Myanmar's Min Aung Hlaing to visit Thailand on August 6-7
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- Min Aung Hlaing will meet Thai PM Anutin Charnvirakul in Bangkok on August 6-7, confirmed by Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow on July 21 after a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers in Manila.
- Thailand is pursuing a "dual-track approach" combining bilateral issues like transnational crime, scams, and drugs with ASEAN's five-point peace plan, which Sihasak said has not been abandoned.
- Myanmar has been formally excluded from ASEAN's major meetings since the 2021 coup toppled Aung San Suu Kyi's government, though it remains a bloc member.
- Sihasak said ASEAN is shifting to "realistic, incremental" benchmarks — including special envoy access to Suu Kyi and reduced violence along the Thai-Myanmar border — rather than expecting overnight breakthroughs.
- Philippine Foreign Minister Theresa Lazaro said the bloc is considering a permanent envoy to Myanmar, conceding the current yearly rotation system has "not really been effective."
- Thailand hosts millions of Myanmar refugees and shares a long border, making it the leading advocate for reintegration — a push Sihasak hopes could eventually facilitate dialogue with ethnic armed groups and the democratic opposition.
Why it matters: Thailand hosts millions of Myanmar refugees along a shared border, giving it direct stakes in the junta's cooperation on cross-border crime, scams, and drugs. ASEAN's shift to 'realistic, incremental' benchmarks — including a permanent envoy replacing the failed yearly rotation — is a quiet admission that the five-point peace plan has produced little in four years.
