On Sunday (2 July), the Myanmar migrant worker network Bright Future met in front of the UN headquarters in Bangkok ahead of the birthday of coup leader Gen Min Aung Hlaing on Monday to call on Thailand’s new government not to support the Myanmar junta.

The gathering in front of the UN headquarters on Sunday

Suraj Giri, a member of the Bright Future group, said that they wanted the world to know the crimes Min Aung Hlaing has committed and how many people have died at the hands of the junta. 

Suraj said he hopes the new Thai government is a democratic one, since it would mean better labour policies and international relations. He also asked that the new government take care of Myanmar migrants and develop policies on how to interact with Myanmar and how to treat workers, since he feels that the international community is no longer paying much attention to the situation in Myanmar.

“I hope the [Thai government] will be democratic, because, if it’s a democratic government, various policies will run smoothly or better, but I’m worried that if there is another dictatorship, I believe we will be worn out again, [since] we are already facing a dictator in Myanmar, and we will have to face another one in Thailand,” he said.

“I would like there to be a democratic government, so Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand will have equal rights to everyone else.”

The Bright Future group also issued a statement saying that the group wanted to use the occasion of Min Aung Hlaing’s birthday to “give voice to our struggle and the defenders of democracy, including those who have been captured or killed.”

“While this crisis might be a distant issue to us in the city of Bangkok, we'd like remind you all right now that there is a war going on. Children attend school in trenches, workers arm themselves in the mountains, our friends and families are gunned down in the streets and fields. Peace is a privilege we simply do not have,” said the statement, which noted that the citizens of Myanmar has been fighting against the junta since day one, from the Civil Disobedience Movement to the armed resistance of the People’s Defence Force (PDF), and that at least 2,091 people have been killed while many more are displaced.

Bright Future said it is disappointed with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ decision to re-engage with the Myanmar junta on 18 - 19 June, when Don Pramudwinai, Thailand's acting Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, called an “informal meeting” with Myanmar and other ASEAN countries, several of which rejected the invitation.

The group calls on the UN and the upcoming Thai government to pressure the Myanmar junta to release all political prisoners, including President Win Myint and Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counsellor and National League of Democracy (NLD) party leader, and to refuse to legitimize or justify the junta government.

The group also demanded that the UN and Thailand put more pressure on the junta to comply with the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus, especially by putting an immediate end to violence in the country. They must also support the National Unity Government (NUG), a government in exile formed by elected members of parliament ousted by the 2021 coup, and the PDF, as well as support strong democratic rule in Myanmar.

“We are joyous to see the next government of Thailand prevailing with pro-human rights and pro-democracy principles. We hope this change would mean a clearer stance for the side of the people of Myanmar,” said the statement.

When asked what he wanted to tell Min Aung Hlaing for the general’s birthday, Suraj said “Go to hell.”