Suu Kyi, in Myanmar since 1988, starts world tour

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, center, arrives at Yangon International Airport to leave for Bangkok, her first trip out of Myanmar in 24 years, Tuesday. AP

BANGKOK—Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has arrived in the Thai capital Bangkok on her first trip abroad in more then two decades.

For 24 years, Suu Kyi was either under house arrest or too fearful that if she left Myanmar, the government would never let her return to continue the battle for democracy.

But with the installation of an elected government last year, and her party’s own entrance into parliament this year, she can claim at least partial victory in her long fight.

She arrived in the Thai capital Tuesday night after an 85-minute flight. Suu Kyi is to spend several days in Thailand, meeting with poor migrant workers as well as international movers and shakers, before returning to Myanmar briefly and heading to Europe in mid-June.