Thai PM says to engage with Myanmar in a calibrated manner

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said on August 4 that he would engage with Myanmar in a calibrated manner, prior to his meeting with Myanmar's Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing. This was stated after Mr Srettha met with ASEAN Secretary-General Ko Kin Hung at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia. Mr Srettha also met with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on August 3. Myanmar has been experiencing conflict since the military seized power in February 2021. To contain these conflicts, Mr Srettha said that the Myanmar peace process, known as ASEAN's Five-Point Consensus, continues to be the guiding framework for the ASEAN bloc. This process includes stopping violence and providing humanitarian assistance. "Thailand has supported a calibrated form of engagement that can respond to the realities on the ground and promote effective progress while keeping dialogues open," he said. Mr Srettha said that this approach is heading in the right direction after it was reported that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had a good health condition when she met with a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on August 3. "This is the path that Thailand has always urged to walk," Mr Srettha said. He said that ASEAN's non-interference in internal affairs principles will continue to be the foundation, but it must be applied with the flexibility and pragmatism needed to maintain the organization's unity.