Laukkai recovers by fits and starts under MNDAA

In Laukkai, northern Shan State, the Kokang ethnic organisation that took control in January is working to consolidate its control by eliminating vestiges of the old, junta-backed system and prevailing way of life before its takeover. With a ceasefire in force over the past two months, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA)—an armed organisation of ethnic Kokang fighters that captured Laukkai from junta forces in January—claims to have started demolition operations. They have dismantled and removed signs, stalls, and buildings put in place under the old, Myanmar military-backed system. MNDAA issued a statement in Mandarin on its Facebook page on February 28 detailing how they had removed signs throughout Laukkai bearing the military-designated name “Kokang Self-Administered Zone” over the previous two days, as well as billboards, signboards, stalls, and advertisements promoting gambling or “pornographic” lewdness. The MNDAA captured Laukkai, which is located on the China-Myanmar border and served as the administrative capital of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone (SAZ), in January of this year as part of a coordinated offensive against the Myanmar military dubbed “Operation 1027.” In Myanmar’s military-drafted 2008 constitution, the Kokang SAZ was designated for autonomous self-government by the Kokang people, a Mandarin-speaking ethnic community in northern Shan State whom the people of Myanmar sometimes call the “Kokang Chinese.” Once known as a gambling city with casinos frequented by large clienteles from both Myanmar and China, Laukkai deteriorated into a criminal haven for extensive online scam operations and labour trafficking, before becoming a war-torn combat zone as the MNDAA clashed with junta forces for control of the area. Laukkai fell under the full control of the MNDAA, also sometimes called the “Kokang Army,” following the surrender of high-ranking junta officers and troops in the Laukkai-based Regional Operations Command (ROC) headquarters on January 4. More than 2,100 junta soldiers—including Laukkai ROC commander Brig-Gen Mo Kyaw Thu, Kokang SAZ acting chief Brig-Gen Tun Tun Myint, Light Infantry Division 55 commander Brig-Gen Zaw Myo Win, and three other brigadier generals—surrendered to the Kokang Army that day. Only a week after the capture of Laukkai, Operation 1027 came to a halt in northern Shan State on January 11, when the MNDAA and its allies agreed to a Chinese government-brokered ceasefire with the Myanmar military, named the “Haigeng agreement” after the town in China’s Yunnan Province where it was negotiated. Since taking control of the town from junta forces, the MNDAA has redefined the area designated as the Kokang SAZ, including Laukkai, as “Special Region 1” of Shan State, Myanmar, and established a regional administrative committee to govern it. Special Region 1, as defined by the MNDAA, consists of four districts currently under MNDAA control—Kokang, Mongko, Kutkai and Hsenwi—with Laukkai located in the Kokang District. Demolition of the ‘Bamar section’ The demolition conducted by the MNDAA in Laukkai in the last week of February was not limited to taking down billboards and signs left over from the old, junta-backed SAZ system. They went further in the “Bamar section” of Paunghpon Road, which is named for and home to most of Laukkai’s Bamar community, the ethnic majority in Myanmar. Despite this name, the Bamar section is home to people from a diverse array of ethnic backgrounds including Rakhine, Kokang, Shan, and Pa-O as well as Bamar people. Laukkai locals said the Bamar section has been an established part of Laukkai since Peng Jiasheng—also known as Pheung Kya-Shin, the founder and former leader of the MNDAA who died in 2022—was serving as the administrative chairman of an earlier manifestation of Kokang Special Region 1 between 1989 and 1993. Portrait of Peng Jiasheng (Photo: The Kokang) On March 9, MNDAA officials informed homeowners in the Bamar section that structures in the area were obstructing the roads and causing traffic congestion. On March 17, they drove a bulldozer into the area and began to demolish stalls and buildings that they said were blocking the way. Pro-junta propaganda channels on the Telegram social media platform portrayed the MNDAA’s demolition of the Bamar section as anti-Bamar discrimination. MNDAA spokesperson Li Kyar Win denied that there was any intention to target Bamar people. Responding to media inquiries about the matter, the spokesperson said that the intent in demolishing parts of the Bamar section is to promote regional development. Before the demolition began, the Bamar