Myanmar’s ex-junta chief Min Aung Hlaing arrived in Bangkok on Thursday for his first visit to Thailand as civilian leader, as he seeks a return to the diplomatic fold for his pariah state.
As a general, he 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.
Neighbouring Thailand has since been leading an effort to normalise relations with Myanmar, both bilaterally and through the 11-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The bloc has excluded Myanmar’s leadership from high-level summits since the putsch, but its 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 normalisation of relations with others, including western countries that have remained opposed to the military regime,” said Myanmar specialist Morgan Michaels.
But it had already secured recognition from India, China, Russia and Thailand, making restored ties with the regional grouping a “nice to have” rather than essential, he said.
Independent Myanmar analyst David Mathieson told the AFP news agency that Myanmar’s campaign for re-entry into ASEAN was a matter of “pure status” for Min Aung Hlaing.
Myanmar’s leaders have refused to buy into the bloc’s so-called “five-point consensus” to end hostilities through dialogue with all sides.
“He wants to be seen as a responsible member of ASEAN in one way, then paradoxically to totally reject the five-point consensus,” said Mathieson.
Normalised relations
A source in Min Aung Hlaing’s entourage told AFP he had arrived in Thailand on Thursday, and tracking websites showed a flight from the Myanmar capital Naypyidaw landing in Bangkok.
He is scheduled to be welcomed by an honour guard at Bangkok’s Government House and then meet one-on-one with Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, a Thai official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The Myanmar leader will also attend a business forum and government-hosted dinner, the official said, with the two sides expected to sign a memorandum of understanding on labour cooperation.
Critics say Bangkok should not be rolling out the red carpet for Min Aung Hlaing, who has been sanctioned by several Western nations and is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
But analysts say Bangkok has cause to repair relations.
Fighting between Myanmar’s military and myriad rebel factions has spilled over the long border with Thailand, which hosts millions of refugees from Myanmar.
Thailand also has to deal with the presence of cyberscam networks and illicit drugs traffickers in Myanmar’s volatile borderlands.
Thailand’s Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow told reporters on Monday that Thailand believed Myanmar, as well as Cambodia, could “do a lot more” to combat scam networks, and the issue would be raised during Min Aung Hlaing’s visit.
In a statement, he also welcomed Suu Kyi’s Red Cross meeting, saying he hoped that authorities “will undertake further positive steps towards lasting peace and stability in Myanmar.”
Three years ago, Thailand’s then-foreign minister Don Pramudwinai met with Suu Kyi in private for more than an hour, her last known encounter with a foreign envoy since her detention.
Additional sources • AFP