Myanmar seminar: Promoting dialogue amid political turmoil

In a bold move challenging the Myanmar junta’s objections, Thai politicians kickstarted a two-day seminar delving into Myanmar’s political turmoil.

Despite diplomatic tensions, the event aims to foster dialogue among stakeholders.

Thai parliament’s Move Forward Party (MFP) member Rangsiman Rome, leading the House committee on national security, initiated the seminar with a vision of promoting peace and sustainability in Myanmar’s political landscape.

“What we are doing today is the first step in bringing a variety of stakeholders to talk to each other.”

Among the prominent speakers were key figures from Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG) and various ethnic armed organisations. However, Myanmar’s government opted out, citing bilateral relations’ negative impacts.

Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara, initially set to deliver a keynote address, abruptly cancelled, leaving attendees bewildered.

While Myanmar’s military remained tight-lipped, Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs chose not to comment, further fuelling speculation.

The seminar, titled Three Years After the Coup, diverges from Thailand’s official stance favouring engagement with the junta. Dulyapak Preecharush, a Southeast Asian studies scholar at Thammasat University, noted the platform’s significance in expanding space for pro-democracy voices, reported Bangkok Post.

Thailand’s humanitarian initiative aims to mediate dialogue between Myanmar’s military and opposing factions, a move hinting at the region’s complex political dynamics.

In related news, Myanmar’s military regime delivered a staggering blow, sentencing three high-ranking officers to death for overseeing the handover of a crucial town on the Chinese border to ethnic minority insurgents just last month. The move, which saw hundreds of troops laying down their arms and relinquishing control of Laukkai in Shan state to the Three Brotherhood Alliance, marked a significant setback for the junta, igniting widespread criticism of its leadership.

In other news, a covert operation to smuggle illegal workers across the Thai-Myanmar border was thwarted when paramilitary forces discovered eight Myanmar nationals hidden in vegetable crates. The shocking find occurred during a routine vehicle stop by soldiers from the 35th Ranger Forces Regiment at a checkpoint on the Mae Sot-Tha Song Yang road in Tak province.