Tomorrow, Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing will visit Thailand on a two-day trip touted as marking a new chapter in Thailand's relationship with post-election Myanmar.
In Bangkok, the Myanmar president will address the business community and announce Myanmar's five-year plan. The business sector will gain insight into how former army chief Min Aung Hlaing plans to revive Myanmar's once red-hot economy.
Above all, the visit will be an opportunity for him to send a message about how Myanmar intends to deal with human rights issues.
One thing is certain: Min Aung Hlaing has prepared carefully. The globally released image of Aung San Suu Kyi's recent meeting with an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation on Monday shows that Myanmar is seeking to re-engage with the global community at its own pace and on its own terms.
Yet for Thai society, the visit should and must be about more than Min Aung Hlaing, diplomacy and trade.
Thai people want to see concrete action plans from both governments on how they will tackle narcotics, human trafficking, scam networks and toxic water pollution caused by rare-earth mining activities in Shan State, northern Myanmar.
Since the Myanmar coup in February 2021, illicit activities along the border, including those involving ethnic armed groups, have only expanded. As the central government has focused on fighting anti-government forces and rebels, traffickers and scammers have exploited the political vacuum to build scam operations and trafficking networks along border areas, using Thailand's close proximity as a transit route for moving goods and recruiting victims to work in scam centres.
Mountain areas in Shan State have been opened to foreign mining companies, many of which are reportedly Chinese investors. Regardless of who the investors are, without serious and meaningful government oversight and proper waste treatment standards, toxic substances -- including cyanide from rare-mineral extraction -- have flowed into transboundary rivers such as the Kok, Sai, Ruak, Mekong, Salween and Kraburi.
Over the past five years, these problems have largely been left unchecked. Thai authorities have used the political vacuum in Myanmar as a reason for slow -- or no -- responses.
With a newly elected government and new president in place in Nay Pyi Taw, Thais expect to see effective cooperation with Myanmar in rooting out human trafficking, narcotics and scam centres along the border.
Local communities in Chiang Rai bordering Myanmar are also waiting for the Myanmar government to play a responsible and active role in cleaning up toxic rivers.
That cannot depend solely on the will of Nay Pyi Taw and Min Aung Hlaing.
The Min Aung Hlaing visit this week is more than a presidential debut; it will be a litmus test of whether Thailand can stand firm.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul must show that he can be both kind and firm. Thailand has acted as a bridge to bring Myanmar back to the region and the wider world, and the country has always been an understanding neighbour.
Yet being a good neighbour does not mean allowing border issues and transboundary water pollution to be taken for granted.
