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Myawaddy

Coordinates: 16°41′16″N 98°30′30″E / 16.68778°N 98.50833°E / 16.68778; 98.50833
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This article is about the town in Kayin State, Myanmar. For other uses, see Myawaddy (disambiguation).

Myawaddy
မြဝတီ
Myawadi
Township
Main Street looking east
Main Street looking east
Myawaddy is located in Myanmar
Myawaddy
Myawaddy
Location in Myanmar (Burma)
Coordinates: 16°41′16″N 98°30′30″E / 16.68778°N 98.50833°E / 16.68778; 98.50833
Country Myanmar
Division Kayin State
DistrictMyawaddy
TownshipMyawaddy Township
Area
 • Township
1.18 sq mi (3.1 km2)
Population
 (2019)[1]
 • Urban
55,638
 • Metro
149,510
Time zoneUTC+6.30 (MMT)

Myawaddy (Burmese: မြဝတီ; Thai: เมียวดี; RTGS: Mia-wadi; S'gaw Karen: ရၤမတံ; Phlone ဍုံမေဝ်ပ္တီ) is a town in southeastern Myanmar, in Kayin State, close to the border with Thailand. Separated from the Thai border town of Mae Sot by the Moei River (Thaungyin River), the town is the most important trading point between Myanmar and Thailand. Myawaddy is 170 kilometres (110 mi) east of Mawlamyine, the fourth largest city of Myanmar, and 426 kilometres (265 mi) northwest of Bangkok, the capital of Thailand.[2]

History

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On 6 August 2010, a bomb exploded in the car park of a crowded market in Myawaddy, killing two men and seriously injuring four others.[3]

On 5 April 2024, during the Myanmar civil war, a combined force of PDF and KNLA fighters captured major military bases on the outskirts of the city. Nearly 500 junta troops surrendered, leaving junta forces in Myawaddy isolated and under pressure.[4][5] On 10 April 2024, remaining junta forces withdrew from Myawaddy and retreated to the Thai border. The KNLA subsequently took control of the entire township.[6] Later reports indicate the KNLA never took the entire town.[7]

On 24 April, the town was recaptured by Junta forces, after the KNLA was forced to withdraw, after a heavy firefight.[8]

Economy

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Myawaddy is home to one of 7 official border trade posts with Thailand, and opened on 16 September 1998.[9] In 2022, total trade volume at the border post stood at US$1.872 billion, making it the second busiest trade port on the Thai-Burmese border after Htikhi.[10][11][12]

The border-crossing is a major route for the export of Myanmar's gems,[13] many of which have their claimed provenance changed once across the border.[14] The India–Myanmar–Thailand Trilateral Highway connection to Myawaddy opened in August 2015.[11]

Tourism

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Under an agreement between Thailand and Myanmar governments, travelers who cross the border from Myawaddy-Mae Sot Friendship bridge are allowed to stay in Mae Sot for seven days. The new agreement has been effective from October 2016.[15]

Crime

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Since the mid-2010s, Myawaddy has been home to unregulated casinos, which remain illegal in Myanmar.[16][17] In 2021, Myawaddy was home to at least 18 casinos.[18]

The area around Myawaddy has attracted significant investments in the form of Chinese gambling development projects, with ties to triads and crime syndicates, including Yatai New City, established by She Zhijiang, a convicted Chinese businessman; Saixigang Industrial Zone, linked to Wan Kuok-koi, a former triad leader; and Huanya International New City.[19][20] The nearby village of Shwe Kokko has become a major regional crime, human trafficking, and cyber scamming hub.[21][22]

KK Park, located in the nearby village of Mawhtotalay, has also emerged as a centre for cyber scams, human trafficking, online gambling, prostitution, and drugs.[23] Cyber-crime committed within the vicinity of Myawaddy includes pig butchering scams, which are run by Chinese crime gangs, which entrap people, predominantly ethnic Chinese, under false pretenses and then force them under threat of torture to convince victims to send large amounts of money to them.[24]

Healthcare

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The Thai–Myanmar Friendship Bridge linking Myawaddy with Mae Sot in Thailand.
The border gate in Myawaddy

Myawaddy District Hospital is a public hospital that serves people in Myawaddy township and its surrounding area.[25] Myawaddy Hospital's Operation Theater Building was constructed by the Japanese Government under the Japanese Government's Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP).[26] However, local people still cross the border to seek help at Dr Cynthia Maung's Mae Tao Charity Clinic in Mae Sot, Thailand, for better service.[27]

