Min Aung Hlaing to Visit Thailand in Early August
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- Min Aung Hlaing will make an official visit to Thailand in early August, according to ASEAN sources — his second trip to a fellow ASEAN member since becoming Myanmar's president in April after a December–January general election.
- Min Aung Hlaing visited Laos earlier in July, his first official trip to an ASEAN member state following his ascent to the presidency via the military-backed election.
- Thailand has been actively working to get Myanmar to fully re-engage with ASEAN, which excluded Myanmar from annual summits after the February 1, 2021 coup and barred Min Aung Hlaing from the October 2021 summit over stalled implementation of the five-point consensus, including an immediate halt to violence.
- At a Sunday informal meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers in Bangkok, Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow urged Myanmar's Tin Maung Swe to take concrete actions to implement the five-point consensus.
- Sihasak and Tin Maung Swe held bilateral talks on the sidelines, with Thailand's Foreign Ministry saying the two sides discussed border security, trade, and Myanmar's internal situation and reaffirmed close ties as neighbours.
- Min Aung Hlaing last visited Thailand in April 2025 to attend the BIMSTEC summit in Bangkok.
Why it matters: The trip marks a concrete step in Thailand-led efforts to pull Myanmar back into ASEAN's institutional fold after the bloc shut it out of summits following the 2021 coup — a diplomatic opening conditioned on Myanmar implementing the five-point consensus on violence cessation and political dialogue.
