Anutin hails Pheu Thai connection

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BJT’still faithful’ amid issues

Described: 20 Apr 2025 at 05 :12

Bhumjaithai Party leader Anutin Charnvirakul extends Thai New Year greetings to Prime Minister and Pheu Thai Party leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra at Government House on April 10. (Photo: Government House)
Bhumjaithai Party chief Anutin Charnvirakul extends Thai New Year welcome to Prime Minister and Pheu Thai Party leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra at Government House on April 10. ( Photo: Government House )

Bhumjaithai ( BJT) Party leader Anutin Charnvirakul has dismissed talk of a rift with Pheu Thai, reaffirming close ties and continued cooperation with the ruling party.

In a message posted on Instagram on Saturday, constitutional professional Paisal Puechmongkol said he was invited by Mr Anutin, who serves as interior secretary and deputy prime minister, to the Interior Ministry office for lunch.

Mr Paisal said Mr Anutin told him he has no problem working as a member of the partnership state and he has been on excellent terms with former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the de facto leader of Pheu Thai.

Recently, conflicts between Pheu Thai and Bhumjaithai have escalated following Bhumjaithai secretary-general Chaichanok Chidchob’s declaration that he disagreed with the government-sponsored leisure complex costs.

This has prompted Pheu Thai heavyweights to issue the loyalty of their partnership partner.

From the outset, both factions have clashed over some important issues, including Pheu Thai’s try to categorize cannabis as a opiate, despite Bhumjaithai backing its decriminalisation as a premier plan. There are also land issues involving vital group numbers that have widened the cut.

However, speculation has also been rife that a government change will take place following the no-confidence argument against the state last month.

Among the officials tipped to lose their jobs are Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira and Commerce Minister Pichai Naripthaphan, options said, adding that a well-known banks professional may be approached to become a new finance minister.

The options also said the Klatham Party, with Capt Thamanat Prompow as its main director, properly be rewarded with government seats in the shake-up for convincing some rogue MPs from the opposition to help Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra during the trust vote.

The sources said Klatham wants its leader Narumon Pinyosinwat, who currently serves as Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister, to replace Mr Pichai as commerce minister.

In return, the party is ready to give up the post of deputy agriculture minister, currently held by Akkhara Prompow, the younger brother of Capt Thamanat, to Pheu Thai, the sources said.

The sources also said Jakrapob Penkair, a former PM’s Office minister, may be appointed as foreign affairs minister replacing the incumbent Maris Sangiampongsa.

Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai on Saturday played down talk of a cabinet reshuffle, saying the PM will have a final say on the matter.

” The PM never discussed it. No one can speak on her behalf,” said Mr Phumtham, who doubles as deputy prime minister. Asked if unity among coalition parties remain intact, he said:” It has always been so”.

Sources at Pheu Thai said speculation was rife that Mr Phumtham could replace Mr Anutin as interior minister in a reshuffle. When the Srettha government was formed after the 2023 election, Mr Phumtham was initially tipped for the interior minister post, the sources said.

However, it remains unclear whether Bhumjaithai will be booted out of the coalition government or whether its cabinet seats will be reallocated in the new cabinet reshuffle, the sources said. No word was to hand on when a reshuffle might take place.

Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, leader of the opposition People’s Party, said the coalition’s two largest parties– Pheu Thai and Bhumjaithai– still have to depend on each other’s numbers in the House to maintain coalition stability until the end of parliament’s term.

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Commentary: Xi Jinping’s visit to Vietnam is not all about Donald Trump

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VIETNAM’S SUBTLE SHIFT

Xi’s attend offered Vietnam an opportunity to stable Chinese support for its ambitious growth plan. Foremost among Hanoi’s priorities is advancing investment-led rise over the coming century, enabling improved system assistance with China.

While Vietnam has usually approached China ’s Belt and Road Initiative with precaution, recent developments suggest a simple change.

This is reflected in various cooperation agreements signed during Xi’s attend, covering road transportation, energy infrastructure, seaports, logistics, aviation, and somewhat, the establishment of a joint committee on railway cooperation.

