PTT Oil and Retail Business (PTTOR) is poised to invest in the Burmese retail market and the construction of a tank depot for oil and liquefied petroleum gas as well as related facilities in Myanmar. The Thai petro-chemical company’s chairman Attapol Rerkpiboon says the first gas station will open in Q4 this year.

It recently signed agreements with the subsidiaries of Kanbawza KBZ Group of Companies, Brighter Energy and Brighter Energy Retail, to invest in the two projects.

The first, in collaboration with Brighter Energy, involves the supply and distribution of petroleum products and the development of an oil tank depot, a port, and a LPG plant. This project is expected to be completed in 2021.

The second project, a joint venture with Brighter Energy Retail Co Ltd, will see the development of gas stations and and expansion of its Cafe Amazon outlets in the country.

“We plan to operate at least 70 gas stations in Myanmar by 2023.”

It will also expand the Cafe Amazon chain in Myanmar from 7 to 100 branches by 2023.

Currently, the company has a total of 2,800 Cafe Amazon outlets in Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, Japan, Singapore, and Oman.

SOURCE: The Nation

UNESCO has added Myanmar’s ancient capital Bagan, a collection of thousands of temples and stupas, as a World Heritage Site, nearly a quarter of a century after the Buddhist temples were first nominated for listing.

The decision finally recognises the importance of the central Myanmar site – which includes more than 3,500 stupas, temples, monasteries and other structures built between the 11th and 13th centuries – and will likely be a boon to Myanmar’s blossoming tourist industry.

The Myanmar proposal to list the site was approved at a meeting of the UN’s cultural body in Baku, Azerbaijan. The International Council on Monuments and Sites recommended the listing, noting that Myanmar had adopted a new heritage law and had formed plans to reduce the impact of hotels and tourism developments around the temple.

Myanmar had reversed some “inappropriate conservation interventions,” noting that Bagan was important for its historical significance and as a place of continuing Buddhist worship.

Bagan was first nominated as a World Heritage Site in 1995, but the military junta that ruled the country at the time was accused of ignoring expert advice on restoration efforts and the nomination was rejected. Earthquakes have also damaged the ancient structures, most recently in 2016 when nearly 200 temples were damaged by a 6.8 magnitude quake.

“Bagan is living heritage, having endured all forms of challenges for more than a thousand years,” said Myanmar diplomat Kyaw Zeya, speaking on behalf of the Myanmar delegation at the Baku meeting.

ORIGINAL STORY: Thai PBS

PHOTO: ThaiVisa

A 36 year old Thai man has been arrested for allegedly smuggling six Burmese migrants across the border into Mae Hong Son’s Khun Yuam district.

District officials stopped Pimarn Kannikar at a road checkpoint at 5pm on Wednesday night. He was riding a motorcycle. His Burmese passenger failed to present any travel documents. Following questioning,  Pimarn later led officials to arrest five other Burmese men he had smuggled to hide in the district.