Burmese model and former political prisoner Paing Takhon holidays in Singapore
PHOTO: Instagram/Paing Takhon
PUBLISHED ONAugust 14, 2023 4:52 AMBySyarifah NadhirahIn 2021, he rose to international fame as the 'hot monk', was arrested for protesting against Myanmar's ruling military junta and later named TC Candler's most handsome face of 2021.
After being pardoned and released from jail last year, Burmese model Paing Takhon returned to social media, most recently posting about his holiday in Singapore.
Last Friday (Aug 11), the 26-year-old posted a photo of himself at LeVeL33, a rooftop bar with a view of Marina Bay Sands.
On the same day, he was seen visiting Ion Orchard, posing at the Onitsuka Tiger store and enjoying ice cream at Venchi cafe.
Coincidentally, he is the face of Singapore's Ice-Cream Sandwich, a Myanmar business selling the traditional dessert "directly imported from Singapore", according to its Facebook page.
It seems like he may still be in Singapore, as he posted a video of himself running along Marina Bay Waterfront Promenade just yesterday, adding BTS Jungkook's hit single Seven as background music.
In January 2021, Paing Takhon went viral sharing photos of himself with a shaved head and wearing monk robes.
He wrote of his time in a monastery: "Spent my New Year 2021 by being a monk for 10 days and I felt so peaceful and knew myself more."
When the Myanmar military seized control of the country on Feb 1 that year, he joined in the street protests, spoke out against the coup and rallied for international support through his social media accounts.
Soon after the coup, the junta published a list of around 120 celebrities wanted for arrest, which included Paing Takhon.
In April, he was arrested and detained by the military. His sister told Reuters then that the forces came with eight military trucks and about 50 soldiers at 4.30am at their parents' home in Yangon, where he had been staying for several days while unwell.
In December, his lawyer said he was sentenced to three years in jail with hard labour.
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