BANGKOK, June 1 (UPI) -- Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi warned Friday against "reckless optimism" about the pace of pro-democracy reforms in the country.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate said at the World Economic Forum in Bangkok the priorities for her country were basic education and rule of law, CNN reported.
"We need the kind of education that will allow people to make a decent living for themselves," she said.
"Optimism is good but it should be cautious optimism," Suu Kyi said. "I have come across reckless optimism. A little bit of healthy skepticism is in order."
Suu Kyi, the founder of Myanmar's National League for Democracy party, has been given a celebrity's welcome on her first foreign trip since winning a seat in Parliament in April. Her trip is viewed internationally as another step forward for Myanmar, which, in the past two years, has moved away from its ironclad military rule.
Suu Kyi said she was invited to sit in the cockpit on the flight to Bangkok and was "completely fascinated" by the lights of the city.
"I thought, 30 years ago, the scene that met my eyes on landing in Bangkok would not have been very different from what would have met my eyes on landing in Rangoon [now Yangon]," she said. "But now the difference is considerable."
She said Myanmar lacked a "clean and independent judicial system" to uphold laws and urged potential investors in Bangkok to work to ensure any money invested in the country helps its progress, CNN said.
"We do not want investment to mean more possibilities for corruption," she said. "We do not want investment to mean greater inequality. And we do not want investment to mean greater privileges for those already privileged."
After returning to Myanmar briefly, Suu Kyi will visit Europe. Her schedule includes delivering the acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize she couldn't collect in 1991 because she was under detention.
