Thailand, Laos try to ‘make junta presentable’ amid ASEAN Myanmar inertia
Al Jazeera
With Laos as chair, the 10 members of ASEAN appear to be becoming more accommodative of reviled military regime.
Chiang Mai, Thailand – Thailand’s controversial humanitarian initiative with crisis-torn Myanmar is facing growing criticism even after its fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) appeared to collectively endorse the scheme.
The ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat wrapped up recently in Luang Prabang, the old capital of landlocked Laos, with an emphasis on the stalled five-point consensus agreed between the bloc and the Myanmar military shortly after it seized power in a 2021 coup.
An official from Myanmar attended the meeting for the first time since the military regime was shut out of the top summits for failing to take steps to end the crisis.
Democracy activists and politicians have repeatedly called on ASEAN to take a more robust approach against Min Aung Hlaing and his generals, officially known as the State Administration Council (SAC). But with Laos now chairing the organisation, scepticism is growing.
After taking over the ASEAN chairmanship, Laos appointed a special envoy to Myanmar separate from its foreign minister, in a break from precedent. Career diplomat Alounkeo Kittikhoun visited Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw in mid-January, meeting the generals and taking a page from Cambodia’s playbook of 2022 when it chaired the grouping.
