MYANMAR military chief Ye Win Oo met his Thai counterpart in Bangkok on Aug 20, marking his first foreign trip since taking over command of the armed forces as Thailand moves to deepen engagement with Myanmar’s post-coup leadership.
Thai military chief General Ukrit Boontanon received Ye Win Oo at a Bangkok hotel, where the two posed for photographs with their respective delegations.
The talks focused on strengthening security cooperation along the countries’ 2,400km border, where Myanmar’s civil war has contributed to cross-border instability, according to the Thai military.
AFP reported on Thursday that the two sides discussed joint efforts to combat illicit drug trafficking and cyber-scam networks, as well as military cooperation in counterterrorism, training, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
They also addressed cross-border haze, forest fires and river pollution, with Ukrit presenting his Myanmar counterpart with air-quality monitoring equipment.
The meeting was the highest-level military engagement between the two countries since talks were held in Myanmar in 2023, two years after the military seized power from the elected government in a 2021 coup.
The coup led to the detention of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and triggered a civil war in which Myanmar's military has been accused of widespread human rights abuses.
Myanmar's post-coup leadership remained diplomatically isolated for years but has launched a diplomatic push following elections held around the start of 2026, which the military has portrayed as a return to normality.
Min Aung Hlaing, who led the 2021 coup as armed forces chief, subsequently became civilian president, while Ye Win Oo took over as military chief.
The elections have been rejected by democracy groups as a sham designed to rebrand military rule, with Suu Kyi excluded, her political party sidelined and dissenters facing imprisonment.
Thailand, however, has been among Myanmar’s neighbours seeking greater engagement, citing the need to address unavoidable cross-border issues.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul gave Min Aung Hlaing a red-carpet welcome during his visit to Bangkok in August.
Defending the decision to host the Myanmar leader, Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said: "It’s not about legitimacy, it’s about reality."
The approach has drawn criticism from Myanmar democracy and human rights groups.
The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar said Thailand had "torched its credibility" by engaging with Ye Win Oo and accused Bangkok of "embracing a warlord".
The criticism comes as international investigators continue to document alleged abuses by Myanmar’s military.
The United Nations’ Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar said in its latest annual report that the military had escalated air attacks against civilian targets and documented patterns of arbitrary detention, torture and sexual violence.
Myanmar’s government has rejected the findings as "one-sided allegations against Myanmar’s security forces based on unverifiable and inaccurate information". - August 20, 2026
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