The Tamesis
May 18, 2026
Bangkok – more than two weeks After Myanmar’s military junta announced It has placed its most prominent political prisoner, Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest, but questions remain about her whereabouts.
The military government announced on April 30 that 80-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi has been placed under house arrest, where she will serve the remaining approximately 18 years of her sentence.
Myanmar state media later showed a photo of her sitting on a wooden stool talking to two uniformed police officers. But many observers questioned the authenticity of the photo and when it was taken.
Since then, no one has been able to meet or talk to her alone.
This once again prompted her son Kim Aris, 48, to request to see his mother.
“I still have no verified information on her condition or whereabouts. I don’t know if she is still alive,” Mr Aris posted on his Facebook page on May 9.
On May 7, he also accepted an interview with The Straits Times and reiterated his concerns about his mother’s health. It was previously reported that she suffered from bone and gum problems, heart disease and low blood pressure.
The last time Mr Aris heard from his mother was in a handwritten letter two years ago. he Desperate to see ‘evidence of life’which became a hashtag on social media as many people began sharing the quote alongside portraits of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Others also said they were unsure whether Myanmar’s former leader had been placed under house arrest.
Former U.S. ambassador to Myanmar Scott Maciel said it seemed possible but not certain.
“(The Myanmar regime) would presumably make such a move to demonstrate ‘flexibility’ to outside powers, but in reality such a move would mean little other than perhaps bringing her greater comfort,” he said.
The National Unity Government (NUG), which is made up of civilians, expressed doubts about the junta’s statement.
NUG Foreign Minister Zin Mar Aung told The Straits Times: “The junta hopes to gain diplomatic benefits through ‘house arrest’ without providing anyone with evidence of her condition, location or freedom of access.”
“What we are witnessing is a kind of hostage diplomacy,” she added, with the junta using Ms Suu Kyi as a bargaining chip with ASEAN and other countries.
Suu Kyi, who was detained after the military staged a coup that ousted the civilian government on February 1, 2021, has alleged electoral fraud in the 2020 polls, in which her National League for Democracy won a landslide victory.
gentlemen Amara Thiha, a non-resident fellow at the Stimson Center, a US think tank, believes that the North Korean regime hopes to signal a gradual step towards normalization by placing Suu Kyi under house arrest.
“This may help encourage continued economic participation and investment commitments from key partners,” he said.
“The junta seems eager to create symbolic gestures and a controlled political horizon to ease international pressure, regain diplomatic space and encourage a gradual re-engagement of regional and international actors,” Ms Simma Aung said.
But others believe visiting diplomats, especially from superpowers like China, may have had some influence on the way the Myanmar regime treats Aung San Suu Kyi.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Myanmar on April 25 as part of a visit to Cambodia, Thailand and other Indochina countries.
“Chinese pressure is certainly relevant,” said Dr. Hunter Marston, director of the Lowy Institute’s Southeast Asia program. “It is not in the regime’s interests to have Dosu die in prison as they watch. Her release bolsters Beijing’s case for vindicating Naypyidaw in the international community.”
There are untapped investment opportunities and large-scale projects in Myanmar’s infrastructure and energy sectors, and the restoration of political stability is also in China’s interest.
“(China) therefore wants to see Naypyitaw reintegrated into the international community, and one sure way to achieve that is to release Dusu safely. So China will naturally lobby the military junta to release her,” Dr Marston said.
Myanmar’s military chief has been banned from attending ASEAN leaders’ summits for five years following the 2021 coup, but the regional group is beginning to change its stance.
The Philippines, which holds the rotating chair of ASEAN in 2026, issued a statement on May 6 urging Myanmar to show greater commitment to promoting national reconciliation by increasing transparency about Aung San Suu Kyi’s whereabouts. It also demanded that ASEAN’s special envoy for Myanmar, current Philippine Foreign Secretary Teresa Lazaro, be allowed to meet with her.
Maciel, the former US special envoy to Myanmar, believes that it is reasonable for the ASEAN envoy to want to meet Aung San Suu Kyi.
“The risk is that some in ASEAN will claim that such a meeting is a positive step and increases momentum for Myanmar to return to ASEAN, when in fact the military has not taken any substantive action to achieve ASEAN’s own five-point consensus,” he said.
The five-point consensus includes the goal of immediately stopping violence and allowing all parties concerned to engage in constructive dialogue to seek a peaceful solution. To this day, hardly any point has been reached.
As civil war continues across the country, analysts interviewed by The Straits Times are not convinced that the Myanmar regime will agree to ASEAN’s request to meet Aung San Suu Kyi.
They believe the junta sees no real benefit in allowing access to her and may instead use the opportunity to extract demands from the group.
Mr Amara Tiha said: “It would be reasonable to expect that any access granted would be conditional on certain guarantees.”
NUG’s Zin Mar Aung said these assurances could include the junta asking ASEAN to recognize its new government, gradually inviting former military chief and current President Min Aung Hlaing back to summits, and having ASEAN put pressure on resistance forces to cease their activities.
Dr Marston believed that access to Suu Kyi might provide insight into her well-being and her perspective on the current situation.
But he added that the meeting might not yield much as she was behind bars under a media blackout and unaware of developments across the country.
Dr Marston said: “ASEAN should therefore spend its energy elsewhere, such as using what little leverage it has over the generals to force them into further reforms before giving them legitimizing measures such as inviting them to future gatherings.”
Some believe Naypyitaw has the upper hand because ASEAN appears to be running out of ideas.
Dr Marston said: “The junta knows that ASEAN’s inability to resolve the crisis in Myanmar and its consequent lack of adequate representation within the body is a stain on the bloc’s record, and all parties want to see Myanmar eventually reintegrated into ASEAN. So it is willing to drag its feet and allow the embarrassment to grow.”
“Min Aung Hlaing knows that ASEAN needs Myanmar to become a cohesive regional organization, not that he needs ASEAN to legitimize his regime,” he added.
For Mr Aris, anxiety about his mother’s well-being transcends political deliberations.
From 1989 to 2010, Aung San Suu Kyi was under house arrest for the first time by the former military government for 15 years. She is entering the sixth year of her second round of incarceration.
“As a son, my hope remains simple – I want to see my mother released and know that she is safe.”
