Vice Senior General Maung Aye (R) shakes hands with General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin at the Nay Pyi Taw airport on August 27. Pic: AFP

THE Thai army chief, General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, paid a visit to Myanmar last week that included talks on border issues, a media report said.

Gen Sonthi, who also heads the Thai military council that took power in a coup last September that ousted the government headed by Thaksin Shinawatra, arrived in Nay Pyi Taw on August 27 for the two-day visit.

The visit came during a series of trips by Gen Sonthi to Thailand’s neighbours before he retires next month.

Gen Sonthi met the Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, Senior General Than Shwe, at Nay Pyi Taw on the first day.

The visit was at the invitation of Gen Sonthi’s counterpart, Vice Senior General Maung Aye, with whom he held separate talks in the administrative capital.

Gen Sonthi told the Bangkok Post on August 28 that discussion touched on border issues and the political situation in Myanmar and Thailand. Myanmar leaders were “very satisfied with Thailand’s handling of policies towards Myanmar during his two years as army chief,” Gen Sonthi told the newspaper.

Gen Sonthi said he had given assurances during the talks that the Thai army's policy towards Myanmar would remain unchanged after his retirement.

The Thai army chief returned to Bangkok on August 28 after a brief stopover in Yangon.