Democracy icon and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi will be arriving at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport this evening for her first trip outside of Burma (Myanmar) in 24 years.
The lights, taxis and trains of Bangkok will be the first sights Mrs. Suu Kyi has seen outside her home country – a country whose largest city is Yangon, an aging, dimly-lit colonial capital plagued by power cuts.
The Lady, as she is affectionately referred to in Burma, will be in Bangkok for three days to deliver a speech at the World Economic Forum East Asia, opening tomorrow under the theme “Shaping the Region’s Future through Connectivity.” Burma’s president Thein Sein recently reportedly canceled his trip to Bangkok for the WEF, many believe because of the news that Mrs. Suu Kyi would attend.
Mrs Suu Kyi’s visit is remarkable as only a few months ago it seemed unimaginable that the opposition leader would be allowed to even travel freely within Burma, much less abroad.
After spending 15 years in detention for her role in the country’s struggle against military dictatorship, she was released following November 2011 elections which were largely seen as a sham as 25 per cent of seats were reserved for the military and the vast majority of the remaining seats up for grabs went to the military-backed Union Solidarity Development Party.
Although banned for participation in the 2011 general elections, Mrs. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party was allowed to contend the 45 seats up for grabs in an April 2012 by-election, in which she and fellow party members won by a landslide.
During her brief periods of freedom over the past 24 years, Mrs. Suu Kyi refused offers to travel abroad for fear of being denied re-entry by her opponents in the military government. However, since her victory in the by-elections, she has freely traveled within Burma and met with high-ranking international diplomats, including United States Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and British Prime Minister James Cameron.
Following her Thailand sojourn, Mrs. Suu Kyi will visit Europe in June where she is scheduled to meet with high-level government officials and give her acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize she was awarded in 1991.
Tomorrow morning Mrs. Suu Kyi will visit migrant workers in neighboring Samut Sakhon province before participating in the World Economic Forum.
