Suu Kyi to visit Karen camp

 Published: 26/05/2012 at 06:19 PM ...

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will visit a Karen refugee camp along the Thai-Myanmar border in Tak province on Thursday during her visit to Thailand.

The visit comes at the request of the Karen National Union, which invited the Nobel Peace Prize winner to see the living conditions of Karen refugees who had fled the fighting in Myanmar.

Many Karen refugees also wanted to see the 66-year-old democracy icon, a senior KNU official said on Saturday at the KNU base opposite Mae Sot district in Tak.

Mrs Suu Kyi is preparing to make her first trip outside of Myanmar in 24 years, about 15 of which were spent under house arrest by the military junta.

She will also attend the World Economic Forum on East Asia (WEF), being held in Bangkok from Wednesday to Friday.

Myanmar President Thein Sein will also attend the forum and is scheduled to deliver a speech on the country's future on Friday.

Thein Sein has initiated several reforms since taking office in March 2011, including opening political dialogue with Mrs Suu Kyi that has paved the away for her entry into mainstream politics.

Mrs Suu Kyi has a busy schedule in Europe later in June. On June 14 she will attend the annual meeting of the UN International Labour Organization in Geneva.

She is scheduled to give her belated Nobel Peace Prize address in Oslo two days later -- 21 years after winning the award.

She will then travel to Britain to celebrate her birthday on June 19 with her two sons, who live there.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/295166/suu-kyi-to-visit-karen-camp