The committee’s concern is the development of cross-border trains linking China to major cities in north Vietnam, with Chinese technical support and concessional loans. This time around, Hanoi has clearly emphasised China ’s technology transfer and capacity building, aiming to increase domestic firms ’ involvement in its upcoming premier task: the North-South high-speed rail.

Another key priority for Hanoi is increasing Vietnamese firms ’ integration into high-value supply chains in sectors where China already commands technological and industrial leadership, such as high-speed railways, artificial intelligence, and green technologies.

Like China, Vietnam is nurturing its national economic champions, including Viettel and FPT in tech sectors, VinFast in EVs and Hoa Phat in steelmaking. Vietnamese leaders are intent on steering these firms beyond being mere technology adopters to become technology innovators capable of capturing greater value shares, particularly in Vietnam’s rapidly expanding market.

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Police bust Indian scam gang for kidnapping

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Seven shot after ambitious suicide plot unravels

An Indian con group has been arrested in Thailand after abducting two fellow people and demanding a payment of 2. 5 million rupees ( approximately 976,000 baht ) for each victim.

Pol Lt Gen Sayam Boonsom, director of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, confirmed the imprisonment of six American citizens and one Bangladeshi nationwide, including the alleged mastermind, 32-year-old Deep Sandhu.

Authorities rescued the two patients on Friday during a raid on a rented home in Samut Prakan, where a second Indian target was also discovered.

The second two sufferers– Ramesh Sharma, 48, and Amandeep Kajal, 27– had travelled to Thailand on April 5 with a colleague, Sanjeev Kumar, 27. They first stayed at a motel in Sathon before moving to another resort in Silom on April 11.

On April 14, an American man picked up Mr Sharma and Mr Kajal, telling them they were to board a flight to Vietnam. Mr Kumar, who later reported their departure, did not join them as he did not possess a card, authorities said.

On April 16, the captors used WhatsApp to give a cold threat to Mr Sharma’s girl: pay the ransom or the people’s lives would be at hazard.

Authorities launched an investigation, analysing CCTV footage and working in cooperation with immigration officials and communications providers.

Pol Maj Gen Chotiwat Luangwilai, captain of the Investigation Division of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, led the procedure to track down and assault Mr Sandhu in Bang Lamung area, Chon Buri, where he had sent the bribery information.

Data retrieved from Mr Sandhu’s cellular telephone confirmed he had contacted the victims and their families via WhatsApp. Investigation led authorities to discover the subjects had been held prisoner in Samut Prakan.

Officers were able to save three subjects: Mr Sharma and Mr Kajal, and a fourth, lured from Suvarnabhumi Airport, was identified as Vipulkumar Shambhulal Patel, 41, even an American nationwide.

During raids in Chon Buri and Samut Prakan, police arrested seven suspects: Deep Sandhu, Simranjit Singh, 35 ( India ), Gurwinder Singh, 35 ( India ), Nitin Salaria, 36 ( India ), Muhammad Afzal, 57 ( Pakistan ), and two other Indian nationals identified only as Sourav, 26, and Abhishek, 25.

Police have charged the suspects with several major offences, including joint immoral detention, attempted extortion, push another to act against their will, and being part of a legal gang. The suspects denied the claims.

Yannawa authorities have requested their confinement at Bangkok South Criminal Court and opposed loan, citing concerns the offenders have no lasting property and may attempt to flee.

Pol Maj Gen Wasant Techa-akarakasem, assistant director of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, said the group posed as task agents, offering job opportunities worldwide. They told the patients they needed to remain briefly in Bangkok to practice documents before travelling onward.

The suspects are accused of threatening their patients with murder and mutilation while detaining them in a rented house and contacting their families in India to desire 1 million ringgit each for their discharge.

