ASEAN Beat | Diplomacy | Southeast Asia

Myanmar Military Chief Begins Visit to Thailand Aimed at Expanding Security Ties

Ye Win Oo’s visit is the latest effort by Bangkok to bring Myanmar’s military-appointed government in from the cold.

The commander-in-chief of Myanmar’s armed forces arrived yesterday in Bangkok on an official visit aimed at expanding security cooperation between the two neighbors, two weeks after his predecessor, Min Aung Hlaing.

The three-day visit by Ye Win Oo, Myanmar’s former spy chief, is the first that he has made since being appointed as military chief on March 30, and the latest in a string of diplomatic engagements between Bangkok and Naypyidaw.

Ye Win Oo will attend a high-level meeting with Ukrit Boontanon, the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Armed Forces, and other high-ranking Thai military officers, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported yesterday. These talks will focus “on matters related to bilateral relations and cooperation,” it added.

The visit comes after Thailand hosted Ye Win Oo’s predecessor and mentor Min Aung Hlaing, who stepped down as military chief before being anointed president in April. Min Aung Hlaing held talks with Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who affirmed Thailand’s support for the normalization of Myanmar’s relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has been in a state of suspended animation since shortly after the 2021 coup.

In a joint statement, Bangkok “reaffirmed its commitment to supporting and continuing to work closely with Myanmar for Myanmar’s full and equal participation in ASEAN mechanisms and processes.” Myanmar in turn “expressed its appreciation for Thailand’s constructive role in facilitating the normalization of its relations with ASEAN.”

All of this is part of Bangkok’s policy of “calibrated engagement” with Myanmar’s military-appointed government, which contends that the best way to manage the country’s conflicts is by bringing the country back into the “ASEAN family,” as Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow has put it.

Since late 2021, ASEAN has excluded........

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