Fresh from his re-election, Mr Obama will on Monday become the first sitting US president to visit Burma, which is emerging from decades of isolation.

Mr Obama will praise President Thein Sein for ending the dark era of junta rule, but will also push him to go much further towards genuine democracy. He will also stand side-by-side with democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi at the lakeside villa where his fellow Nobel laureate languished for years under house arrest.

“President Thein Sein is taking steps that move us in a better direction,” Mr Obama told a press conference in Bangkok. “But I don’t think anybody’s under any illusion that Burma’s arrived. The country has a long way to go.”

Mr Obama deliberately chose Thailand as the first destination on the trip in order to send a message that enduring relationships with democracies like Thailand - however flawed they may be - will form the bedrock of US diplomacy as the region warily eyes a rising China.

Along with Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, the president visited the Wat Pho temple and monastery in the Thai capital. Both visitors readily followed Buddhist custom and removed their shoes.

As they chatted with their monk guide, Mr Obama referred to budget negotiations back in Washington, where a damaging series of tax increases and spending cuts loom.

“We’re working on this budget. We’re going to need a lot of prayer for that,” he said.

They also visited Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej in the hospital that has been his near-permanent home since 2009.

“I thought it was very important that my first trip after the elections was to Thailand, which is such a great ally,” said Mr Obama, at a joint press conference with Yingluck Shinawatra, the Thai prime minister.

Tomorrow Mr Obama will attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit and East Asia Summit in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.