Head of Myanmar’s military government visits Bangkok in rare overseas trip

Myanmar’s military leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, foreground left, arrives in Bangkok

The head of Myanmar’s military government arrived in Thailand yesterday for a regional summit, making a rare international trip as his country recovers from a devastating earthquake that killed thousands.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has been shunned by much of the West for overthrowing the democratically elected government of Aung Saan Suu Kyi and subsequent brutal repression. He has not been allowed to participate in meetings of another regional organization, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, since the army seized of power in February 2021 and began violently suppressing opposition.

He is one of several regional leaders visiting Bangkok for a three-day summit of nations in the Bay of Bengal region.

It was Min Aung Hlaing’s first to a country other than his government’s main supporters and backers — China, Russia and Russian ally Belarus — since he attended a regional meeting in Indonesia in 2021.

He was expected to attend an official dinner for leaders of the seven-member Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, which includes Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

The meeting comes as Myanmar is still searching for survivors in the rubble left by a massive earthquake last week. The magnitude 7.7 quake toppled thousands of buildings, collapsed bridges and buckled roads.

It worsened an already dire humanitarian crisis due to Myanmar’s civil war. More than 3 million people had been displaced from their homes and nearly 20 million were in need even before it hit, according to the United Nations.

The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs said BIMSTEC members discussed disaster management during ministerial meetings yesterday. Thailand postponed the meeting from last year after then-prime minister Srettha Thavisin was suddenly removed from his post by a court.

The earthquake killed at least 22 people in Bangkok, mostly due to the collapse of a high-rise building under construction.

The general’s visit drew condemnation and criticisms from activist groups. Justice for Myanmar said in a statement that the invitation for Min Aung Hlaing to attend the meeting “legitimises and emboldens a military junta that the people of Myanmar have been resisting for over four years, and tarnishes BIMSTEC’s reputation as a regional body.”

Bright Future, a group of Burmese activists in Thailand, petitioned the United Nations headquarters in Bangkok on Wednesday calling for BIMSTEC member states to refrain from interacting with him. MDT/AP