About Thein Sein
Thein Sein (Burmese: သိန်းစိန်; IPA: [θéɪɰ̃ sèɪɰ̃]; born 20 April 1945) is a Burmese politician and retired army general who served as the eighth president of Myanmar from 2011 to 2016. He previously served as 11th prime minister from 2007 to 2010, and was considered by many in and outside Myanmar as a reformist leader in the post-junta government. His government undertook a series of political reforms including some deregulation of the country's censored media, releasing many political prisoners and halting the country's controversial large Chinese-led hydro-power project. The developments that followed included Myanmar's appointment to chair ASEAN in 2014, improved relations with the United States, the release of Aung San Suu Kyi – his 2015 general election rival – from house arrest, and the reinstatement of major opposition party National League for Democracy (NLD) in the by-election held on 1 April 2012. == Early life == Thein Sein was born in Kyonku, a small Irrawaddy Delta village near Hainggyi Island in what is now Ngapudaw Township to Maung Phyo (father) and Khin Nyunt (mother) in 1944 during the Japanese occupation. He was the youngest of three children. His parents were landless farmers, and his father made a living carrying cargo at the river jetty and weaving bamboo mats. Thein Sein's father Maung Phyo became a Buddhist monk 10 years after his wife's death, and spent his remaining years as a monk. == Military career == Thein Sein graduated from the 9th intake of the Defence Services Academy with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1968, becoming a second lieutenant afterward. Throughout Thein Sein's four-decade long military career, he was considered a bureaucrat, not a combat soldier.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.