| Than Htay | |
| Native Name Lang: | my |
| Office: | Chairman of the Union Solidarity and Development Party |
| Term Start: | 23 August 2016 |
| Term End: | 12 September 2022 |
| Predecessor: | Htay Oo |
| Successor: | Khin Yi |
| 1Blankname: | Vice Chairman |
| 1Namedata: | Myat Hein (2016–2022) Khin Yi (2019–2022) |
| Office1: | Leader of the Opposition |
| President1: | Htin Kyaw Win Myint |
| Term Start1: | 23 August 2016 |
| Term End1: | 31 January 2021 |
| Predecessor1: | Thein Sein |
| Order2: | Minister of Rail Transportation of Myanmar |
| Term Start2: | 25 July 2013 |
| Term End2: | 12 August 2015[1] |
| Predecessor2: | Zayar Aung |
| Order3: | Minister of Energy of Myanmar |
| Term Start3: | 30 March 2011 |
| Term End3: | 25 July 2013 |
| Predecessor3: | Lun Thi |
| Successor3: | Zayar Aung |
| Order4: | Member of the Pyithu Hluttaw |
| Constituency4: | Myanaung Township |
| Majority4: | 81,996 (76.99%)[2] |
| Term Start4: | 31 January 2011 |
| Term End4: | 30 March 2011 |
| Predecessor4: | Constituency established |
| Successor4: | Kyaw Myint (NLD) |
| Order5: | Deputy Minister of Energy of Myanmar |
| Term Start5: | 2010 |
| Term End5: | 30 March 2011 |
| Party: | Union Solidarity and Development Party |
| Birth Date: | 12 November 1954 |
| Birth Place: | Myanaung Township, Union of Burma |
| Nationality: | Myanmar |
| Spouse: | Soe Wut Yee |
| Alma Mater: | Defence Services Academy |
| Allegiance: |  Myanmar |
| Branch: | Myanmar Army |
| Serviceyears: | -2010 |
| Rank: | Brigadier General |
Than Htay (Burmese: သန်းဌေး; born 12 November 1954) is a Burmese politician who served as Chairman of the Union Solidarity and Development Party from August 2016 to September 2022 due to medical treatment.[3] [4] He previously served as the Minister for Rail Transportation, and Minister for Energy. He is a retired brigadier general in the Myanmar Army.[5]
Than Htay was born on 12 November 1954 in Ayeyarwady Region. When he was 17, he was accepted into the Defence Services Academy and earned a bachelor of arts and a master’s degree in defense.
Serving in the military until 2010, he peaked as a brigadier general. He left the army at the rank of brigadier general in 2003 to become deputy minister of energy, before being promoted to minister in 2011.
He joined the Union Solidarity and Development Party at its founding in the lead-up to the 2010 election. He won election to the Pyithu Hluttaw, representing Myanaung township, in the 2012 by-election. In 2013, he became minister for energy and for railways. In January 2013, his ministry awarded two new deep-water oil and gas blocks to Thai energy firm PTT Exploration and Production without using a bidding process. The ministry also approved MPRL E&P to extend its contract without a bidding process to operate the Mann oil field in central Myanmar. Due to his controversial decisions over the awarding of exploration licenses and production concessions as a minister, Than Htay was transferred to the Ministry of Rail Transportation on 25 July 2013.[6] [7] He resigned from the post after Thein Sein picked him as a USDP candidate for the 2015 general election.[8]
He publicly supported the controversial Protection of Race and Religion Laws — a set of four laws to regulate religious conversion and population-control measures that passed under sustained lobbying from ultra-nationalist groups.[9]
In November 2015, he ran for re-election but was defeated. In the 2020 Myanmar general election, he won a House of Representatives seat representing Naypyitaw's Zeyathiri Township.[10] [11]
Than Htay is married to Soe Wut Yee.[12]