30 May 2012

Suu Kyi in Thailand

11:04 am on 30 May 2012

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is in Thailand on her first trip outside her country in more than two decades.

She is attending the World Economic Forum on East Asia.

For more than 24 years, she was either under house arrest or afraid that if she left Myanmar, also known as Burma, she would not be allowed to go back.

Recent reforms led to her election to parliament last month and she is confident she will be able to return.

Ms Suu Kyi was given a passport in early May.

After her trip to Thailand Ms Suu Kyi plans to return to Burma before travelling to Europe in June.

The BBC reports she intends to go to Norway to formally accept the Nobel Peace Prize which she won in 1991, and will also visit Britain where she has family.

It is also reported that she will go to Geneva, Paris and Ireland.

Before catching her flight to Thailand, Ms Suu Kyi met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who was visiting the country; the first Indian leader to do so since 1987.