Henry Van Thio (; born 9 August 1959) is a Burmese politician who is the Second Vice President of Myanmar since 30 March 2016. He previously served as a member of

Amyotha Hluttaw The Amyotha Hluttaw ( my, အမျိုးသားလွှတ်တော်, ; House of Nationalities) is the ''de jure'' upper house of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, the bicameral legislature of Myanmar (Burma). It consists of 224 members, ...

(House of Nationalities). In the 2015 election, he contested and won the

Chin State Chin State (, ) is a state in western Myanmar. The Chin State is bordered by Sagaing Division and Magway Division to the east, Rakhine State to the south, Bangladesh to the south-west, and the Indian states of Mizoram to the west and Ma ...

No. 3 constituency for a seat in the country's upper house. He was sworn in as the Second Vice President on 30 March 2016.

Early life and military career

He is an ethnic Chin and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Geography from Mandalay Arts and Science University, with a Graduate Diploma in Law from Rangoon Arts and Science University. He previously served as a Major in the Burmese Army.

Vice Presidency

On 10 March 2016, he was nominated as one of the Vice Presidents of Myanmar by

National League for Democracy The National League for Democracy ( my, အမျိုးသား ဒီမိုကရေစီ အဖွဲ့ချုပ်, ; abbr. NLD; Burmese abbr. ဒီချုပ်) is a liberal democratic political party in Myanmar (Burma). It ...

. On 11 March 2016, 148 MPs nominated him as one of the Vice Presidents of Myanmar from the House of Nationalities and on 15 March 2016, he received 79 votes out of 352 in the Assembly of the Union, becoming the Second Vice President of Myanmar. He was sworn in on 30 March 2016. Although many state- and union-level politicians, including

Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (; ; born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as State Counsellor of Myanmar (equivalent to a prime minister) and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2 ...

and

Win Myint Win Myint ( ; born 8 November 1951) is a Burmese politician who served as the tenth president of Myanmar from 2018 to 2021. He was removed from office in the 2021 Burmese coup d'état. He was the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Myan ...

, were placed under house arrest during the

2021 Myanmar coup d'état A coup d'état in Myanmar began on the morning of 1 February 2021, when democratically elected members of the country's ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), were deposed by the Tatmadaw—Myanmar's military—which then ves ...

on 1 February, Henry Van Thio remained in his office under the Constitution of Myanmar.

Personal life

He is married to Anna Shwe Lwan (known as Anna Sui Hluan in English speaking countries) and has three children. When his wife gained a scholarship to study theology at the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate ...

, the family moved to New Zealand to live in the

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

suburb of

North East Valley North East Valley (sometimes spelt Northeast Valley, and often abbreviated to NEV) is a suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. Geography North East Valley sits in the valley of the Lindsay Creek, a tributary of the Water of Leith and on t ...

in 2011. He supported the family through casual work, like picking fruit in

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

and shift work at the

freezing works A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility. Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is no ...

at Finegand, near Balclutha. The family returned to Myanmar in early 2015. He is a devout Christian, making him the first non-Buddhist to hold the office of the Vice President of Myanmar. He is a member of the

United Pentecostal Church International The United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI) is a Oneness Pentecostal denomination headquartered in Weldon Spring, Missouri, United States. The United Pentecostal Church International was formed in 1945 by a merger of the former Pentecostal C ...

References

https://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/magazine/man-peace {{s-end 1959 births Burmese military personnel Burmese people of Chin descent Living people National League for Democracy politicians People from Chin State Burmese Pentecostals Oneness Pentecostals University of Yangon alumni Vice-presidents of Myanmar Mandalay University alumni