Thailand to host two regional meetings focused on Myanmar this week

Members of the Bamar People's Liberation Army, who came back from a frontline after deployment, take a break in territory belonging to the Karen National Liberation Army, in Karen State, on Myanmar, on March 9, 2024. (Photo: Reuters)
Members of the Bamar People’s Liberation Army, who came up from a front after implementation, take a break in country belonging to the Karen National Liberation Army, in Karen State, on Myanmar, on March 9, 2024. ( Photo: Reuters )

Thailand announced on Monday that it would hold two regional meetings in Myanmar this year, with at least one featuring dictatorship members, as the Malaysian Prime Minister made efforts to restore Myanmar’s status to prominence.

After Thailand in October offered to host casual discussions in order to end the crisis that has gripped Myanmar since a 2021 military coup, foreign secretary Maris Sangiampongsa will keep the individual sessions on Thursday and Friday.

Representatives from Myanmar will attend the meeting on Thursday, which Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Nikorndej Balankura said will be a confidential discussion on border surveillance and international violence.

Staff from China, India, Bangladesh, Laos and Thailand, which all share borders with Myanmar, may even go.

On Friday, there will be a foreign minister-level meeting on Myanmar for “interested members” of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( Asean ), including discussing Asean’s” Five Point Consensus” plan for peace in the country, Mr Nikorndej said.

It is not obvious if Myanmar will have any members at Friday’s gathering, and if so at what level.

Asean has merely invited non-political representatives from Myanmar to regional meetings of officials and foreign ministers since the revolt.

Anwar Ibrahim, the head of Asean in 2025, the country’s prime minister, announced on Monday that he was committed to implementing Asean’s peace program, which has made limited progress since it was released in April 2021, shortly after the revolution.

At a combined press conference in Kuala Lumpur with Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Mr. Anwar stated without going into further detail that” we are taking steps through dialogues at various levels to assure Myanmar engages, and bring up Myanmar to the forefront of Asean.

Indonesia’s foreign secretary has confirmed that the meeting will take place on Friday.

Since the military coup in 2021 that sparked a nationwide uprising and legal conflict that has ravaged the country of 55 million, conflict has persisted there.

At a conference in October, Asean called for” an immediate withdrawal” of crime and the development of a” conducive atmosphere for the delivery of humanitarian aid and inclusive national speech” that is” Myanmar-owned and -led”.