After National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced in a series of show trials to a total of 33 years in jail, a few foreign commentators wrote that she had effectively been dealt out of Myanmar's power games. They felt that she was no longer relevant to the course of the civil war or any future peace discussions. However, the visit to Naypyidaw in April 2023 by the Thai Foreign Minister, who spoke to Aung San Suu Kyi, was a reminder to all who would listen that she remained an important factor in Myanmar's political future.

It has been suggested recently that Myanmar's imprisoned State Counsellor, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been left behind by history, and she is no longer relevant to the outcome of the civil war that has been raging around the country since the 2021 military coup. Given her pivotal role in Myanmar's politics over the past 35 years or so, this idea warrants closer inspection.

The claim seems to have been prompted by the visit to Myanmar in April of the outgoing Thai Foreign Minister, Don Pramudwinai, who was granted an interview with Aung San Suu Kyi. He later said that she was in favour of a “dialogue without preconditions” aimed at achieving a negotiated solution to Myanmar's crisis. This option has long been rejected by both the junta and the shadow National Unity Government (NUG).

Don's visit has been criticised by the NUG and other opposition groups as a stunt designed to strengthen Bangkok's ties to Myanmar's military regime and to justify the outgoing Thai government's much criticised attempts at two-track diplomacy, outside formal meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. It has also been seen as a way to put pressure on Indonesia, as ASEAN's current chair, to modify its tough stance against the junta, which has brushed aside ASEAN's Five-Point Consensus.