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New push to up durian exports

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Govt asks China to rest chemical limits

Described: 20 Apr 2025 at 03:30

Durian growing Chanthaburi province is among the businesses that foreign investors have been moving into, with Thai proxies allegedly used to secure ownership of orchards. (File photo)
Durian growing Chanthaburi state is among the companies that overseas investors have been moving into, with Thai proxies reportedly used to secure possession of trees. ( File photo )

The state is looking to expand durian exports to China– Thailand’s biggest consumer of the fruits– and has asked Taiwanese authorities to rest chemical contaminants testing of Thai durians, says the Commerce Ministry.

Minister Pichai Naripthaphan said he met Wu Zhiwu, Consul-General of the People’s Republic of China, and Zhang Xiaoxiao, Counsellor at the Economic and Commercial Office of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, on Friday.

He took along durians of the monthong range– popular among Chinese consumers– for them to feel. He said the consul-general was pleased with the quality of the fruit and admired their unique flavour.

The government wants to see citrus exports to China continue to grow at a steady rate.

Mr Pichai said he has been in normal conversation with Mr Wu to find ways to speed edible exports to China.

He has appealed to China to calm the thorough testing of Thai fruit for chemical contaminants and promote the customs approach.

The secretary said more technology and manpower properly be deployed for screening at boundary checkpoints, especially during the edible season when export volumes top. Mr Pichai said Chinese authorities have advised the government to observe brokers who purchase fruits from producers for trade.

Agents with a good reputation for supplying fruits that are rarely, if ever, tainted with pesticides may be subject to strange quality checks only, instead of full checks. The advice may be conveyed to the Department of Agriculture, he said.

Mr Pichai added the Department of International Trade Promotion ( DITP ) has also launched a campaign to boost online sales of durians in the Chinese market via social media and live-streaming platforms, with the help of online influencers.

The plan aims to build customer confidence in Thai fruit, highlighting the taste and quality that set them apart from competition. China accounted for 97. 4 % of Thailand’s full edible imports last month.

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Phuket tourism off to strong start

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Discussed: 20 Apr 2025 at 07 :05

Tourists in Phuket (photo: Achadthaya Chuenniran)
Tourists in Phuket ( photo: Achadthaya Chuenniran )

The Tourism Authority of Thailand ( TAT ) Phuket Office has reported a robust start to 2025, with tourism revenue reaching 149 billion baht in the first quarter.

A full of 3. 89 million tourists, both domestic and international, travelled to Phuket between January and March, said TAT Phuket producer Siriwan Seeharach.

” Phuket receives 17,000 to 18,000 foreign visitors per day, and approximately 8,000 to 10,000 Thai visitors per day. We hope these figures did boost,” she said.

Invoice Phuket is shifting its target towards the private sector, especially younger Thai tourists with lifestyle-oriented preferences, to maintain momentum through the Green Season running from April to October.

” We want to get a new era of Thai tourists with activities that combination knowledge, nature, and neighborhood,” she said.

Kicking off the winter was the” Phuket SUP Rally: Sail in Paradise”, held on the first trip of this month at the mangrove-lined Tha Chat Chai area, targeting affluent adventure-seekers.

This is followed by” Sip & Chill: Zoociety”, a three-day live event running from Friday to Sunday at Saphan Hin Public Park, in partnership with Phuket City city.

She said the Sip & Chill is in its next month. The event features 50 foods and life suppliers, local seminars, and live beachside music. Po expects the event to make 2 million ringgit in income this season, up from 1. 7 million ringgit in 2024.

Later in the year, the company may promote the internationally renowned Phuket Vegetarian Festival, with expanded advertising attempts in partnership with TAT headquarters and regional hospitality associations.

Globally, Phuket continues to bring visitors from Russia, China, India, the UK, Germany, and the Middle East, which is showing a post-Ramadan treatment.

The Chinese industry is stabilising with more non-group visit guests, while US and Kazakh industry even remain strong, she said.

However, Phuket government Sophon Suwannarat reported zero casualties during the Songkran Festival, despite 45 street injuries.

However, concerns remain after a leasing technician allowed a 14-year-old European tourist to rent a vehicle.

The rental technician was fined 2,000 ringgit.

