Min Aung Hlaing Courts Thailand for ASEAN Return
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- Min Aung Hlaing met Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul in Bangkok on Thursday — his first official visit to Thailand since seizing power in the 2021 coup.
- MAH told Anutin his government is focused on ending the civil war and claimed Myanmar has 'reestablished itself on the path to democracy,' while pushing for readmission to ASEAN, from which his government was barred for failing to implement the bloc's 2021 peace plan.
- Thailand is one of Myanmar's top foreign investors and shares a 2,400km border; both leaders then spoke at the Thailand-Myanmar Business Forum, where MAH urged attendees to 'invest with confidence' in energy, agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare, and technology.
- Justice For Myanmar and roughly a dozen demonstrators outside the UN regional headquarters in Bangkok condemned the visit, with protesters denouncing MAH as a 'criminal' not welcome in Thailand.
- MAH was sworn in as president in April following an election that UN experts called a 'sham'; Western governments have sanctioned him for overthrowing Aung San Suu Kyi's government.
- Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest since the 2021 coup, met an International Committee of the Red Cross representative on Monday — though her son Kim Aris said he had no independent confirmation of her condition.
Why it matters: Thailand's embrace gives Myanmar's shunned junta a key regional foothold — Thailand shares a 2,400km border and is one of Myanmar's top foreign investors, making Bangkok's 'calibrated re-engagement' a lifeline for a government barred from ASEAN and sanctioned by Western capitals. Critics calling the visit a 'stunt' underscores how the generals' legitimacy now hinges on regional cover rather than the 'sham' election that installed MAH.
