BANGKOK - Myanmar’s military chief met on Thursday with the chief of Thai defence forces in Bangkok in his first foreign trip since assuming the role.
The visit by Ye Win Oo came just two weeks after his predecessor Min Aung Hlaing made an official visit to Thailand as president of Myanmar, part of a stepped-up campaign to shake off the country’s pariah status.
Min Aung Hlaing led the military coup that ousted an elected government in 2021, detaining leader Aung San Suu Kyi and sparking a civil war in which the armed forces have been accused of rampant rights abuses.
The post-coup leadership was isolated for five years but has started a diplomatic offensive, touting the election it staged in early 2026 as a return to normalcy.
Gen Ukris Boontanondha, Chief of Defence Forces, greeted Ye Win Oo at a hotel in Bangkok, on Thursday morning, where they posed for the media alongside their respective delegations.
Thai officials said the talks focused on ways to enhance security cooperation on the nations’ 2,400-kilometre border, where the war in Myanmar has seeded instability.
The generals discussed joint efforts to tackle the illicit drugs trade and cyberscam networks as well as military cooperation on counterterrorism, training, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
They also addressed the issue of cross-border haze, forest fires and river contamination, with the Thai general presenting his counterpart with air quality monitoring devices, according to a statement from the Thai military.
Previous high-level military talks were held in Myanmar in 2023, two years after the coup, when Min Aung Hlaing was head of the military.
‘Embracing a warlord’
A former spymaster for Myanmar’s ruling junta, Ye Win Oo has been sanctioned by nations including the United States for his role in the coup.
The ensuing civil war is estimated to have claimed 100,000 lives over the past five years.
The international community is divided over how to deal with Myanmar since the elections.
The polls, which featured mostly military-aligned parties and no meaningful opposition, were not staged in some parts of the country where the military faced stiff resistance.
Democracy watchdogs derided the vote as a charade to rebrand military rule while excluding Aung San Suu Kyi, sidelining her party and punishing dissenters with prison time.
Thailand, however, has insisted that the only way to restore true normalcy in Myanmar is to engage with its current leaders and persuade them to engage in talks with their opponents.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul granted Min Aung Hlaing a red-carpet welcome in Bangkok this month.
Defending the decision to host the talks, Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow told reporters: “It’s not about legitimacy, it’s about reality.”
But the campaign group the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar said this week that “by embracing a warlord, Thailand has torched its credibility”.
The decision to also allow a visit from Ye Win Oo was “adding to its ignominy”, the statement added.
Last week, investigators from the United Nations said the military Ye Win Oo leads is escalating its aerial attacks on civilian targets.
The UN’s Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar’s annual report also documented a pattern of arbitrary detentions, torture and sexual violence committed by the military.
Myanmar’s government called the publication “one-sided allegations against Myanmar’s security forces based on unverifiable and inaccurate information”.