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BMTA to replace fleet with EVs

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Discussed: 20 Apr 2025 at 07 :16

NEWSPAPER SECTION: News

The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority ( BMTA ) will replace its natural gas-powered ( NGV ) buses with electric-powered ( EV ) air-conditioned buses, with the first batch of 500 EV buses set for delivery this year.

BMTA chairman Mr Kittikan Chomdoung Charuworapolkul provided an update on development in the firm’s strategy to rent energy cars as part of a move away from NGV cars.

The revised strategy– then favouring fresh power– has been submitted to the Ministry of Transport. The Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning ( OTP ) is compiling details of the plan before the ministry forwards it to the Secretariat of the Cabinet ( SoC ).

Mr Kittikan said the update was needed to understand the logic for switching to Vehicle trucks without altering the original finances or project scope. The first phase includes leasing 1,520 electric buses under a seven-year ( 2025–2032 ) contract via e-bidding, with a total budget of 15. 3 billion ringgit.

While the initial plan to include the job in commission’s agenda was scheduled for early last quarter, difficulties during the evaluation process have pushed the timetable again.

Despite the pause, Mr Kittikan said the BMTA may get the first 500 Vehicle cars this year, with the rest to get delivered by next year.

As part of its broader objective to phase out obsolete cars, the BMTA aims to leave 60 % of its combustion-engine ship– totalling 2,300 trucks– by 2029. The move towards EV cars is projected to support the BMTA reduce fuel and maintenance fees. Vehicle cars are three days cheaper to run than combustion-engine cars.

The BMTA runs a full of 2,884 cars, including 1,520 non-air-conditioned cars and 1,364 air-conditioned people.

The company is also optimising its present bus routes and routines to better meet customer need and further reduce gas consumption.

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US and Ukraine will sign critical minerals deal next week: Donald Trump

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Weeks after a tense and widely televised spat with Ukraine’s leader during a meeting expected to lead to a critical minerals deal, Donald Trump announced that the long-awaited agreement would be signed next week.

“We have a minerals deal which I guess is going to be signed on Thursday,” the US president said during an Oval Office meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Thursday. “And I assume they’re going to live up to the deal.”

Shortly after Trump’s remarks, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister and economy minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, posted on social media that the two countries had virtually signed a memorandum as a first step towards the agreement.

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“We are happy to announce the filing, with our British lovers, of a document of purpose, which paves the way for an economic partnership agreement and the creation of the investment bank for the restoration of Ukraine, ” Svyrydenko wrote.

The joint US-Ukraine development deal grants American companies access to Ukraine’s vast mineral reserves and authorises them to take part in rebuilding the war-torn country ’s infrastructure.

It comes as Trump pushes Kyiv for compensation in return for the military aid and support provided by his predecessor, Joe Biden.

The US spent US$ 119. 7 billion on aid between January 2022 and December 2024, according to the Kiel Institute, a German-based think tank tracking support going to Ukraine.

However, Trump has claimed that the US has given Ukraine more than US$ 300 billion over the same time frame.

The pact coincides with worsening US-China relations, fuelled by escalating trade disputes, tit-for-tat tariffs and Beijing’s tightening grip on critical mineral exports.

Critical minerals are essential to the US economy, national security, and clean energy. Many are imported and prone to supply disruptions.

Though details of the deal are not known, Ukraine holds about 5 per cent of the world’s critical raw materials, according to a 2024 report by the World Economic Forum.

These include graphite, titanium, beryllium, and uranium as well as rare earth metals used in weapons, wind turbines and electronics.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) and US President Donald Trump failed to reach a critical minerals deal after at the White House on February 28. Photo: Pool Via CNP via ZUMA Press Wire/TNS

China dominates the global rare earths market, both in mining and refining. It produces about 61 per cent of the world’s rare earths and handles 92 per cent of the global refining process, according to the International Energy Agency.

In response to Beijing’s export restrictions on six essential minerals imposed on April 4, Trump ordered a review of potential new tariffs on critical minerals imported to the US.

