A source from the Ministry of Energy in Naypyidaw has confirmed that Assistant Engineer Thein Tun and his team have been captured and gone missing while traveling to take up duties at the Nat Eain Taung Natural Gas Distribution Station in Dawei Township, Tanintharyi Region. In early August, Thein Tun was dispatched from the Ministry of Energy in Naypyidaw as a representative of Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) to the station. Thein Tun is known to be a supporter of the military council and opposed the civilian government movement.
The Nat Eain Taung Natural Gas Station is a crucial facility that exports gas to foreign countries and generates hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue for the military council. Thein Tun was a trusted associate of Chief Engineer Lwin Aung Moe and Director Sai Kyaw Kyaw Aung from the Ministry of Energy in Naypyidaw, who frequently sent him to the station as part of their mutual business interests. Thein Tun’s wife serves as a director at the Social Security Department under the Ministry of Labor in Naypyidaw and is among those who received promotions and became wealthy after the military coup.
In the Dawei region, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and People’s Defense Force (PDF) have been conducting joint operations to capture military council outposts. Between April and June, they successfully seized several strategic positions along the Thai-Myanmar border in Dawei District, including Htee Hta Strategic Camp, Htee Khee Military Camp, Bawdi Military Camp, Nga Yant Ni Camp, and Thuka Camp. Only the Nat Eain Taung station remains under military council control. The station is manned by only thirty to fifty soldiers, and its capture would give revolutionary forces control over the entire Thai-Myanmar border area within Dawei District.
