Min Aung Hlaing Thailand visit fuels Myanmar legitimacy push

Bangkok,UPDATED: Aug 6, 2026 13:54 IST

Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing arrived in Thailand on Thursday for a two-day official visit that could become a major step in his bid for political legitimacy more than five years after he seized power from an elected civilian government.

During the visit, Min Aung Hlaing and members of his Cabinet met Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and other officials at Government House. The two sides signed memorandums of understanding on Myanmar migrant workers, water quality management in rivers shared by the two countries and space technology for Earth observation. The two leaders were also scheduled to address a Thailand-Myanmar Business Forum.

At his meeting with Anutin, Min Aung Hlaing sought to assure Thailand that his government was restoring stability and moving Myanmar towards democracy. “Myanmar has now reestablished itself on the path to democracy and is moving toward a better future,” he said. “As the new government, we have now begun working on national stability, peace, and national reconciliation.”

The visit has drawn criticism from activist groups. Justice For Myanmar said the trip lends “false legitimacy” to Min Aung Hlaing and the ruling generals. In April, Min Aung Hlaing was sworn in as president after an election held in phases in December and January, but critics dismissed the polls as a sham meant to tighten the military’s grip on power while appearing to restore civilian rule.

The outreach is the latest in a series of moves to rebuild ties with countries in the region and the wider international community after relations weakened following the February 2021 ousting of Aung San Suu Kyi’s government, when Min Aung Hlaing was army chief. Western governments have shunned and sanctioned him and his associates over the coup and the serious rights violations that followed. A deadly military crackdown on protests later triggered a nationwide armed resistance movement and a bloody civil war.

The Thailand visit is among Min Aung Hlaing’s most significant diplomatic engagements. It follows trips to neighbouring countries including China, India and Laos, and comes as he seeks stronger regional ties after taking over as president in April. Even with those visits and close relations with Russia, he has remained largely isolated internationally.

As he tries to improve his image, Myanmar’s military continues to fight pro-democracy resistance forces and armed ethnic minority groups seeking greater autonomy across much of the country. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an independent organisation that tracks arrests and casualties linked to the civil war, more than 8,200 civilians had been killed and 31,645 arrested by Myanmar’s security forces as of Wednesday. Chit Seng, a senior human rights specialist at Fortify Rights, said last month that changing from a military uniform into a “presidential robe” after fake elections does not change the basic nature of the military government. She described it as a “brutal regime” that kills its own people and should not be legitimised.

Only about a dozen people joined a protest against the visit outside the UN’s regional headquarters in Bangkok. They chanted in support of resistance forces in Myanmar and called for Min Aung Hlaing’s downfall.

In another move seen as an attempt to ease criticism, the regime allowed a representative of the Committee of the Red Cross to visit 81-year-old Suu Kyi this week. It was the first known contact with an outside international independent humanitarian organisation since her detention. The ICRC confirmed the visit but gave no details about her health or the discussion.

Suu Kyi was originally sentenced to 33 years in prison in late 2022 on charges that her supporters and rights groups said were bogus and intended to stop her return to politics. On April 30, she was moved from prison to house arrest and her sentence was reduced to 18 years, leaving more than 13 years still to serve. The United Nations, Western governments and international human rights organisations have repeatedly called for her immediate release.

Min Aung Hlaing’s Thailand trip is also part of his effort to restore his standing within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. He faced years of diplomatic isolation after the 2021 takeover and was barred from top-level ASEAN meetings for failing to comply with a peace plan agreed in April 2021. Thailand, however, has kept close ties with Myanmar’s military leadership and has become ASEAN’s strongest advocate for renewed engagement with Naypyitaw.

Although the visit is officially focused on bilateral relations, Anutin said during a visit to Indonesia on Tuesday that a peaceful and stable Myanmar is essential for ASEAN unity and regional stability. He said Thailand has pushed for a “calibrated re-engagement approach” that keeps dialogue open and responds to “realities on the ground”, and suggested that the recent ICRC visit to Suu Kyi supported that position. Thanida Piyachot, another human rights specialist at Fortify Rights, disagreed, saying that recognising Min Aung Hlaing as a legitimate leader and “shaking the bloodied hands of a war criminal” sends the wrong message to civilians living under an “illegitimate military dictatorship”. She urged Thailand and ASEAN to stop hiding behind non-interference policies and to take more proactive roles in promoting human rights in Myanmar.

The visit to Thailand underlines Min Aung Hlaing’s wider effort to rebuild regional ties and regain legitimacy, even as criticism over Myanmar’s political crackdown, civil war and the treatment of Suu Kyi continues at home and abroad.

With PTI Inputs

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