Myanmar’s Suu Kyi taken ill on campaign trail

Myeik, Myanmar – Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was forced to cancel a stop on her by-election campaign trail on Sunday after being taken ill while travelling in a remote part of southern Myanmar.

Aung San Suu Kyi . AFP FILE PHOTO

The Nobel laureate vomited and was put on a drip after her boat got stuck on a sandbank for several hours on Saturday during a trip to the town of Myeik in the far south of the country, according to her personal doctor Tin Myo Win.

“She is exhausted because of being on the boat for such a long time,” he told AFP, adding that a morning visit to the village of Kyunsu had been cancelled.

Around 1,000 well-wishers gathered outside the house where the democracy campaigner was being treated, according to an AFP photographer at the scene.

Suu Kyi, who has fallen ill once before during her gruelling schedule of rallies and speeches across the country, was due to give a speech in Myeik later Sunday and Tin Myo Win said it was still hoped that this would go ahead.

“We are now giving treatment to her. She is on a drip, her blood pressure is low,” he said.

Myanmar’s April 1 polls will see Suu Kyi stand for a seat in parliament for the first time.

They are viewed as a key test of the government’s commitment to budding reforms that have surprised observers of the country, which has been dominated by the military for decades.