Last week, the US and Ukraine met in Washington to negotiate the deal. The meeting was “antagonistic”, according to a Reuters report, which said the new draft deal was more “expansive” than the one Kyiv rejected in February after a falling-out between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Trump has been ambivalent about the bigger issue of Ukraine’s security.

During his meeting with Trump in February, Zelensky asked for US security guarantees, like Western peacekeeping forces on the ground and protection against future attacks from Moscow.

But it has been reported that this key request will not be included in the final deal.

Russia, having launched its invasion in February 2022, now occupies 20 per cent of Ukrainian territory.

In recent weeks, Zelensky has accused China of supplying weapons and soldiers to Russia. Beijing has rejected the claims as “totally unfounded”.

[embedded content]

On Thursday, US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce, who earlier this month called China an “enabler ” in the war and said it provided “80 per cent of [Russia’s ] dual-use items”, declined to comment further on the issue.

“I’m not going to get into the specifics of what sectors that is in, but I think we’ve been very clear about our concern regarding China”, said Bruce when asked about Kviy’s allegations that Beijing was directly supporting Moscow ’s war effort.

The new minerals deal would arrive at a pivotal time as the Trump administration intensifies efforts to broker a ceasefire with the Kremlin.

Asked about a peace plan to resolve the Ukraine war and the imposition of US sanctions on Russia, which Trump seeks to involve in the plan, the president on Thursday said “we’re going to be hearing from them this week… very shortly, actually, and we’ll see”.

“We want the death and the killing to stop, ” Trump added.

The US leader’s muted remarks on Thursday followed a sharper critique he gave on Monday, when he blasted Moscow and Kyiv for failing to end the war.

“That’s a war that should have never been allowed to start and Biden could have stopped it and Zelensky could have stopped it and Putin should have never started it, ” Trump said. “Everybody is to blame. ”

Last week, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In an interview with Fox News on Monday, Witkoff described his five-hour meeting with Putin as “compelling,” saying he believed a peace deal was “emerging”.

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Pakistan expels tens of thousands of Afghans

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7 days before
Yama Bariz

BBC World Service

Reporting fromTorkham border crossing
BBC A scene at the Torkham crossing, showing people on foot carrying items including buckets, bottles, sacks and parcels. There is a bus and another large vehicle in the background.BBC

Pakistan has deported more than 19,500 Afghans this quarter, among more than 80,000 who have left back of a 30 April date, according to the UN.

Pakistan has accelerated its drive to eliminate undocumented Afghans and those who had momentary permission to stay, saying it can no longer manage.

Between 700 and 800 people are being deported regularly, Taliban leaders say, with up to two million people expected to follow in the coming weeks.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar flew to Kabul on Saturday for speaks with Taliban authorities. His rival Amir Khan Muttaqi expressed “deep problem” about persecution.

Some expelled Afghans at the frontier said they had been born in Pakistan after their people fled issue.

More than 3. 5 million Afghans have been living in Pakistan, according to the UN’s immigrant organization, including around 700,000 people who came after the Taliban invasion in 2021. The UN estimates that quarter are undocumented.

Pakistan has taken in Afghans through decades of war, but the authorities says the great number of refugees then poses threats to national surveillance and causes strain on public services.

There has been a subsequent rise in border clashes between the security troops of both sides. Pakistan blames them on extremists based in Afghanistan, which the Taliban deny.

Pakistan’s foreign government said the two sides had “discussed all issues of mutual interest” in Saturday’s gathering in Kabul.

Pakistan had extended a deadline for illegal Afghans to leave the country by a quarter, to 30 April.

On the Torkham border passing, some expelled Afghans told the BBC they left Afghanistan decades ago- or had never lived there.

” I lived my entire life in Pakistan,” said Sayed Rahman, a second-generation migrant born and raised in Pakistan. ” I got married it. What am I supposed to do then? “

Saleh, a father of three sons, worried what living under Taliban rule may mean for them. His girls attended university in Pakistan’s Punjab state, but in Afghanistan, women over the age of 12 are barred from doing so.

