Military-linked beers banned from sale at traditional Arakan Thingyan

By DMG 14 Apr 2022

DMG Newsroom
14 April 2022, Kyauktaw

Myanmar Beer and Andaman Gold Beer, two of the best-selling beers in Myanmar, have reportedly been banned from sale at a traditional water festival (Thingyan) in Arakan State.

Hawkers say sales of Myanmar Beer and Andaman Gold Beer are prohibited at the Zee Chaung Arakan Thingyan festival, which is being celebrated near the Zee Chaung Dam in Kyauktaw Township.
Officials from the Zee Chaung Arakan Thingyan festival organising committee have banned the sale of these brews, and only locally-produced liquors and other beers are currently allowed to be sold, said Ko Khaing Min Shin of the MUYA group, which helps set up libraries in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U.

“The sale of brews produced by the Myanmar military is banned during the Zee Chaung Thingyan,” he said.

According to a salesperson who did not want to be named, vendors were warned by event organisers at around 7 p.m. on April 12 not to sell Myanmar Beer and Andaman Gold Beer.

“We were asked by the event organisers on April 12 not to sell Myanmar Beer and Andaman Gold Beer, in addition to betel quid,” he said. “As we were warned at the beginning of Thingyan, some of the items we had already bought were stranded,” the unnamed vendor said. Traditional rice wine, “black label” and locally-produced liquors are only allowed to be sold, he added.

Ko Aung Mrat Kyaw, head of the Zee Chaung Thingyan festival organising committee, said the ban on the sale of Myanmar Beer and Andaman Gold Beer was viewed from a health perspective rather than as a product of the Myanmar military.

“We don’t restrict beverages produced by the Myanmar military, but allow selling alcohol and beer with a laboratory certification, mainly from a health point of view,” he told DMG.

He added that premature deaths are being caused by the consumption of unhealthy alcohol in Arakan State, and that efforts are being made to reduce them.

U Khaing Thukha, spokesperson of the United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA), said at a press conference on April 5 that talks were underway to ban the sale of Myanmar military products in Arakan State.

The Zee Chaung Arakan traditional Thingyan festival is being held on a grand scale this year and is being celebrated by thousands of Thingyan revellers from all over Arakan State.