Myanmar’s junta chief turned president Min Aung Hlaing wrapped up a two-day visit to Thailand on Friday.
His first visit to the neighboring nation as civilian leader was aimed at recasting himself as the leader of a civilian government after years of diplomatic isolation, experts told DW.
His reception on landing in Bangkok on Thursday had all the pomp and circumstance befitting a visiting head of state โ red carpet, honor guard, blaring national anthems and smiling photo ops with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
“Naypyidaw equates engagement with acceptance,” said Moe Thuzar, head of the Myanmar Studies Program at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, referring to Myanmar’s capital.
“Min Aung Hlaing is seeking to leverage Naypyidaw’s space in bilateral relations with neighbours’ specific interests to secure greater acceptance of his administration from external partners.”
Since the retired general seized power in a 2021 coup that toppled a democratically elected government, a brutal civil war between the military and armed resistance groups has killed an estimated 100,000 people and displaced well over 3 million.
Western countries have imposed several rounds of sanctions on Min Aung Hlaing’s regime over alleged war crimes and other human rights abuses, charges the government rejects.
In 2024, the then-chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court requested an arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing himself for crimes against humanity committed against Rohingya Muslims.ย
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which traditionally emphasizes non-interference in another member’s domestic affairs, has barred him or his foreign minister from attending its leaders’ summits.
Hoping to break out of its growing isolation, Myanmar held staggered elections in December and January that were widely criticized by the United Nations and Western governments as a sham designed to legitimize continued military rule.ย ย
The military-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party won more than 80% of seats, paving the way for parliament to elect Min Aung Hlaing president in April.
What is Thailand’s role in Myanmar’s reengagement?
Myanmar’s government rejects criticism of the electoral process, saying the elections were part of a transition to civilian rule and a return of power to the people.
Since becoming president, Hlaing has paid official visits to India, China, Laos and now Thailand, as Bangkok pushed for peace efforts in Myanmar’s civil war and its reengagement with ASEAN.
“For Min Aung Hlaing, visiting Thailand is also [about] finding legitimacy in the ASEAN region, because Thailand is a โฆ founder of ASEAN and has [a] big voice in ASEAN,” said Wai Yan Phyo Naing, a visiting scholar at Taiwan’s Academia Sinica who studies Myanmar.
“He can show the [other] ASEAN members that Thailand is treating me like this, Laos already treated me like this. So, do you want to [act] based on the realistic point of view, or are you still wanting to argue I’m not the legitimate leader of Myanmar?” he said.
Moe Thuzar and Wai Yan Phyo Naing both agree that the bloc, which did not officially endorse Myanmar’s last elections, like most countries, was not likely to let Min Aung Hlaing back to its leaders’ summits any time soon.
ASEAN still insists that Myanmar first make meaningful progress on a peace plan for the country that they all agreed to a few months after the coup, a plan Hlaing has dismissed repeatedly, most recently last week.
Still, Min Aung Hlaing may be hoping that his official trips abroad as newly installed president
help convince ASEAN to accept his government “on its own terms,” Moe Thuzar added.
Either way, she said, Min Aung Hlaing will use his trip to Thailand to build on the bilateral relationship between the neighbors, which share a 2,400 kilometer (1,490-mile) landย border.
The visit included a business forum on Thursday for Thai and Myanmar firms.
“The focus on trade and economic deals reflects Naypyidaw’s and Bangkok’s interest in prioritising economic engagement and addressing concerns related to border trade,” said Moe Thuzar.
The economics of legitimacy
Thailand is among Myanmar’s top trade partners and foreign investors, including in energy projects vital to both. A Thai firm operates two of Myanmar’s main gas fields, which supply much of Thailand’s natural gas.
David Mathieson, an independent Myanmar analyst based in Thailand, says convincing those investors to stay, or new ones to come in, helps shore up support forย Hlaing among a key constituency.
Regardless of the ex-general’s official title, he said, “he’s a military dictator, and to be a dictator you need a certain level of cooperation, and cooperation comes from economic elites.”
“He’s appealing to an incredibly cynical international system that’s like, hey, you did this. None of us buy it, but it’s good enough for us. You dressed up for the party, well done, and [it’s] business as usual,” Mathieson said.
“Does that help the 54 million people of Myanmar? No, it doesn’t. It helps him and it helps the system that props him up.”
Edited by: Keith Walker