” I want my children to study. I don’t like their years in school to go to waste,” he said. ” Everyone has the right to an education. “

Another person told the BBC:” Our kids have never seen Afghanistan and yet I don’t understand what it looks like again. It might take us a year or more to live in and get work. We feel vulnerable. “

At the frontier, men and women pass through individual walls, under the view of military Muslim and Afghan soldiers. Some of those returning were old – one man was carried across on a bed, another in a mattress.

Military vehicles shuttled people from the border to momentary shelters. Those previously from remote provinces stay there for several times, waiting for travel to their home regions.

People clustered under paintings to leave the 30C level warmth, as swirling sand caught in the eyes and mouth. Resources are stretched and fierce quarrels frequently break out over exposure to house.

Returnees receive between 4,000 and 10,000 Afghanis ( £41 to £104 ) from the Kabul authorities, according to Hedayatullah Yad Shinwari, a member of the camp’s Taliban-appointed finance committee.

The large imprisonment is placing considerable strain on Afghanistan’s unstable infrastructure, with an economy in problems and a community nearing 45 million people.

” We have resolved most problems, but the appearance of people in such large numbers inevitably brings issues,” said Bakht Jamal Gohar, the Taliban’s mind of immigrant matters at the cross. ” These people left decades ago and left all their belongings behind. Some of their homes were destroyed during 20 years of war. “

Almost every family told the BBC that Muslim border soldiers restricted what they could provide – a grievance echoed by some human rights groups.

Chaudhry said in reply that Pakistan did” not have any plan that prevents Afghan refugees from taking their family products with them”.

One person, sitting on the roads in the burning sun, said his youngsters had begged to stay in Pakistan, the land where they were born. They had been given momentary citizenship, but that expired in March.

” Then we’ll never get back. Never after how we were treated,” he said.

More reporting by Daniel Wittenberg and Mallory Moench

Map of Pakistan

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Executive of contractor for doomed Bangkok building arrested

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DSI also seeking three Thais who served as nominees in establishing local office of Taiwanese contractor

PUBLISHED: 19 Apr 2025 at 21:02

DSI investigators and Immigration officers speak with Zhang Chuanling, an executive of China Railway Engineering No.10 (Thailand) Co, following his arrest at a Bangkok hotel on Saturday. (Photo supplied/Wasayos Ngamkham)
DSI authorities and Immigration officials speak with Zhang Chuanling, an executive of China Railway Engineering No. 10 ( Thailand ) Co, following his arrest at a Bangkok hotel on Saturday. ( Photo supplied/Wasayos Ngamkham )

The Department of Special Investigation has arrested a Taiwanese professional of the design firm that was building the State Audit Office building in Bangkok, where dozens of people died when it collapsed during the March 28 disaster.

Zhang Chuanling was taken into custody at a resort in the Ratchadaphisek area of the money on Saturday, the DSI announced.

He is one of four persons sought on arrest warrants for being nominations of China Railway No. 10 ( Thailand ) Co ( CREC ).

The three individuals are Thai citizens: Manas Sri-anan, Prachuap Sirikhet and Sophon Meechai, according to the DSI.

The four were listed as managers of the Thai company of the Chinese state-owned building company, which was in a cooperative venture with SET-listed Italian-Thai Development Plc. The two companies formed the ITD-CREC partnership that was building the 30-storey State Audit Office office in Chatuchak city of Bangkok.

The company target of CREC was listed as Soi Phutthabucha in the Bang Mod region of Thung Khru region in Bangkok. The DSI research into the ownership structure of the organization found 51 % of the stocks were held by Thai citizens: Sophon ( 40. 7997 % ), Prachuap ( 10. 2 % ) and Manas ( 0. 0003 % ). Mr Zhang held the remaining 49 %.

The DSI said on Saturday that its authorities had looked into the shareholdings by Thai contenders and questioned witnesses. They said they had much evidence to believe the use of contenders, in violation of the Foreign Business Act of 1999.

They finally obtained authorization from the Criminal Court for arrest warrants for the four named managers of CREC.

