Min Aung Hlaing meets Thai PM in Bangkok

Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar's former junta chief and current president, met Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul at Government House in Bangkok on Thursday in his first visit to Thailand as a civilian leader.

The trip is part of a diplomatic push by Min Aung Hlaing after he exchanged military uniform for civilian dress. Thailand has led efforts to normalise relations with Myanmar, including through ASEAN, which has excluded Myanmar's leadership from high-level summits since the 2021 coup.

Anutin said the talks were an opportunity to “push cooperation” and said Thailand supported Myanmar's participation in ASEAN. Min Aung Hlaing said his government was working toward democracy, stability and normal relations with the bloc. His government has not accepted ASEAN's five-point consensus, which is aimed at ending hostilities in Myanmar through dialogue.

Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said the two sides discussed trade, border security and scams, and established a working group on river pollution. He said they aimed to raise annual bilateral trade to $12 billion from $7.4 billion. Sihasak said Bangkok's diplomatic outreach was “not about legitimacy, it's about reality.”

Min Aung Hlaing led the 2021 military coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi and triggered Myanmar's civil war. He became president in April after elections that democracy watchdogs and Western countries called a sham intended to improve the junta's image.

Critics say Thailand's decision to host him lends legitimacy to his nominally civilian government. Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest, was allowed on Monday to meet a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross, her first sighting with a foreign official since her ouster.