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A humiliating moment for Thai's FM Pramudwinai
Indonesia's rotary ASEAN chairmanship will end in five months and it has not achieved any significant progress in restoring peace and democracy in Myanmar.
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(From left to right ) Vietnam’s Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son shakes hands with Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China's Central Committee Wang Yi beside Philippines' Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo, Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and Malaysia's Foreign Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir as they take their positions for a group photo session during the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference with China at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Jakarta on July 13, 2023. (AFP/Tatan Syuflana)
A
lthough it is not clear what his intentions were, Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai did try, until the very last minute, to torpedo the decision of the ASEAN leaders to temporarily bar Myanmar's junta from participating in the regional bloc’s official meetings and functions. His main target was Indonesia.
How should we react? Forget Myanmar, if necessary.
The floor seemed not impressed at all when Pramudwinai presented the results of his meeting with Myanmar's junta leader Gen. Min Aung Hlaing and ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi during the ASEAN foreign ministerial meeting in Jakarta this week. The chief diplomats were just trying to be polite to their Thai counterpart.
ASEAN is prepared to deal with the new government of Thailand which resulted from the May elections. Despite the results of the election, ASEAN expects the new leader to be more cooperative in ending the brutality of the Myanmar military.
Pramudwinai, however, still tried aggressively to preach to his colleagues that the decision to alienate Myanmar was wrong, and that Thailand's pro-Myanmar military approach should be adopted. Is ASEAN really wrong?
My answer is not at all. The Thai politician is wrong.
According to diplomatic norms, the attendance of the Thai foreign minister at the ASEAN annual meetings is more of a courtesy than a necessity. His boss, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, suffered a devastating defeat in the May 14 elections and has declared his resignation from politics.
