Thein Sein, the general-turned-president who headed a semi-democratic military-backed government, had a 32-foot-tall standing marble Buddha statue built in Naypyitaw in 2015.

Thirty-five people showed fierce enthusiasm for the auction of a head from a Tang Dynasty-era (618-907) Buddha statue at Sotheby's New York. Bought by 35 patriotic bidders, the stone statue piece ...