section extended for more than 850 feet along Paungphon Road and included at least 60 homes as well as featuring a variety of businesses such as money transfer bureaus and shops for phones, stationery, beer, food, gold jewellery and auto parts. On February 28, the MNDAA released photos on Facebook with a statement in Mandarin claiming they were “cleaning up and removing irregular billboards and illegal buildings in the city” as well as any signs “containing the name of the original fake regime ‘Kokang Self-Administered Zone’” to “avoid misleading the masses and foreign businessmen, and at the same time improve the cultural image of the urban area”. (Photo: MNDAA/Facebook) Owners of the homes and businesses affected by the demolition told Myanmar Now that they feel entitled to compensation from the MNDAA in the form of cash or new land where they can resettle, but the MNDAA has made no indication that it intends to provide compensation. Checkpoints and high prices Laukkai is struggling to recover economically and function at the same level of activity that prevailed before the recent armed conflict between MNDAA and junta forces. According to Laukkai locals, while there used to be Myanmar-based phone services available in Laukkai, only Chinese phone services are still usable. Parts of the city also still lack access to electricity. Laukkai’s casinos—formerly a major driver of the region’s economy—have not yet reopened, and only small businesses have begun operating again, according to one resident. “The current situation in Laukkai town is such that there are no investors, which stops construction projects from resuming,” the local source said. “People have reopened small businesses in the market for their livelihood, such as noodle shops, food shops, hair salons, automotive repair shops, and so forth.” To enter Laukkai, people from other parts of Myanmar currently have to present documents from an employer residing in Laukkai vouching for them and endorsing their stay in the town. The employer’s endorsement essentially functions as an assurance that a worker is not an agent of the Myanmar military regime, and must specify the industry and location where the worker is employed. Staying in Laukkai also requires a residence card recognised by MNDAA authorities with a duration of one month. A Laukkai local said that armed MNDAA personnel manning the checkpoints at the town’s entrance often turn away people arriving from other parts of the country. “Though they say workers can come to Laukkai with their employers’ approval, many have been unable to enter the town,” he said. “Security personnel guarding the gate say that they do not know how to read the letter of endorsement written in Chinese issued by Kokang authorities but will not grant entry to someone with only Burmese documents.” The shutdown of the Lashio-Hsenwi-Kunlong road has also restricted access to Laukkai, according to an employee at a bus station that serves passengers travelling to the town. He added that people coming to Laukkai now have to use the Lashio-Mongyaw-Kunlong or Lashio-Tangyan-Pangsang-Namtik-Chinshwehaw routes. Anyone travelling the Lashio-Mongyaw-Kunlong road has to go through at least 35 checkpoints controlled by the MNDAA and other ethnic armed groups allied with it such as the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, Arakan Army, or Kachin Independence Army, according to another man living in Laukkai. “Before the war, vehicle fare was only 50,000 kyat [US $24]. Now it’s 400,000 kyat to 600,000 kyat [US $190 to $285],” he said, adding that the price of a bag of rice has doubled from around 300 Chinese yuan to around 600. Laukkai is showing signs of recovery despite these challenges. Of the thousands of residents who fled the town during Operation 1027, when the MNDAA was conducting assaults on junta positions in the town, most have returned and resettled in their old homes. A Chinese-language school, a school named in memory of Peng Jiasheng, and Chinese-language hospitals have also reopened in the city. When Myanmar Now asked a resident of Laukkai whether he was happy to be freed from the junta, he replied, “Kokang residents are happy because they now enjoy more freedom than before. However, those who come from other parts of Myanmar are unable to work, and the high cost of living only adds to their troubles.”

Laukkai recovers by fits and starts under MNDAA

While dismantling and removing remnants of the old regime backed by the junta, the Kokang Army has also demolished a neighbourhood with ethnic minority inhabitants and severely restricted access to the city from other parts of Myanmar

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