People in over 90 villages in Thanbyuzayat township paid monthly fees to the military junta to avoid military service

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🟥 People in Yangon and Mandalay cities are being also collected annual fees from those who want to avoid military servic

All households in villages in Thanbyuzayat Township, Mon State, are being reportedly paid a monthly fee to the military junta to avoid military service and being drafted.

It is also reported that villages in Thanbyuzayat Township have started paying military service fees since February 2024, when the military junta enacted the Military Service Law.

In addition, there are at least 95 villages in Thanbyuzayat Township, most of which are large villages with an average of at least 3,000 households per village.

The villagers pay 5,000 kyats per household per month to the ward cheifs, who then pay it to the officials of the No. 4 Military Training School based in Weakali Village, which is responsible for the administration and military operations in Thanbyuzayat Township.

“The villages in Thanbyuzayat Township, Mon State, pay 5,000 kyats per household per month as military service fee. To put it simply, they are trying to prevent young people from entering the village and forcing them to serve in the military. Then the village chiefs go to the principal of the 4th Military Training School in the central region,”

a local told BBM. Some of the military training money is used to buy back young people who have come from Ayeyarwaddy Region and work there, replacing them with military trainees.

In addition, officials from the No. 4 Military Training Academy in Weakali, Thanbyuzayat Township have reportedly ordered locals not to leak the news about the forced military service fee, threatening to recruit new recruits if it is leaked.

“The money they earn is used to hire people who come from the Ayeyarwady Region to serve in the military, so we don’t hear about porters or forced arrests in Thanbyuzayat Township.They are stabbing the public in the neck and demanding money. There are also those who have said that they will arrest them if the news leaks out,”

a local told BBM. In addition, in some big cities like Yangon and Mandalay, those who can afford it are paying monthly fees to the military junta and ward administraters to avoid military service.

In Insein and other townships in Yangon, those who do not want to vote for military service are being paid 5,000 kyats per month or 60,000 kyats per year, a local told BBM.

“We are paying them in the form of understanding, we pay them about 60,000 kyats a year, but if we pay them, we are afraid of being exposed if we go out, and we are afraid because it is a long-term situation,”

a local told BBM. The military junta implemented the Military Service Law in 2024 after the major defeat in northern Shan during the 1027 Operation, and some observers say that more than 60,000 young people have been recruited through this law.