Myanmar ex-junta chief visits Thailand
Myanmar’s ex-junta chief Min Aung Hlaing met with Thailand’s prime minister in Bangkok on Thursday, his first visit to the neighboring nation as civilian leader, as he seeks a return to the diplomatic fold for his pariah state.
As a general, Min Aung Hlaing led a 2021 military coup that ousted democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi, triggering a civil war estimated to have killed more than 100,000 people on all sides.
He was installed as Myanmar’s president in April following stage-managed elections that democracy watchdogs and Western nations called a sham intended to launder the junta’s image.
Thailand has since been leading an effort to normalize relations with Myanmar, both bilaterally and through the 11-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said his discussion with Min Aung Hlaing at Bangkok’s Government House on Thursday was an opportunity to “push cooperation.”
Diplomatic drive
The Myanmar leader said his new government was working toward democracy and stability in Myanmar, as well as “prioritizing the restoration of normal relations with Asean.”
The bloc has excluded Myanmar’s leadership from high-level summits since the putsch, but the country’s foreign minister attended an informal meeting with his regional counterparts last month in Bangkok.
And Min Aung Hlaing has been on a diplomatic drive since swapping his military uniform for civilian dress, visiting India, key ally China, and Asean member Laos.
In the run-up to his Bangkok trip, Suu Kyi—who remains under house arrest—was allowed to meet a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Monday, the first time she has been seen meeting a foreign official since her ouster.
If Myanmar was invited back to Asean, it would open “a pathway for normalization of relations with others, including western countries that have remained opposed to the military regime,” said Myanmar specialist Morgan Michaels.
