Thailand: End Legitimization of Myanmar's Military Regime, Expand Political Engagement with Democratic Alternatives

Thai government should use Min Aung Hlaing's visit to pressure Myanmar military regime for civilian protection and accountability Read the notice To read in Burmese (BANGKOK, July 31, 2026)—The Thai government should use Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing's planned visit to Thailand in August to demand tangible progress on a return to real democratic rule, broaden engagement with Myanmar's democratic actors, and increase pressure for accountability for atrocity crimes, Fortify Rights said today. The visit should not be used to confer legitimacy on a military junta responsiblefor widespread and systematic attacks on civilians. "Recognizing Min Aung Hlaing as Myanmar's legitimate leader and shaking the bloodied hands of a war criminal sends completely the wrong message to Myanmar's civilians who are suffering grave violations of human rights under Myanmar's illegitimate military dictatorship," Thanida Piyachot, Human Rights Specialist at Fortify Rights. "Thailand and ASEAN must stop hiding behind the non-interference policy and take more practive roles in promoting human rights standards in Myanmar.” According to media reports, Min Aung Hlaing is expected to visit Thailand in the first week of August 2026 at the invitation of the Thai government. The visit follows a series of high-level engagements between Thailand and Myanmar's military junta since Min Aung Hlaing declared himself "president" following sham elections in December 2025 and January 2026. Governments, including the United Kingdom, the European Union, Canada, and Australia, rejected the legitimacy of the elections, while the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) declined to recognize the results. Recently, Thailand's deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Sihasak Phuangketkeow, visited Naypyitaw, the capital of Myanmar, where he met with junta chief Min Aung Hlaing. During the visit, Thailand and Myanmar agreed to strengthen their joint efforts to address cross-border issues, including narcotics, online scam operations, and mining-caused river pollution. In July, Myanmar junta-appointed Foreign MinisterTin Maung Swe visited Bangkok and met Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who later invited Min Aung Hlaing to visit Thailand. On July 22, 2026, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters that Min Aung Hlaing's upcoming official visit to Thailand would be an opportunity to discuss a range of bilateral issues, stating that "Thailand needs to seek cooperation from the Myanmar government—not only on river polsolution, but also on agricultural burning and efforts to tackle the source of the drug trade. ... We need to discuss matters that are in the interests of both countries.” The visit comes as the Myanmar military continues to carry out widespread and systematic attacks and abuses against civilians, including airstrikes, arbitrary arrests, torture, extrajudicial killings, attacks on civilian infrastructure, and other seriouss human rights violations that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. According to the United Nations, the war has displaced nearly 3.8 million people, while more than 16 million require humanitarian assistance. Min Aung Hlaing is the subject of a request for an arrest warrant by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in November 2024 for the crimes against humanity of deportation and persecution of the Rohingya committed in Myanmar and, in part, in Bangladesh. In addition, an Argentine federal court issued an arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing in February 2025 under the principle of universal jurisdiction for genocide and crimes against humanity committed against the Rohingya. The Thai government has consistently reaffirmed its support for Myanmar's development and pledged to bridge the gap between Myanmar and ASEAN, despite widespread criticism of its engagement with Myanmar's military junta. In October 2025, ASEAN leaders acknowledged the lack of substantive progress in implementing the Five-Point Consensus, expressed deepConcern over continued violence, condemned attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, and called for an immediate cessation of violence, humanitarian access, and inclusive political dialogue. Most recently, ASEAN foreign ministers reaffirmed that position in July 2026, calling for concrete, measurable progress in implementing the Five-Point Consensus. In March 2026, during the U.N. Human Rights Council session, former U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Tom Andrews urged governments to strengthen measures that weaken the Myanmar military by cutting off access to weapons, aviation fuel, dual-use technologies, foreign exchange, and political legitimacy, while expanding humanitarian assistance and supporting accountability efforts. In2024, Andrews reported that Thai banks had become the Myanmar military's primary financial channel for purchasing weapons and military supplies after Singapore significantly reduced such transactions. Thailand should prohibit its banks from facilitating these purchases and prevent Thai companies from supplying the junta with military and dual-use goods. Fortify Rights has documented how the Myanmar military has used these resources to sustain widespread and systematic attacks against civilians, including through an escalating airstrike campaign, expanding use of paramotors and gyrocopters, and repeated attacks on civilian populations and infrastructure, conduct that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Thailand's cooperation with the Myanmar military has also extended to the forced return of refugees to Myanmar. FOrtify Rights documented between February 2024 and November 2025 that Thai immigration officials worked directly with a labor attaché from the junta-controlled Myanmar embassy to forcibly return more than 3,500 Myanmar nationals through the Ranong-Kawthaung border crossing. The survivors told Fortify Rights that, after being handed over to the Myanmar military, they were at times subjected to extortion, arbitrary detentionention, and forced military conscription by Myanmar junta officials. The coordination amounts to refoulement, human trafficking, and other violations of Thai and international law. Thailand, together with other governments worldwide, should provide political, economic, and material support for Myanmar's home-grown democratic movement and state-level governance initiatives while increasing coordinated pressure on the mmilitary junta to end attacks on civilians, Fortify Rights said today. "Changing from a military uniform into a presidential robe after fake elections has not changed the fundamental nature of the Myanmar junta. It remains a brutal regime that kills its own people and should not be legitimatized," said Chit Seng, Senior Human Rights Specialist at Fortify Rights. "The people of Myanmar have endured years of unlawful attacks, mass displacement, and mass atrocity crimes with impunity. As Myanma