Myanmar’s former junta chief on first Thailand trip as civilian leader

BANGKOK: Myanmar’s ex-junta chief Min Aung Hlaing arrived in Bangkok 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.

Neighboring 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).

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 turn.

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.

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 AFP 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.