The junta has once again issued a warning to remove shops around Shan State Stadium in Taunggyi, the state capital, causing hardships for the shop tenants.
On January 5, the junta’s Department of Sports and Physical Education issued a second notice ordering the removal of all shops around the stadium. It has also cut off the power supply to the shops, leaving the tenants in a difficult position.
“The notice doesn’t give a deadline for removing the shops. If they don’t set one, we can keep operating for now. But moving is really difficult. I’ve been running my shop here for over 15 years, and now it’s so hard to find a new place. Everyone is really struggling,” said a woman who runs a shop at the stadium in the city center.
There are over 160 shops around the stadium, each rented by tenants for 300,000 MMK per month. On December 3, 2025, the junta first issued a notice to remove the shops, citing plans to upgrade the stadium into an international-class facility with a swimming pool and youth center, according to the shop renters.
The shops around the stadium were built by the Taunggyi Municipality in 1994–95 and later transferred to the Department of Sports and Physical Education to generate revenue.
Those who had signed shop lease agreements with the municipality at the time would be unable to claim compensation from the Department of Sports and Physical Education if their shops were removed. They appealed, but the department’s director reportedly only issued them another notice to vacate, shop operators said.
“Since the Department of Sports and Physical Education owns some vacant land, a few of us have asked to build new shops there to relocate. We want to move our shops from the stadium only after the new ones are ready. There’s little hope of getting any compensation for the old contracts we signed with the municipality,” a shop renter at the stadium told Shan Herald.
In addition, the junta’s municipal department, working with Shan Cherry Construction Group, is reportedly preparing to turn General Aung San Park, the only remaining public recreation area in Thittaw Ward, Taunggyi City into residential apartments to sell, according to locals.
