Thailand backs ASEAN efforts to advance dialogue on Myanmar
ASEAN's envoy has met military-backed negotiators and six rebel groups, while Thailand offers to facilitate possible future peace talks.
- Thailand has offered to host and facilitate prospective peace negotiations to address the conflict in Myanmar.
- Thai officials, alongside the ASEAN special envoy, held separate meetings with both Myanmar's military-backed negotiating team and representatives of six rebel groups.
- Following these discussions, both opposing sides acknowledged that the conflict cannot be resolved militarily, creating an opening for dialogue.
- Thailand's foreign minister stressed that these actions support ASEAN's existing Five-Point Consensus peace framework for Myanmar.
Thailand has offered to facilitate and host prospective peace negotiations on Myanmar after separate meetings indicated that the opposing parties recognised the conflict could not be resolved militarily.
Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said on Wednesday (July 15) that ASEAN’s special envoy had met both Myanmar’s military-backed negotiating team and representatives of six rebel groups. The development could help restart the regional bloc’s stalled peace efforts.
Myanmar has been engulfed in civil war since the military overthrew the elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021. An estimated 100,000 people have been killed, and millions have been displaced during the conflict.
The latest diplomatic engagement began on Sunday, when ASEAN foreign ministers held their first face-to-face meeting with their Myanmar counterpart since the coup.
The following day, ASEAN special envoy Maria Theresa Lazaro, who is also the Philippines’ foreign minister, joined Sihasak in talks with six rebel groups. They included the Karen National Union and the Karenni National Progressive Party.
Sihasak said the groups were prepared to consider dialogue but had not yet agreed on a shared position. They were working to establish one before negotiations could move forward.
Lazaro and Thai officials also held separate discussions with the military-backed National Solidarity and Peacemaking Negotiation Committee. According to Sihasak, all participants acknowledged that pursuing a military outcome would not serve their interests.
“We hope that eventually we can find some common ground where we can begin some talks,” Sihasak said. At the initial stage, the process would probably involve “talks for talks”, focusing on how negotiations should be organised and where they should take place.
Thailand and ASEAN also hope to secure a face-to-face meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi, who has remained in detention since the coup.
Sihasak stressed that Thailand had not abandoned ASEAN’s Myanmar peace framework, known as the Five-Point Consensus.
Source: Reuters
