Soe Min Thu represented Myanmar at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where he competed for the men's 5,000 metres. He ran in the first heat against thirteen other athletes, including Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge, who later won the silver medal in the final. He finished the race in last place by one minute and thirty seconds behind Japan's Takayuki Matsumiya, with a time of 15:50.56. However, Soe Min Thu failed to advance into the final, as he placed thirty-ninth overall, and was ranked farther below four mandatory slots for the next round.