A hotel owned by the son of coup leader Min Aung Hlaing hosted a ceremony over the weekend as part of what the regime has billed as the resumption of Myanmar’s tourism industry, state media reported on Monday.
The regime’s tourism minister Maung Maung Ohn attended the ceremony at the Azura Beach Resort, The Mirror newspaper said. The hotel is one of the largest resorts at Chaung Thar beach in Ayeyarwady region.
Myanmar’s tourism industry, already devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic, has been brought to a total standstill since the February 1 coup along with numerous other parts of the economy.
Striking workers intent on toppling the regime have shut banks, factories, hospitals and shops and even brought trains to a halt.
Earlier this month the US imposed sanctions against Min Aung Hlaing’s two adult children – his son Aung Pyae Sone and his daughter Khin Thiri Thet Mon – as well as six of their businesses.
The sanctions were a response to the military’s murderous attacks on peaceful protesters, which have so far killed more than 250 people.
But rights groups say the measures do not go far enough and have called for sanctions on all military-owned companies, as well as rules to force foreign oil and gas companies to stop financing the regime.
Justice For Myanmar, a group of human rights activists, has called on hotel booking sites to remove the Azura Beach Resort from their listings.
Since his father became commander-in-chief in 2011, Aung Pyae Sone has also founded companies in trade, medical equipment, construction and entertainment.
He owns the Sky One construction company as well as A&M Mahar, a health and wellness company that obtains permits for foreign pharmaceutical companies to operate in Myanmar.
He was also granted a permit to lease public land at People’s Park in Yangon for well below its market value.
He paid less than 17 kyat per square foot for the land where he runs the Yangon Restaurant and Yangon Gallery. Similar leases in the area have cost almost 4,000 kyat per square foot.
Aung Pyae Sone also runs the Kan Tharyar hospital near Inya lake in Yangon, and is reportedly the biggest shareholder in telecoms operator Mytel, a joint venture between Myanmar’s military and Viettel, which is owned by Vietnam’s army.
