Malaysia PM met Myanmar junta chief amid opposition to talks

BANGKOK - Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra organised a dinner meeting with visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing at a Bangkok hotel on the evening of April 17 under tight security.

The meeting, which took place at Rosewood Bangkok Hotel, was an attempt by Datuk Seri Anwar to push for a ceasefire extension. It was criticised by some groups battling the military in the quake-ravaged nation. The dinner was hosted by Mr Thaksin in his capacity as an adviser to the Asean chair, which is currently held by Malaysia.

Mr Anwar, as current chair of the 10-nation Asean grouping, had said he would meet Myanmar’s Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on humanitarian grounds, although the South-east Asian grouping itself has shunned the junta brass for years.

Mr Thaksin had waited for both guests at the hotel since the afternoon of April 17.

The Nation reported that Mr Anwar’s motorcade arrived at 2.42pm, while Gen Min Aung Hlaing arrived shortly after 2.55pm, along with a van marked with the Myanmar government insignia.

It was reported that Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra did not attend the dinner meeting.

Shortly after Gen Min Aung Hlaing’s arrival, Dr Surakiart Sathirathai, chairman of the Asian Peace and Reconciliation Council, was seen leaving the hotel at 3pm.

Uniformed and plain-clothes police officers were deployed both inside and around the hotel to ensure security. An ambulance from the Police General Hospital was also stationed at the venue as a precaution, reported The Nation. Members of the media were not allowed inside the hotel premises during the meeting.

“There’s a possibility of the junta exploiting these opportunities to build up legitimacy within the Asean framework,” said independent political analyst Sai Kyi Zin Soe, who is based in Thailand.

After Myanmar’s military deposed an elected civilian government in a 2021 coup and sparked a civil war, Asean barred the ruling generals from its meetings for their failure to comply with the grouping’s peace plan.

But a powerful

7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28,

killing more than 3,600 people, provided Gen Min Aung Hlaing with a rare diplomatic opening, including a visit to Bangkok for key meetings in early April.

Two diplomatic sources in Bangkok had previously told Reuters that Gen Min Aung Hlaing would return within a fortnight to meet Mr Anwar in the Thai capital.

Malaysia’s embassy in Thailand and the Thai Foreign Ministry did not respond to queries about the Myanmar-related meetings in Bangkok, where Mr Anwar is also set to hold talks with PM Paetongtarn, Mr Thaksin’s daughter.

Utmost caution

Several anti-junta groups, including the shadow National Unity Government (NUG) and the Karen National Union, urged “utmost caution” regarding the meeting, which they said was being held under the pretext of delivering humanitarian aid.

“The military junta led by Min Aung Hlaing is a perpetrator of clear violations of the Asean five-point consensus,” they said in a statement on April 16, referring to the grouping’s peace plan for Myanmar.

“Any unilateral engagement with the military leader – widely regarded as a terrorist – must be approached with the utmost caution.”

Prior to his visit, Mr Anwar said he would seek to extend a ceasefire called since the quake, Myanmar’s deadliest natural disaster in decades that struck during a civil war that has displaced more than 3.5 million people and shattered the economy.

The military declared a 20-day ceasefire on April 2

, following similar moves by rebel groups and the NUG, but has kept up air strikes since, the United Nations and other groups said.

Analyst Sai Kyi Zin Soe said: “Asean... they’ve boycotted the participation of the junta since 2021. So now, this meeting could really undermine that position.”

Asean is made up of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. REUTERS, THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK