Rambo star, rebel, peace activist: a trip to the jungle with Ko Min Htay

ABSDF leader Ko Min Htay.
ABSDF leader Ko Min Htay.

Few people have led a more colorful life than Ko Min Htay.

In the 80s, Ko Min Htay joined an armed rebellion against the Burmese military government.

In the 90s, the conflict slowed down, and he wandered the borderlands between Myanmar in Thailand.

In 2007, he was cast as the main villain in the Sylvester Stallone film Rambo, in which he played his mortal enemy – a Burmese army captain.

In 2015, his rebel group, the ABSDF, signed a ceasefire with the Myanmar government, making the group a legal entity.

Nonetheless, in 2016, he was arrested while driving in Kachin State and charged with associating with an illegal organization. After eight months in prison, the charges were dropped.

Today, he continues his work on Myanmar’s peace process, which aims to end decades of civil war.

Coconuts visited him at a remote rebel base in the jungles of Kayin State to hear him tell his story.

Check out our new documentary, The Ko Min Htay Story, below:




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