Thaung Tun

Thaung Tun (pen name Nyein Thit) is a Burmese editor, filmmaker, and poet. He was imprisoned from October 1999 to January 2007 after releasing videos that exposed the harsh conditions in his country. While in prison he received an International Press Freedom award.

Life Thaung Tun worked for the MV media group. He worked on the Rangoon city magazine Padaut Pwint Thit, while producing video reports for a privately owned production company. He was arrested in early October 1999 and sentenced to eight years in prison after releasing documentary videos about life in Burma that included scenes of the harsh conditions in rural areas. and in 2004 he was given an International Press Freedom award by The Committee to Protect Journalists. His cameraman Aung Pwint, who had been arrested around the same time, had been released in July 2005.

After his release, Thaung Tun participated in antigovernment protests. He went into hiding to avoid re-arrest, but on 25 September 2007 his wife, Khin Mar Lar, was arrested in her family home in Mandalay. Their three children were left without support.