12th July, 2023
Thai foreign minister Don Pramudwinai said on Wednesday he had met privately with the country’s detained civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi in the first such visit by a foreign official since Myanmar’s military coup in 2021.
Don visited Naypyidaw, Myanmar’s capital, on Sunday with the prior agreement of both the junta and Suu Kyi, according to the Thai foreign ministry.
“At least she’s in good health and that’s all because most people are concerned about her,” Don told reporters in Jakarta, where he was attending a meeting of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The meeting was “an approach of the friends of Myanmar, who would like to see a peaceful settlement,” he said.
Asked about her message, Don said: “Encourage dialogue.”
Suu Kyi expressed her concern about the toll that the past two years have taken on the people of Myanmar and the economy, a ministry statement said.
The junta in Myanmar has faced widespread protests and violence since it ousted the civilian government in a February 2021 coup, killing more than 3,000 people and detaining thousands more, rights groups say.
It has also clashed with ethnic militias and anti-coup fighters across the country.
ASEAN, a regional bloc of 10 South-East Asian nations, has tried to broker a peaceful solution but its five-point plan agreed in April 2021 has stalled amid junta defiance and ASEAN divisions.
Thailand, which borders Myanmar and shelters millions of its migrants and refugees, has kept friendly relations with the junta and avoided condemning its actions.
(dpa/NAN)