Suu Kyi to meet PM during WEF event in Bangkok

Piyanart Srivalo   
The Nation, Agencies May 25, 2012 1:00 am     

 

Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will meet with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in Bangkok when she arrives here to deliver a speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF) during her first foreign trip in 24 years.

Thawat Bounfeuang, acting secretary to the Myanmar prime minister, said there was no formal appointment for Suu Kyi to see Yingluck but they might meet during a reception dinner at Navy Auditorium on May 31. The two female leaders met for the first time in Yangon in December when Yingluck visited the country for the Greater Mekong Subregion summit.

Suu Kyi arrives in Bangkok on Monday to deliver her speech at the WEF, which is being held on May 31 and June 1, according to a National League for Democracy official.

NLD spokesman Nyan Win confirmed that Suu Kyi would make her first international visit to Thailand but declined to give further information about her schedule.

Myanmar President Thein Sein will be one of world leaders attending the WEF on East Asia in Bangkok, Thawat said. Thein Sein, who has been championing reform and reconciliation in his country since he took office last year, will meet with Yingluck on June 1, he said.

Suu Kyi has a tight schedule in June after she was granted permission by Myanmar authorities to travel abroad. She plans to visit Europe, where she will deliver a speech at the International Labour Organisation in Geneva on June 14. On June 16, she will be in Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize she won in 1991 for her peaceful struggle for democracy in her country. The Nobel laureate also plans to travel to Britain, where she lived and studied for many years, and has been given the rare honour of addressing the UK Parliament on June 21.

Suu Kyi, 66, has become Myanmar's face for the international community after her release from house arrest in November 2010 going on to become a member of parliament after her victory in a by-election last month.

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