She will visit a seafood-processing district south of Bangkok, meeting some of the millions of migrant workers who prop up Thailand’s seafood, agriculture, construction and service industries.
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She said that one important qualification of human beings is “karuna” (kindness) – a term used by both Thais and Myanmar people which carries the same meaning.
She is expected to sign an agreement Friday with the Thai labor ministry that will slash a “work break” required after four years of labor in Thailand, from three years to 30 days.
A press conference organized by the Coalition for the Rights of Refugees and Stateless Persons (CRSP), a Thailand-based NGO focusing on the plight of Myanmar’s long-suffering Muslim Rohingya, was cancelled by the Thai police, apparently out of concern that the event could disturb Suu Kyi’s visit.
Otherwise, it was hard to predict what sort of results her trip would bring, he said.
Although cocooned by security guards, crowds craned to grab a fleeting glimpse of a politician who strides over Myanmar’s democracy movement and exerts a powerful moral force among her countrymen wherever they are.
Myanmar is still troubled with conflict in its remoter areas among ethnic armed groups fighting the army for greater autonomy.
This new ban on vocabulary was publicized in hopes of inspiring Myanmar’s new government leader, Aung San Suu Kyi to work on lessening tension and hatred in the Rakhine State. These migrant labourers are charged huge sums to get them work and paid poorly.
It is her first overseas visit since the November election. The three-year requirement means many Myanmar migrant workers would rather stay illegally in Thailand than return home to bleak job prospects for such a long period.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s office released a statement saying that the state counselor knows very well about the problems that Myanmar migrant workers face in Thailand, and that she was disappointed she could not greet all those who waited for her in heavy rain.
Thai police forced organizers to change the format of a news conference held by Rohingya activists on Thursday, allowing them to read prepared statements but not take questions.
Many are ethnic Karen displaced by war with Myanmar’s army.
Suu Kyi is being hosted by Thailand’s military junta, and her trip is being tightly scripted, with no opportunities for the media to question her on the issue.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s visit to Thailand coincides with a 12-day mission by Yanghee Lee, the United Nations envoy for human rights in Myanmar, who visited Rohingya living in refugee camps in Rakhine’s Sittwe township.
But Suu Kyi is not scheduled to visit any of the Thai centres holding some 400 Rohingya, a Muslim group who has fled poverty and persecution in western Myanmar.
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Suu Kyi is due to meet with Thai Premier Prayuth Chan-ocha on Friday to discuss their rights before flying back to Myanmar on Saturday. “But it is not going to be too long now because the new government of Myanmar welcomes them”, said Aung Kyaw, the school’s 52-year-old director, who comes from Myanmar’s war-torn Kachin state. The Lady carries hope Suu Kyi enjoys a peerless status to many Myanmar people who see her as symbol of defiance through the dark junta years and a beacon of hope.
