BANGKOK: Myanmar’s new president is considering „good things“ for detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Thailand’s foreign minister said on Wednesday (Apr 22), as the country seeks to normalise ties with regional bloc ASEAN after five years on the sidelines.
The status of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained since her government was toppled in a 2021 coup, was discussed at a meeting between Myanmar leader Min Aung Hlaing, the junta chief-turned-president, and Thailand’s top diplomat Sihasak Phuangketkeow.
Sihasak said Min Aung Hlaing informed him Aung San Suu Kyi, 80, was being „well looked after“, after he relayed concerns about her welfare from the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
„Many ASEAN countries are worried about Aung San Suu Kyi and her wellbeing, and he said they are considering good things, so this could be a good thing,“ Sihasak said, adding Min Aung Hlaing did not elaborate.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the hugely popular daughter of Myanmar independence hero Aung San, has been serving a 27-year sentence for a litany of offences her allies said were politically motivated to keep her at bay, ranging from incitement and corruption to election fraud and violating a state secrets law.
It is unclear where she is being held.
Her sentence was last week commuted by one-sixth as part of an amnesty for thousands of prisoners that included the release of her ally, Win Myint, the ousted former president and co-defendant in many of her trials.
