Junta extorts money from unlicensed car owners in Mon State

October 4, 2023

HURFOM: The military junta has been extorting money from unlicensed car owners citing they would give them a (unofficial) local driving license and number plate.

“Unlicensed cars can be driven after getting recommendation letters from military officials. You have to pay more than two million MMK to get the letter. After that, you can drive unlicensed cars in Mon State,” said a member of a local militia group who is also a broker for unlicensed cars.

The military junta banned importing cars since the attempted coup, now the price of a vehicle is extremely high in Burma. A licensed family car costs anywhere from 50 to 300 million MMK.

Meanwhile, unlicensed cars cost around 10 million MMK plus another two million MMK which is paid to military officials to permit their use as unlicensed vehicles in Mon State.

“Unlicensed cars can be bought easily. Buy an unlicensed car from Myawaddy; pay two million to military officials and then, you can drive it,” added a member of the local militia.

The military, the police, the border guard forces and the local militia are allowed to use unlicensed cars and if ordinary people want to use unlicensed cars, they need to hold recommendation letters in order to pass checkpoints.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News