Suu Kyi meets migrant workers in Mahachai

Suu Kyi meets migrant workers in Mahachai

Migrant workers wave to Myanmar Foreign Minister and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi during a meeting at Talad Talay Thai in Muang district in Samut Sakhon on Thursday. (Reuters photo)
Migrant workers wave to Myanmar Foreign Minister and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi during a meeting at Talad Talay Thai in Muang district in Samut Sakhon on Thursday. (Reuters photo)

Heavy rain could not deter thousands of Myanmar workers from greeting their idol Aung San Suu Kyi at a market in Samut Sakhon on Thursday.

Mynamar citizens working in Mahachai packed Talad Talay Thai in Samut Sakhon's Muang district hours before the state counsellor and foreign minister came from Bangkok to meet them.

They braved the heavy rain and chanted  "Me Suu" (Mother Suu) as their icon reached the market from Bangkok.

She waved to her compatriots before going inside the meeting hall to talk to their representatives.

Aung San Suu Kyi arrives at Talad Talay Thai in Samut Sakhon. (AFP photo)

The de facto Myanmar leader said in the meeting room that she hoped for better understanding between people of the two countries.

She likened Myanmar workers to guests of Thailand and urged them to talk with their employers to find solutions to any issues that may arise.

"When living together, it is normal that some little difficulties or problems may occur, but talking over them is the best solution," she said.

She also promised the workers that she will discuss labour welfare with the Thai government.

Ms Suu Kyi arrived from Yangon earlier on Thursday for a three-day visit in what was her first trip after the National League for Democracy Party won a landslide victory in elections in November last year. She was appointed to the Myanmar cabinet in March before she was given an additional role as state counsellor in April. She was welcomed at Suvarnabhumi airport by Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak.

The NLD leader came to Mahachai in 2012 to meet Myanmar migrants while on a trip to Thailand.

She will meet Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Friday with refugees, labour issues and development projects between the two countries on the agenda.

Ms Suu Kyi will deliver a keynote speech on the "Myanmar, Asean and the World" forum at the Foreign Ministry before going to Government House.

Her plan to visit the Tham Hin refugee camp in Suan Pheung district in Ratchaburi by helicopter before wrapping up the visit on Saturday has been cancelled due to weather factors.

Ms Suu Kyi is travelling with Labour, Immigration and Population Minister Thein Swe, Planning and Finance Minister Kyaw Win and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Kyaw Tin.


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