(23 Jun 2016) In a demonstration of her popular appeal, Myanmar de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi received a rapturous welcome on Thursday as she presided over a town hall-type meeting with some of the huge population of migrant workers from her homeland who eke out a living in Thailand.
Her meeting with countrymen in the Thai port town of Mahachai, where many work, reprised a similar meeting in 2012 that drew tens of thousands.
The numbers this time appeared to be lower, but the level of adulation was high.
The crowd briefly tussled with Thai police before surging through their lines to reach the venue.
Suu Kyi spoke to several hundred people in a meeting hall for 20 minutes before stepping down from the stage seemingly in frustration at a faulty sound system to engage face-to-face with members of the audience, who gave her questions and comments about what she could do to help their often difficult lives.
A large crowd of several thousand waiting outside burst into cheers and song as she was leaving, after staying for the duration of her 45-minute meeting even as a heavy rain poured down on them.
When Suu Kyi last visited Thailand four years ago, it was as head of her country's opposition party to offer moral support to her countrymen who work here in menial jobs, often in exploitative conditions.
She arrived back as her country's elected leader to tackle on an official basis the problems faced by Myanmar migrant workers the government estimates to number 1.4 million but advocates say is at least twice that.
Migrant workers' rights activist Andy Hall has spent years fighting to improve their lives and protect them from abuse.
He described Suu Kyi as "someone who can make the change".
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