The government of Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the caretaker prime minister of Thailand, hosted an ASEAN-wide ministerial meeting in Pattaya on June 18-19 with Myanmar's junta-appointed foreign minister, Than Swe. Inviting ASEAN leaders and observers to the third dialogue on Myanmar on June 14 -- just four days before the high-level meeting -- Thai foreign minister Don did so in full knowing that he would soon be forced to leave his post.
The meeting was avoided by Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia, while attended by representatives from neighbouring China and India as well as Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, Vietnam, and Myanmar.
Following the junta's inability to adhere to the bloc's strategy to bring peace to the nation, which has been in upheaval since the military launched a coup earlier that year, the top leaders of the Myanmar regime and its foreign minister have been excluded from high-level meetings of ASEAN since late 2021.
Since the coup in Myanmar, ASEAN has largely split into two camps, with Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore on one side and calling for the return of democratic governance, and the other countries on the other. It is hardly surprising that the despotic ASEAN states, ranging from Brunei and Cambodia to Laos and Vietnam, support the SAC and remain mute about its atrocities against the people of Myanmar.
The typical list of bilateral obligations between Thailand and Myanmar was uttered by Gen Prayut and Don. These include the fact that Thailand and Myanmar share a border of more than 2,400 km, necessitating cooperation between the two countries on a range of issues, including the trafficking of people for labour, drugs, and weapons, as well as criminal call centres that have attracted individuals from all over Southeast Asia and beyond in an effort to defraud others.
At the same time, news of Thailand's corporate investments in 154 projects totaling more than $11 billion, ranking third with 12.5% of all foreign investment in Myanmar, was widely reported in the media.
Thailand's stance was therefore clear: To examine a proposal for the ASEAN to "fully re-engage Myanmar at the leaders' level." But the clear aim has been criticized as lending legitimacy and recognition to the State Administration Council (SAC), Myanmar's junta government. Additional Western and US sanctions against the SAC -- in this case, the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank and Myanmar Investment and Commercial Bank -- were said to be the reason why the Thai government had to take action.
Thoughtfully utilizing his first opportunity to talk at the regional gathering, Junta foreign minister Than Swe contrasted this with the other party. Than Swe asserted that the military of Myanmar is concentrating its efforts on three of ASEAN's five points of consensus: Halting violence in the nation, launching dialogue between all parties, and providing humanitarian aid to the Myanmar people.
He used the occasion to offer an alternate perspective on the indiscriminate airstrikes his government has been carrying out on civilians, claiming that military officers in Myanmar have been educated to adhere to the Vienna Convention's rules of engagement and refrain from using excessive force.
The junta claimed in a statement, that those in attendance had no desire to meddle in Myanmar's internal affairs and only wished to strengthen ties with the country, despite the fact that Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha had said that direct talks were necessary to protect his country and that Thailand had suffered more than other countries in the region. It is obvious that the Junta uses the Thai-sponsored discussions as a propaganda tool to give itself some sort of legitimacy.
Thailand must interact with the SAC, for sure, but it must do so in the spirit of the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus and in cooperation with other parties, particularly other stakeholders, such as the opposing National Unity Government in the civil conflict in Myanmar.
As a neighbour of Myanmar, Thailand should provide close assistance to the ASEAN chair in order to encourage cooperation among the opposition parties and prod the SAC into dialogue by using official engagement and recognition as leverage.
Any strategy to bring about peace in Myanmar, whether it be bilateral, trilateral, or multilateral, whether it be based on an ASEAN or non-ASEAN framework, is welcomed. But the NUG and EAOs, as well as other parts of Myanmar, must be considered in these strategies.
Inviting only the SAC will enable them to become even more arrogant and self-serving as they have already demonstrated their intransigence and unilateralism. Thus, pressing concerns like peace, the election, and the return of the Rohingya may go unresolved.
On the other side, the fragmented opposition alliance also needs to unite and show that they have the strength and capability to lead and preserve the nation. If not, we will be left with nothing to say, but what authoritarian Prime Minister of Cambodia Hun Sen -- who has never been accused of having a fondness for democracy -- said when Myanmar was brought up during the Pattaya talks: "What are the latest achievements of Myanmar other than the destruction of human lives and property?"
Nur-Mohammad Sheikh is a security affairs analyst.