On the evening of March 14, a man in his 20s was waiting at a bus stop near Yangon’s Bayintnaung bridge when a car pulled up and a man inside offered him a ride home. When the young man declined, the man in the car got out and threatened him with a knife. “Come with us if you don’t want to die,” he said.

When he got into the back seat of the car, the young man saw that he was not alone. There was another person already there who was, like him, handcuffed. Later, black hoods were pulled over both of their heads.

The two passengers were then taken to a police station and put in a holding cell. The next day, the police called the young man’s family and told them to send 300,000 kyat ($190) via Wave Money for his release.  

During his time in police custody, the man said he saw four other youths taken out of their cells one by one to talk to their families on the phone. He said he believed they were also victims of extortion.

At a time when soldiers and police are shooting and arresting civilians around the country to crush resistance to the February 1 coup, many are also engaging in other crimes. Taking their cue from a lawless regime, these supposed defenders of public safety are increasingly behaving like members of a criminal organization.

With the dictatorship unable to function as a government due to a resistance movement that has brought the workings of the state to a standstill, the ruling generals are using not just murder, but also outright theft, to victimize ordinary citizens.

No crime too petty

During a crackdown on February 26, members of the junta’s armed forces were seen seizing parathas from a vendor who was selling the flatbreads from a street stall.

This scene, captured in a video that was shared on social media, provoked widespread ridicule as an example of the regime’s propensity for helping itself to other people’s property. For days, protesters mockingly chanted, “Give us back our parathas!” at troops sent crack down on them. 

But this episode pointed to a pattern of behaviour that has been rampant since the coup, as those who serve the regime quickly abandoned any pretence of working for the common good.

All over the country, soldiers and police have been seen openly stealing everything from food and water to items of much greater value. 

On March 14, for example, a taxi driver in Yangon’s Hlaing Tharyar Township was filmed being robbed of his phone—an item routinely seized from protesters, in many cases never to be seen again.

In Yangon Region’s Twante Township, residents of several villages reported on March 18 that soldiers broke into houses and pocketed not only phones and cameras, but also appliances, cash, gold and jewellery. One home lost 10 million kyat ($6,400) worth of property, according to media reports.

Days later, in Yangon’s Hlaing Township, troops stormed into an office, assaulted its occupants, and walked away with 700,000 kyat ($450) in cash and five mobile phones.

“They just showed up and demanded that we open the door. If we hadn’t, they would have just forced their way in,” said the 28-year-old owner of an iPhone 12 that was stolen in the raid.

Htun Myat Aung, an army captain who defected in March to join the Civil Disobedience Movement, said it couldn’t be denied that soldiers who behave this way are no different from common thieves.

“There’s also corruption among other government workers. The main thing that sets the military apart is that they have weapons. So it’s basically armed robbery,” he said.

“There’s also corruption among other government workers. The main thing that sets the military apart is that they have weapons. So it’s basically armed robbery."

No shame

Thirty-year-old Htun Myat Aung, who was a platoon commander from the notorious Light Infantry Division 77 until his defection, told Myanmar Now that few who commit these crimes would see their actions as shameful.

Most would regard it as no worse than the kind of corruption that is endemic in Myanmar’s civil service, he said.

“Some of these units are at the point where they can’t function without this source of income. The habit of extracting wealth from civilians has become very deeply rooted,” he said.

While some may try to justify it as a matter of necessity, the fact is that most soldiers are driven by a sense of entitlement, he added. They simply believe that wearing a uniform and carrying a gun gives them the right to take whatever they want from civilians.

“They get more than enough of everything they need. They get rations from the army, and there are ‘bosses’ associated with the military providing for them, too. They do it just because they can,” said Htun Myat Aung, referring to soldiers’ penchant for theft.

None of this comes as any surprise to people living in Myanmar’s ethnic borderlands, where soldiers have been given free rein to plunder local villages for decades.  

Kachin activist Khon Ja said that while the displays of sheer criminality by the regime’s armed forces might come as a shock to some city dwellers, most ethnic villagers would regard it as a simple fact of life.

“They steal from church donation boxes and take people’s personal belongings. They grab whatever they can lay their hands on. We’re so used to that. It happens in every conflict area,” she said.

While the Myanmar military tries to project an image of itself as a professional armed force, it rarely acts like one on the ground, she added.  

“They were trained like animals to do what they’re told without thinking. I can only assume that’s why they act the way they do,” she said. 

Brig-Gen Zaw Min Htun, the regime’s spokesperson, could not be reached for comment on the illegal activities of its armed forces.

“They were trained like animals to do what they’re told without thinking. I can only assume that’s why they act the way they do."

More than mere corruption

Unlike most officials who abuse their positions for their own gain, the junta’s armed forces often seem to be motivated as much by cruelty as by a desire to enrich themselves at the expense of others.

While the most horrific abuses have been committed against the Rohingya and other ethnic minorities, the current situation in the country has revealed that no one is safe from the sadistic impulses of soldiers unleashed on the civilian population.

Besides the many well-documented cases of atrocities committed against protesters, there have also been countless instances of abusive treatment of bystanders and the wanton destruction of private property.

Even in urban areas, where their actions can easily be captured on CCTV cameras or witnessed by journalists, soldiers seem incapable of controlling themselves.

On March 1, for instance, soldiers were seen vandalizing homes and motorcycles in Myeik, a town in southern Myanmar’s Tanintharyi Region. Not content to steal 400,000 kyat ($256) from a local home, they also beat a pregnant woman.

In April, troops sent to Yangon’s South Okkalapa Township confiscated nearly 500 litres of cooking oil intended for public employees participating in the Civil Disobedience Movement, simply for the sake of depriving poor workers of a basic necessity. 

In a similar incident, on March 14 junta troops took fried chicken meant for over 80 students being held in Yangon’s Insein prison, according to a Dagon University student who asked to remain anonymous.

“Their lack of empathy is pretty disgusting. They make no secret of how evil they are.”

There have also been many cases of the regime’s forces using stolen property in the commission of other crimes. Cars and motorbikes are often taken from their owners for the express purpose of using them to violently crack down on protesters.

Meanwhile, extortion remains a popular pastime of soldiers and police. On April 10, a dentist in Yangon was forced to pay a 120,000-kyat ($77) “fine” for offering his services free of charge to needy patients. 

“Their lack of empathy is pretty disgusting. They make no secret of how evil they are,” said the Dagon University student. 

What this shows, she added, is that the regime only knows how to rule by fear, and that the generals themselves are afraid of what will happen if they don’t succeed in terrorizing the people into submission and crushing their morale.

“The way I see it, this is all they have. And they know that if they don’t win this one, it’s all over for them,” she said.