October 5, 2023

Sales of Myanmar beer are being forcibly promoted to sellers under the threat of a gun.

Investigation

Briefing

The promotion of selling military products was facilitated through military lobby Telegram accounts, which threatened arrests if individuals refused to comply, particularly targeting the sale of Myanmar beer. These threats extended to actual arrests on the ground, as documented in a case study summarized from September 2023.

Process

In 2021, protests erupted against the military regime’s control, with citizens boycotting products associated with the military’s power grab in February, which disregarded the people’s vote. Media reports indicate that even long-time consumers of Myanmar beer are joining the boycott, despite the military’s increased revenue from such sales, reflecting a unified resistance to the Spring Revolution. Criticism from the public has prompted many shops selling Myanmar beer to remove signage advertising the product, particularly in urban areas. Additionally, orders have been issued to abstain from using military-produced goods in areas under revolutionary and ethnic control, with enforcement measures including destruction upon discovery. Consequently, due to the widespread boycott, the once-ubiquitous Myanmar beer brand is now scarce in many retail outlets. The boycott’s impact has led to a sharp decline in sales of Myanmar beer, previously dominant in the market for years, resulting in significant financial losses. Established in 1995 with a fixed investment of US$60 million, the military-owned Myanmar Brewery Company operates a manufacturing plant in Pyin Ma Pin Industrial Zone, Mylandaung Township, Yangon. Limited international investment under the military dictatorship had made Myanmar beer a unique domestic market presence, but even this long-standing dominance has been affected by the people’s strike. Consequently, stores in major cities, where military influence is strong, have resorted to coercive measures, including online threats and pressure tactics, to ensure the sale of military products.

Restricting the military output of ethnic revolutionary organizations

The Kachin National Liberation Army (KIA), Palaung (Taang) National Liberation Army (TNLA), Karenni Army (KA), Chin National Front (CNF), and People’s Defense Forces (PDF) are ethnic revolutionary organizations that are boycotting military products in areas under their control. They prohibit products associated with the War Council throughout their territories, often resorting to destruction if such items are found.

2. စစ်တပ်ဆက်နွှယ်ကုန်များ မရောင်းချရန် TNLA ပိတ်ပင်

3. ရွာငံမြို့နယ်တွင် စစ်ကောင်စီတပ် ထုတ်ကုန် မြန်မာဘီယာ တင်ဆောင်သည့်ကား မီးရှို့ဖျက်ဆီးခံရ

4. တမူးPDFက စစ်တပ်ထုတ်မြန်မာဘီယာဖာ၁၀၀ဖာနီးပါးကိုဖမ်းဆီးဖျက်ဆီး

The revolutionary forces have called for the boycott of eight specific products, which include:

Myanmar beer
Andaman Gold beer
Dagon beer
Mandalay Beer
Black Shield Scout
Army Rum
Red Ruby cigarettes
Premium Gold Cigarettes

In September, the army took coercive actions by imposing fines on at least 30 beverage and beer shops in Nyaungton Township of Irrawaddy Division for not selling Myanmar beer, with each shop fined 10,000 Kyats. Furthermore, supermarkets and minimarts were pressured to reintroduce military-related products, including Myanmar beer and Mytel SIM cards, with the country’s largest supermarket chain, City Mart, complying with the order despite having ceased the sale of these items in late 2021 following public boycott calls. Additionally, inspections were conducted in Yangon’s renowned beverage market on Street 19, where food and drink shops faced pressure to exclusively sell Myanmar beer, with campaigns such as tax scrutiny on other beverages persisting throughout September.

Please only sell Myanmar beer.

This directive was extensively promoted through Han Nyein Oo’s Telegram channel.

[Original link](Original link) – [Original link](Archive link)

He urged all KTV/Bars not to sell foreign beer, but to exclusively promote the sale of Myanmar beer, a military product that has been boycotted by the people. If they fail to comply, he threatens to revoke their licenses.

Moreover, he highlighted the issue of illegal beer imports, emphasizing the significant financial losses incurred by the country as a result. He advocated for stringent measures to address this issue and proposed utilizing the law to enforce the sale of Burmese beer, despite its boycott by the people due to its association with the military.

Before this, restaurants on Latha (19) Street in Yangon were still encouraged to take similar actions. As recommended by NUG/PDF, the non-sale of Myanmar beer necessitates investigation and clarification.

[Original link](Original link)

Some news has raised concerns about the sale of military products in stores across Yangon. Reports from shop and minimart owners indicate that they are compelled to stock these products due to threats from the military council, which has warned of repercussions if they fail to comply.

In response to this situation, The Red Flag issued an early warning, advising individuals working in the food industry to remain vigilant and take heed of the alert.

Around the same time, in mid-September, military officers and municipal officials initiated inquiries into shops that were not selling Burmese beer in certain areas, including Yangon, accompanied by threats of punitive measures.

Archive links that recorded by The Red Flag

Findings

The findings indicate that the military, acting independently of any accomplices, has been taking action against various departments and individuals. War lobby Telegram channels frequently encourage legal action, including arrests. One prominent issue highlighted among many cases is the online threat to sell military products, particularly Myanmar beer.