Myanmar's opposition leader and former political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi urged the international community Friday to exercise “healthy skepticism” toward her country's reform process as it sheds a half-century of military rule. It is not the first time that Suu Kyi has called for caution in the world's approach to Myanmar — but it is the first time the Nobel prize winner has uttered the sentiment on foreign soil in a speech that was broadcast live across several time zones. After 24 years of isolation in Myanmar, Suu Kyi received a standing ovation as she took the podium at the World Economic Forum, where she delighted the audience with a story about being invited into the cockpit as she landed in Bangkok — her first international flight in decades. At first she marveled at the high-tech control panel but then was “completely fascinated by the lights” of modern Bangkok sprawled out below her. The forum's founder, Klaus Schwab, introduced her as “one of the most extraordinary personalities this century.” The 66-year-old Suu Kyi spent 15 out of 22 years locked under house arrest by the former military regime. She was granted freedom after Myanmar held elections in 2010 and was elected to Parliament in April, capping a stunning personal story. Since elections last year, Myanmar's President Thein Sein has surprised much of the world by engineering sweeping reforms, but Suu Kyi noted that the country is still in the very early phases of building a democracy.
