MYANMAR’s ex-junta chief Min Aung Hlaing is expected in Thailand tomorrow, making his first trip there since becoming civilian leader as he seeks a return to the diplomatic fold for his pariah state.
The former general 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 Asean.
The bloc has excluded Myanmar from high-level summits since the putsch, but its foreign minister attended an informal meeting with his regional counterparts last month in Thailand.
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, her first publicised meeting with a foreign official since her ouster.
Independent Myanmar analyst David Mathieson said Myanmar’s campaign for re-entry into Asean was a matter of “pure status” for Min Aung Hlaing.
But Myanmar’s leaders have also 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, describing it as an example of “zero-sum logics”.
Analysts say Bangkok has cause to pursue restored ties.
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 cyberscam networks and illicit drug traffickers in Myanmar’s volatile borderlands.
Thailand’s Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said 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. — AFP
