenues and immediately end all forms of political, financial, and economic support that enable the junta to commit ongoing atrocities.
