Informal international talks on Myanmar in Pattaya on Monday were beneficial and the participants want more such discussions, according to caretaker Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai.
“The atmosphere at the meeting was good and participants want Thailand to organise it again,” Mr Don said at Government House on Tuesday.
“Informal discussions are a way to solve problems. Thailand has held them twice before. They were beneficial, or previous participants would not have attended again,” he said.
“At the latest discussion, issues that had not been discussed previusly were raised and there were more participants than at the previous sessions.”
He said representatives from seven countries attended Monday’s meeting, including from China and India which both have a border with Myanmar.
On the question why the caretaker government would not let the incoming new government and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations handle Myanmar-related issues, Mr Don said Thailand has a 2,000-kilometre-long border with Myanmar and efforts to solve the problems in Myanmar should not be delayed.
“Other Asean countries do not share such a long border with Myanmar, so they are neither worried nor feel it is necessary to quickly find a way out of the prolonged problems in Myanmar,” Mr Don said.
“The discussion was organised in the best interests of Thailand, but everyone overlooks this and takes the view that only Asean should take the lead on this matter,” he said.
“The issue affects Thailand, border trade and business. Groups of scammers in Myanmar defraud people in many countries, Thai people cross the border for illegal work and there are problems with narcotics and other illicit products,” the foreign minister said.
Asean under the chairmanship of Cambodia in 2022 issued a statement saying that all parties should jointly work out successful solutions to Myanmar problems via different occasions and forms, he said.
“People in general should know how the problems in Myanmar affect Thailand and should not be guided by information reported with bias,” Mr Don said.
Participants at Monday’s meeting agreed that its outcome should not be made public and they did not reach any conclusion or agreement, he said.
“They want parties concerned to know that it was beneficial, and that we should hold more of such sessions. Myanmar is trying to improve its [proposed] solutions,” Mr Don added.
Caretaker Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai speaks to reporters at Government House on Tuesday. (Photo: Wassana Nanuam)