Thailand Honours Myanmar's Min Aung Hlaing With Full State Welcome as Rights Groups Demand Accountability for Rohingya Genocide

Thai civil society groups have condemned their government for receiving Myanmar's President Min Aung Hlaing with full state honours in Bangkok, accusing it of legitimising a military ruler who faces international arrest warrants for genocide and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya people. Human rights advocates say the red carpet welcome sends the worst possible message to millions of civilian victims.

Photo Source: Reuters

BANGKOK, Thailand, Myanmar's President Min Aung Hlaing arrived in Bangkok on Thursday, August 6, for a two-day official state visit, receiving a full guard of honour and bilateral talks with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul at Government House. The pomp and ceremony afforded to the man who seized power in a military coup in February 2021 has drawn fierce condemnation from civil society groups, human rights organisations and democracy advocates, who say the visit legitimises one of the world's most accused war criminals at a time when his forces continue to bomb civilians, hospitals and schools across Myanmar.

The two leaders met at Government House, where several memorandums of understanding were signed covering Myanmar migrant workers, water quality management in shared rivers, and space technology for Earth observation. Following the meetings, Min Aung Hlaing and Anutin attended the Thailand-Myanmar Business Forum 2026, a platform aimed at promoting trade and investment between the two countries.

Myanmar remains in the midst of a bloody civil war triggered by the coup, which has killed more than 100,000 people according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project. Western governments have sanctioned Min Aung Hlaing and his associates for overthrowing Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government.

Civil Society Groups Speak Out

Sixteen Thai civil society organisations issued a joint statement opposing the visit, led by Solidarity Collective TH and the Spirit in Education Movement. The groups said Min Aung Hlaing's administration has been marked by widespread violence, systematic human rights abuses and alleged war crimes, and argued that engaging with Myanmar's military rulers would prolong the country's conflict rather than promote regional stability.

The joint statement was also issued by the Desegregated Burma Foundation, the Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma, the Union for Civil Liberty, the Campaign for Popular Democracy, the World Peace Working Group, the Asian Cultural Forum on Development Foundation, Thai Allied Committee with Desegregated Burma Foundation, the Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma, the Union for Civil Liberty, the Campaign for Popular Democracy, the World Peace Working Group, the Asian Cultural Forum on Development Foundation and other Thai civil society networks.

The groups said Min Aung Hlaing's visits to Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries were part of a calculated effort to gain regional acceptance after years of international isolation following the coup. They called on Thailand to review cooperation that benefits Myanmar's military, improve protections for Myanmar migrant workers, support independent humanitarian assistance, reject the legitimacy of the military-led government, and oppose its reintegration into ASEAN until violence ends and democratic rule is restored.

"Thailand is actually putting its own citizens and its own national interest at risk. And it is also undermining its own standing in the international community," said Debbie Stothard, founder-coordinator of ALTSEAN-Burma, a network of groups based across ASEAN.

Thanida Piyachot, human rights specialist at Fortify Rights, said: "shaking the bloodied hands of a war criminal sends completely the wrong message to Myanmar's civilians suffering grave violations of human rights under Myanmar's illegitimate military dictatorship."

The Architect of Rohingya Genocide

For the Rohingya community, Min Aung Hlaing is not simply a controversial political figure. He is the man most directly identified by the United Nations as bearing the greatest responsibility for the genocide against their people.

In August 2017, under his command, the Myanmar military launched what it described as clearance operations in Rakhine State. In reality, soldiers burned Rohingya villages to the ground, executed men and boys, raped women and girls, and drove more than 750,000 Rohingya across the border into Bangladesh within a matter of weeks. The United Nations described the campaign as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing. The United States formally designated the atrocities as genocide in March 2022.

The 2017 genocide did not emerge from nowhere. For decades, the Rohingya had been subjected to state-imposed statelessness under the 1982 Citizenship Law, restricted to three townships, denied access to education and healthcare, and forcibly labelled as illegal immigrants despite generations of residence in Rakhine State. The military's 2017 operations were the violent culmination of decades of systematic persecution.

Today, more than one million Rohingya remain in the refugee camps of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, in what has become the world's largest refugee settlement. Hundreds of thousands more are scattered across Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and countries further afield. None have been able to return home safely. None have seen justice.

Tun Khin, president of Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, said Thai authorities should not lend legitimacy to Min Aung Hlaing's "murderous regime by rolling out the red carpet" for his visit, and should instead set an example on human rights, justice and accountability. "Min Aung Hlaing is not only one of the chief architects of the genocide," he said.

International Legal Proceedings

The civil society statement highlighted the mounting international legal action against Min Aung Hlaing. An Argentine federal judge ordered arrest warrants in February 2025 for Min Aung Hlaing and 24 other individuals under the principle of universal jurisdiction, relating to allegations of genocide and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya.

Separately, the International Criminal Court prosecutor applied on November 27, 2024, for an arrest warrant against Min Aung Hlaing for alleged crimes against humanity, including the deportation and persecution of the Rohingya. The application remains pending before ICC judges.

The groups argued in their statement that Min Aung Hlaing cannot be treated as the legitimate representative of Myanmar's people given these proceedings, and that receiving him with full state honours undermines the credibility of the international legal system.

A Diplomatic Offensive in Full Swing

Since shedding his military uniform to take on the civilian role of president following a military-orchestrated election earlier this year, Min Aung Hlaing has been on a diplomatic drive, visiting China, India, Laos and now Thailand in a bid to bolster his international legitimacy. Min Aung Hlaing became president in April 2026 following an election process that excluded significant opposition and was widely condemned internationally.

"Myanmar has now reestablished itself on the path to democracy and is moving toward a better future," Min Aung Hlaing told reporters during the visit. "As the new government, we have now begun working on national stability, peace and national reconciliation."

Human rights groups rejected that framing entirely, noting that Myanmar's military has continued to conduct airstrikes against civilian communities, hospitals and schools, including during the humanitarian emergency following Myanmar's 2025 earthquake.

Thailand has defended its engagement with Myanmar as necessary for addressing security, economic and cross-border issues, describing it as a "calibrated re-engagement approach." Anutin said ASEAN is pushing Min Aung Hlaing for compliance with the Five-Point Consensus, the regional bloc's peace plan that calls for an end to violence, the release of political prisoners and inclusive talks.

Critics say five years of ASEAN engagement have produced none of those outcomes, and that continued diplomatic rewards without conditions only encourages the junta to maintain its course.

For the more than one million Rohingya who cannot return home, the sight of Min Aung Hlaing being greeted with a guard of honour in Bangkok is not a diplomatic abstraction. It is a message that the man responsible for their displacement, their suffering and the murder of their loved ones is being welcomed back into the community of nations without facing any consequences.

Rights groups say that as long as impunity continues, the prospect of a safe and dignified return for Rohingya refugees to Myanmar remains out of reach.

Reporting based on The Nation Thailand, DVB, Al Jazeera, ABC News, Fortify Rights, Human Rights Watch, UN OHCHR and ICC documentation.