For years, Myanmar's Army Chief General Min Aung Frening has been treated like a pariah at a global stage.
General Min Aung Fröning has made few trips abroad except for Russia and China since stolen power in a coup in 2021. Long subject to Western sanctions, he is prohibited from attending meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Countries. The arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court in November last year, accusing him of a crime against humanity, was to further quarantine him.
However, on Thursday, General Min Aung Fröning arrived in Bangkok for a regional summit for groups of seven countries around the Bay of Bengal, including India and Thailand. His visit took place less than a week after the Friday earthquake in Myanmar killed at least 3,085 people, even if his troops were under intense criticism for continuing airstrikes in the ongoing civil war for days after the disaster.
For the general, the visit – his first visit to the Southeast Asian nation since April 2021 gives the international attention he has long wanted for his administration. For the Thai government, which has already eschewed tens of thousands of refugees from Myanmar, which is located in camps along the border, the stable relationship with the military government aims to try to manage the flow of new arrivals.
However, critics say the visit is the latest indication that Bangkok considers human rights to be unrelated to foreign policy.
“They don't care,” said Kasit Piromiya, former foreign minister of Thailand.
“It's a shame for ASEAN. That's all,” he said, referring to the 10 Southeast Asian regional groups by its acronym. “That's because the Burmese military, the greed and all of them are not democratic.”
Thailand has spoken little about General Min Aung Frening's visit beyond confirming that it is happening.
Justice in Myanmar, Watchdog and 318 other organizations called on Thailand to consume the general, saying it had no justification to represent the people of Myanmar. When foreign governments and international organizations engage with military regimes, the organization said in a statement that by legalizing the junta and supporting it in war with its people, it would “prove great harm to the people of Myanmar.”
“General Min Aung Fröning is spectacular with Asian leaders in Bangkok after a devastating earthquake because he doesn't care about the people of Myanmar,” Elaine Pearson, Asia Director of Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “What he cares about is that he has been properly expelled by most international communities since the February 2021 coup, so he will gain some legitimacy through high-level visits.”
A deeply unpopular leader, General Min Ang Fuhring, was even more disliked after defeating a democratically elected government led by coup Nobel Peace Prize winner Daw Aung San Suu Kee.
Since then, the country has been at war, with armed protesters and powerful ethnic armed groups fighting the junta. In response, the military launched a burnt Earth campaign against its citizens with multiple airstrikes, killing thousands of people. At least 3 million people have been evacuated. Myanmar's economy has been destroyed after a coup, throwing millions of people into extreme poverty, and the criminality of online fraud centres, which are thriving in the country.
The Myanmar military said General Min Aung Fröning, who will begin meetings on Friday, will be in consultation with various government heads about the earthquake and discussing ways other countries can support their relief efforts. In addition to Thailand and Myanmar, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, I will attend the summit.
On Wednesday, Myanmar's military called for a 21-day ceasefire to support rescue and reconstruction efforts the day after being fired on a Chinese Red Cross fleet trying to deliver food and medicine to hopeless survivors. It remains unclear whether the ceasefire will be respected. Armed rebel groups said the military has started airstrike scores since 7.7 magnitude earthquake on Friday.
