Pauk Hla's career rose alongside his father's. His career defining appointment came in 1400 when the new king of Ava,
Minkhaung I, appointed him governor of
Yamethin, a major irrigated district traditionally held by the most senior royals, and gave him the command of a 50-strong royal war elephant company. The appointments came alongside Minkhaung's other appointments which included Yaza's son-in-law Thado Theinkhathu being made governor of
Badon and
Tabayin. Indeed, the Yamethin governorship previously belonged to
Maha Pyauk of Yamethin, who had tried to seize the Ava throne from Minkhaung. Pauk Hla, now known by the title of Sithu, loyally served as governor for the next dozen plus years. As governor of a major fief, Sithu served in the
Royal Ava Armed Forces, and fought in various campaigns—from Hanthawaddy in the south (1408–1410), to Arakan in the west (1411–1412) to Hsenwi in the northeast (1412). He led entire armies in the 1408, and 1409–1410 campaigns, and later served as one of the deputy commanders in Crown Prince Minye Kyawswa's armies from 1410 onwards. He is not mentioned in the
royal chronicles again after 1412. The
Yazawin Thit chronicle cursorily mentions that King Minkhaung appointed
Sithu Thihapate governor of Yamethin in late 1413 but does not say what had ever happened to the previous governor. While it is not clear if Sithu Pauk Hla had fallen in action or had died by natural causes, he did not lose the governorship because his father had lost power. Min Yaza remained the chief minister of the Ava court until his death in 1421. ==Military service==