A photo (since removed) from the Facebook page of U Soe Nyunt of Aung San Suu Kyi’s historic gate. SUPPLIED
In a strange twist to one of the more lighthearted stories out of Myanmar, the seller of Aung San Suu Kyi’s storied gate says a second auction of the historic item is going to take place after the first sale went bust when the interested buyer tried to pay in precious jewels.
Speaking hours after an event at his Rose Restaurant in Yangon to remember dissident U Win Tin on Tuesday, Soe Nyunt said the gate is still in his compound.
“I don’t like the first auction,” he told Coconuts Yangon on Tuesday. “[There was] one person from Washington, D.C. But he didn’t give the money…he wanted to pay in diamonds.
“I make the second auction between May and June.”
A number of news outlets both local and international ran stories in January and February when Soe Nyunt, a diehard supporter of Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), said he would auction off the famed yellow and red gate – painted in the colors of the NLD – at the starting price of $200,000.
The gate fronted Suu Kyi’s Yangon villa for years during her house arrest until the government finally lifted the order in 2010. Afterwards, it was removed and replaced by grey doors that now greet the steady stream of visitors, tourists and will-wishers who come to the house, according to the BBC.
Soe Nyunt, however, salvaged the piece of history and put it up for auction to raise money for the NLD. After the auction, media reports said a “foreigner” had bought the item, but the name was never revealed.
When asked how much the gate would be priced at the second time around, Soe Nyunt said it would “depend on the customer.”