Researchers tracked down Mr Zhang to a resort in the Ratchadaphisek place and took him to the DSI office on Chaeng Watthana Road in Bangkok for questioning.

A research is under way for the three different Thai managers.

Studies by various companies are also continuing into a variety of problems, including the suspected usage of poor material in the construction of the building.

At the decline site, however, rescue groups are now focusing on opening dust around the lift wheel, where the bodies of about 30 missing people are expected to be found.

Many more bodies were recovered on Friday, raising the dying burden to 47, with another 47 people still unaccounted for, according to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.

Investigators from the Department of Special Investigation escort Chuanling Zhang, a Chinese executive of China Railway No.10 (Thailand) Co, from a Bangkok hotel to the DSI headquarters on Saturday. (Photo supplied/Wassayos Ngamkham)

Researchers from the Department of Special Investigation chaperone Zhang Chuanling, an administrative of China Railway No. 10 ( Thailand ) Co, from a Bangkok hotel to the DSI headquarters on Saturday. ( Photo supplied/Wassayos Ngamkham )

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Myanmar’s capital Nay Pyi Taw to be redrawn following earthquake

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3 days before
Jamie Whitehead

BBC News

BBC Burmese
CINCDS Government building in Myanmar damaged by earthquake. CINCDS

The design of Myanmar’s investment capital Nay Pyi Taw may be redrawn after the devastating disaster last month, the government’s military king has said.

During a state meet, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said that properties which collapsed during the disaster were but badly affected because they were built on smooth ground.

Office properties will be rebuilt and must be immune to potential disasters, he said, with checks on land likewise being conducted before any restoration is done.

The BBC has seen data indicating about 70 % of government structures were damaged by the collapse in the funds, and some agencies have reportedly been moved to Yangon.

Myanmar was devastated by a huge earthquake which hit the country on 28 March. The 7. 7 magnitude quake was so strong it was felt in Thailand and south-west China.

According to state media, over 3,500 people were killed and 5,012 were injured in Myanmar as a result of the quake.

The city of Nay Pyi Taw covers at least four times the area of London, but with only a fraction of the people. Its history is short: it has only existed since 2005, raised out of the flatlands by the then military rulers of Myanmar, which was previously known as Burma.

Myanmar Military Council Several Myanmar military council staff look on at cracked roads in the capital after the massive earthquake. There are several cars in the background. Myanmar Military Council

The name Nay Pyi Taw means” seat of the king”. The reasons for moving the capital some 370km inland from the largest city, Yangon, have never been entirely clear.

The city bears all the hallmarks of a planned capital: the road leading from parliament to the presidential palace is 20 lanes wide, but carries hardly any traffic. Shiny shopping malls and empty luxury hotels line the boulevards. There’s a safari park, a zoo, and at least three stadiums.

Since 2021, Myanmar has been plagued by civil war between the junta, which seized power in a military coup, and ethnic militias and resistance forces across the country.

A 20-day ceasefire was declared by the military council on 2 April, following the announcement of a pause in hostilities by an alliance made up of three rebel groups.

The ceasefires were announced to help relief efforts, but the military has reportedly continued to attack rebel-held areas.

The military council’s photo archives show that several government buildings, including the Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Planning and the Court of the Union were severely damaged in the earthquake.

Most of the buildings are still in ruins as repair work on them has not yet started.

Map showing the locations of Nay Pyi Taw and Yangon in Myanmar. A full globe in the corner shows Mynamr's location in Asia.

The removal of important government documents has reportedly been ordered, along with equipment and other moveable items.

Reconstruction of the buildings could take years, and as a result, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Tourism have reportedly moved their offices to the former capital Yangon- 366km ( 228m ) away.

Other departments are relocating their offices to open air halls called “hotai” in Nay Pyi Taw, which are built with steel frames.

Social media posts written by staff at the National Museum in Nay Pyi Taw say they have moved inscriptions and manuscripts and are trying to save as many as possible of the tens of thousands of books, along with literature and computers.

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