Suu Kyi calls for 'healthy skepticism' on Burma

It is not the first time that Suu Kyi has called for caution in the world's approach to Burma, also known as 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 Burma, 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 Burma held elections in 2010 and was elected to Parliament in April, capping a stunning personal story.

Since elections last year, Burma'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.

"These days I am coming across what I call reckless optimism," she said, drawing applause from the room packed with several hundred people and a wall of TV cameras. "A little bit of healthy skepticism I think is in order."

Burma's reforms have prompted the U.S. and Europe to ease economic sanctions they imposed during the military's regime, but some human rights groups have warned that while those moves are good for the country's development they will weaken incentives to continue democratic reforms.

Suu Kyi said later at a news conference that she didn't doubt Thein Sein's desire to make reforms, but that he was not the country's sole power

"I do believe in the sincerity of the president when he speaks of his commitment to reform," she said. "But I also recognize that he's not the only person in government. And, as I keep repeating, there's the military to be reckoned with."

Anticipating huge aid and investment to develop Burma's stunted infrastructure, she said she hoped foreign firms would invest cautiously and transparently, so the influx of money can benefit the impoverished masses.

"We do not want more investment to mean more possibilities for corruption," she said. "Our country must benefit."

Suu Kyi's initial speech at the forum lasted about 10 minutes and was followed by a question-answer session with Schwab. She focused her talk on how the world could help "that little piece of the world that some of us call Burma and some of us call Myanmar."

She listed the country's most essential needs as secondary education to foster political reforms and jobs to end high youth unemployment that she called "a time bomb." She said Burma still lacks rule of law and an independent judiciary.

"We need basic education in Burma," she said, "the kind of education that will enable our people to earn a decent living for themselves."

Burma's sputtering economy, in ruins after half a century of military rule and years of harsh Western sanctions, has led to huge unemployment and has forced millions of people to seek jobs abroad.

"I keep telling our people, it's true that we are behind everyone else but it means we can learn from the mistakes of everyone else," she said.

Dressed in blue silk with a strand of white flowers in her hair, Suu Kyi spoke publicly for the first time since arriving Tuesday about her first impressions of the outside world after 24 years of isolation.

The Oxford graduate said she was amazed before even stepping off the plane, where the captain of her Thai Airways flight was "so very kind as to invite me to sit in the cockpit."

Bangkok is a stark contrast to sleepy Rangoon, where rolling blackouts due to electricity shortages have spurred protests for more than a week. Thirty years ago the two cities were not so far apart, she said, but: "Now the difference is considerable."

She drew laughter from the audience by adding: "What went through my mind was, 'We need an energy policy!'"