Obama to visit Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand

WASHINGTON (AP/WANE) — President Barack Obama will become the first U.S. president to visit Myanmar and Cambodia when he travels to the Asian nations later this month.

The White House says Obama will also visit Thailand. The trip comes less than two weeks after Obama's re-election.

Obama's trip to Myanmar marks the culmination of a dramatic turnaround in the country's relations with Washington. Myanmar, also known as Burma, has shifted from five decades of ruinous military rule and shaken off the pariah status it had earned through its bloody suppression of democracy.

While in Burma, the President will meet with President Thein Sein and Aung San Suu Kyi. They plan on speaking about encouraging Burma’s ongoing democratic transition.

The president has suspended sanctions to reward Myanmar for political prisoner releases and other democratic reforms.

In Cambodia, Obama will attend the East Asia summit and meet with the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.