Is Thailand’s caretaker government aiming for legitimacy legacy via Myanmar talks?

Name: Self-exiled former Thai leader Thaksin lauds election winner Move Forward Party’s digital savvy
Uploaded: 2023-06-19T10:29:26.000Z
Duration: 3 min 49 s
Description: Self-exiled former Thai leader Thaksin lauds election winner Move Forward Party’s digital savvy

Thailand hosted an informal Asean meeting on Monday with Myanmar’s military, who took control through a 2021 coup, but several nations did not attend

The move by Bangkok’s Prayuth-led administration may be its way of showing it has ‘continued legitimacy’ after May’s pro-democracy election result, an analyst says

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Thailand’s current Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha, who seized power in a 2014 coup. In May a general election saw the pro-democracy Move Forward Party win millions of votes. Photo: EPA-EFE

Maria Siow

Published: 6:29pm, 19 Jun 2023Updated: 7:54pm, 19 Jun 2023

Thailand’s attempt to host a controversial regional meeting involving internationally shunned Myanmar military leaders is a sign Bangkok’s caretaker government may be claiming “legitimacy” weeks after the election and could even be “setting the tone” for the next government, according to analysts.

On Monday, Thailand hosted talks with the Myanmar junta’s foreign minister in a bid to resolve the political crisis in its neighbour and re-engage with the military there, which has been embroiled in bloody conflicts with armed opposition militias since seizing power in a February 2021 coup.

Bangkok’s outgoing military-backed government invited Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) foreign ministers, including the one appointed by Myanmar’s junta, to discuss a proposal for the bloc to “fully re-engage Myanmar at the leaders’ level”, according to an invitation seen by Reuters and verified by sources.

Thailand said on Monday that the dialogue was necessary to protect its border with the strife-torn country. Several Asean members, including Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, did not accept invitations to the Bangkok meeting in a clear indication of their disapproval, while others sent junior officials.

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Self-exiled former Thai leader Thaksin lauds election winner Move Forward Party’s digital savvy

Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Sunday that the aim of the informal dialogue was to complement efforts by the 10-member Asean. Invitations were sent on Wednesday to Asean foreign ministers.

Dedi Dinarto, an Indonesia analyst at international strategic advisory firm Global Counsel, said Thailand’s caretaker government’s move was aimed at showing its “continued legitimacy” until the formation of the next administration.

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