Bangkok/Yangon – Thailand’s elections are important not only for the many Thais seeking the end of quasi-military rule in their country but also for the more than 1.5 million Myanmar refugees and migrants who live in the Southeast Asian nation and hope a new government can put an end to Bangkok’s support for the military regime in Naypyidaw.
Thailand itself was rocked by a military coup in 2014 when General Prayuth Chan-ocha seized power from the elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra, solidifying his rule with closely-controlled elections five years later.
With the country heading to the polls within the next few weeks, support for Prayuth appears to be slipping, and with it the preferential position of staunch ally Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the man who seized power from Myanmar’s elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.
For Ma Khine Thet, a…
