Thailand is considering providing humanitarian assistance to people in Myanmar affected by armed conflict between the country’s military regime and resistance forces, according to the Bangkok Post.
Citing a military source with knowledge of the plan, the Post reported that Thai authorities are also hosting talks with the leader of Myanmar’s regime and the country’s ethnic minority groups to find a solution to the crisis in the country.
Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has held talks with his Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-nukara and armed forces’ leaders about the ongoing conflict in the neighboring country, which is likely to have significant repercussions for Thailand if it is prolonged, the source told the Post.
Thailand shares a more than 2,400-kilometer-long border with Myanmar.
Some of Myanmar’s established ethnic armed groups and anti-regime resistance forces have been fighting against the junta since the military coup in 2021. When fighting breaks out near the border, refugees flee to the Thai side.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has proposed a peace plan for Myanmar following the coup, but the junta has failed to honor it. Known as Five-Point Consensus, the plan includes sending humanitarian aid to Myanmar. Both Myanmar and Thailand are ASEAN members.
The Post reported that Thailand, under Srettha’s leadership, is considering taking action through the consensus by sending humanitarian aid to vulnerable communities in Myanmar.
“The Thai government via the Foreign Ministry will coordinate with the Myanmar government in assisting vulnerable populations while the military will provide necessary support,” the source was quoted as saying.
In December, Thailand announced that it would create a joint task force with Myanmar to oversee humanitarian assistance for people displaced by fighting along their shared border.
According to Parnpree, Myanmar has yet to send a working team to meet with his ministry to discuss the details of a new center that would serve as a channel for transport, medicine and food for those affected by the fighting inside Myanmar.
Since the announcement of the task force, experts warned that the taskforce on humanitarian assistance must be strategically planned, not only to assist people in need but also to serve Thailand’s interests. Otherwise, it risks becoming another stepping stone to be exploited by the regime.
On Tuesday, Myanmar junta boss Min Aung Hlaing met Thai General Kittisak Boonprathamchai in Naypyitaw. Kittisak is chairman of the Advisory Board of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army and Head of the Neighboring Countries Coordination Center of the Army Operations Center.
Regime media reported that they discussed cooperation on peace and stability, the rule of law, and counterterrorism efforts along the shared border. The reports did not mention the provision of humanitarian assistance as part of the discussion.
Parnpree, in an op-ed in the Bangkok Post today, said: “We will have a meeting of the bilateral working group later this month and we hope to begin this effort as soon as possible.”
“We are proposing that the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management, AHA, be brought in to monitor of the distribution of humanitarian assistance,” he added.