Demographics

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In the 2014 Myanmar census, Myawaddy Township had 195,624 people. The town itself had 113,070 people, 57.8% of the township's population.[28] In 2019, according to the General Administration Department, the population had dropped to 55,638 people in the town, with the township dropping overall to 149,510 people.[1]

Places of interest

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Myawaddy is home to the Migyaunggon or Crocodile Temple, known for its crocodile-shaped library building.[29][30] The town is also home to the Viewpoint Pagoda and Phra Mon Yoeun, a 20 m (66 feet) Mon-style Buddha image.[29]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Myanmar Information Management Unit (September 2019). Myawaddy Myone Daethasaingyarachatlatmya မြဝတီမြို့နယ် ဒေသဆိုင်ရာအချက်လက်များ [Myawaddy Township Regional Information] (PDF) (Report). MIMU. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  2. ^ PCL., Post Publishing. "Bangkok Post article". www.bangkokpost.com. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  3. ^ "Blast, Assassination Attempt Raise Border Tensions". Archived from the original on 2 March 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  4. ^ Myanmar military loses border town in another big defeat. April 6, 2024. BBC. Jonathan Head. Archived April 6, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Now, Myanmar (8 April 2024). "Hundreds of Myanmar junta troops surrender as KNU captures base near Myawaddy". Myanmar Now. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  6. ^ AFP. "Myanmar Junta Troops Withdraw From Myawaddy Following Clashes".
  7. ^ Quinley, Caleb. "A sanctioned strongman and the 'fall' of Myanmar's Myawaddy". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  8. ^ Paddock, Richard C. (24 April 2024). "Myanmar's Junta Recaptures Town That Was a Significant Gain for Rebels". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  9. ^ "Border Trade Posts". Ministry of Commerce. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  10. ^ "Myawaddy Border Trade Continues Despite Clashes". Myanmar Business Today. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  11. ^ a b Lewis, Simon (15 February 2015). "New highway is more than just a road for Myanmar". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  12. ^ Wongcha-um, Panu (18 April 2024). "In a rebel-held Myanmar town, fragile unity pushes junta to the brink". Reuters. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  13. ^ Chien, Choo Tse (2004) "Border Areas & Into Burma Photo Gallery" at pbase.com, archived here on 9 February 2005 by Internet Archive
  14. ^ Naylor, Thomas (2009) "The underworld of gemstones Part II: in the eye of the beholder" Crime, Law and Social Change 53(3): 211–227, doi:10.1007/s10611-009-9221-1
  15. ^ "Myawaddy-Mae Sot Temporary Border Crossing Permit Extended From One to Seven Days « Karen News". karennews.org. Archived from the original on 5 October 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  16. ^ "Myanmar's Casino Cities: The Role of China and Transnational Criminal Networks". United States Institute of Peace. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  17. ^ "Photo Essay | Casinos in Myawaddy". The Irrawaddy. 5 September 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  18. ^ Tower, Jason; Clapp, Priscilla A. (26 January 2021). "Myanmar: Army Moves Against Chinese Crime Groups in Autonomous Zones". United States Institute of Peace. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  19. ^ Htet, Thu (10 December 2020). "US Sanctions Chinese Gangster Behind 'Industrial Zone' in Myanmar's Karen State". The Irrawaddy. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  20. ^ Tower, Jason; Clapp, Priscilla A. (27 July 2020). "Myanmar's Casino Cities: The Role of China and Transnational Criminal Networks". United States Institute of Peace. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  21. ^ ANI (16 December 2022). "Chinese underworld entrenched in organised crime in Thailand-Myanmar river border: Report". ThePrint. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  22. ^ "FEATURE-Cyber criminals hold Asian tech workers captive in scam factories". Reuters. 2 November 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  23. ^ "Karen National Union Under Pressure Over Crime Hub". The Irrawaddy. 28 February 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  24. ^ Qian, Isabelle; Robles, Pablo (17 December 2023). "7 Months Inside an Online Scam Labor Camp". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  25. ^ "Three flu suspects found in Myawaddy | Eleven Myanmar". www.elevenmyanmar.com. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  26. ^ "Embassy of Japan in Myanmar". www.mm.emb-japan.go.jp. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  27. ^ "The road to rural healthcare reform". DVB Multimedia Group. 19 April 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  28. ^ "မြဝတီမြို့နယ် အစီရင်ခံစာ" [Myawaddy Township report] (in Burmese). Myanmar Population and Housing Census. March 2017.
  29. ^ a b "Temples of Myawaddy". Travelfish. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  30. ^ Guides, Rough (2 November 2017). The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma) (Travel Guide eBook). Rough Guides UK. ISBN 978-0-241-33214-6.
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