Thailand welcomes U.S.-Myanmar engagement — SkimNews
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- Thailand welcomed U.S. engagement with Myanmar in remarks on Oct. 23, saying it did not want the country isolated or turned into an arena for geopolitical rivalry.
- Sihasak said the engagement did not legitimize Myanmar’s military-backed government and instead aimed to encourage peaceful conflict resolution and reconciliation with the opposition.
- U.S. and Myanmar’s military-backed government held their second meeting in a month in Tokyo two weeks before Oct. 23 as Washington stepped up re-engagement with the generals it had shunned after the 2021 coup.
- Thailand expected ASEAN’s November Manila summit to hold “very substantive, very extensive, and very in-depth” discussions on how to proceed with Myanmar, barred since the 2021 coup.
- Min Aung Hlaing made recent visits to Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia, which Sihasak cited as “some shift” in ASEAN’s position.
- Myanmar’s full representation remained unresolved, with no clarity on whether the November Manila summit would address restoring it despite planned discussions on how to proceed with the country.
Why it matters: Thailand’s qualified welcome gives renewed U.S. contact the support of an ASEAN government without legitimizing Myanmar’s military-backed regime. The November Manila summit is the immediate forum for discussing a country barred since 2021, but uncertainty over restoring full representation leaves ASEAN’s treatment of Myanmar unresolved.
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