Suu Kyi off to Thailand, UK in first foreign trip since 1988

Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will travel overseas next week for the first time in more than two decades to attend an economic forum in Bangkok, her party said Thursday.

Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will travel overseas next week for the first time in more than two decades to attend an economic forum in Bangkok, her party said Thursday.

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The former political prisoner’s plan to leave Myanmar for the first time since 1988 is a sign of dramatic political change sweeping through the country, where decades of outright military rule ended last year.

“She will go to the World Economic Forum (on East Asia) in Thailand,” said Nyan Win, a spokesman for the Nobel laureate’s National League for Democracy.

The gathering of senior government officials and business leaders from around the region is being held from May 30 to June 1 at a luxury hotel in the Thai capital.

Nyan Win said Suu Kyi would arrive in Bangkok on May 28 but was unable to give more details about her plan.

Myanmar President Thein Sein will also attend the same economic forum, according to a government official.