Thailand to hold security talks with US, PM Srettha says as he skips Asean meet
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Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin will skip the Asean Summit in Jakarta this week due to his tight schedule.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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BANGKOK – Thailand will hold discussions with the United States on security issues in September, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), according to new Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.
Mr Srettha, who was elected Prime Minister in August
He is due to take his oath before King Maha Vajiralongkorn on Tuesday and is busy finalising his government’s policy priority to be presented to Parliament in the coming days. The Premier said at the weekend that he will take on the finance minister post.
Given his tight schedule, Mr Srettha said he will skip the Asean summit in Jakarta this week.
As part of his UNGA trip, the Premier said Thailand’s newly-appointed chief of defence forces has scheduled talks with the US on security issues and will be joining him. He did not elaborate on those issues in his remarks to reporters in Bangkok.
Mr Srettha said he met military leaders on Sunday to hear their thoughts as he aims to bridge the divide between the country’s army and the public that has grown wider in the near-decade of military-backed rule.
The Thai Premier said he wants to help improve communications and bring the military closer to the people, adding that the military “has done many good things” and, at the same time, that “there are no clear elaborations on some problems in the past”.
Mr Srettha’s latest comments signal the shifting dynamics in the ruling Pheu Thai party after it aligned with conservative politicians to win the top job. His meeting with defence forces also came days after caretaker prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha made key appointments in the armed forces.
Pheu Thai, a party supported by Thaksin Shinawatra’s family, previously vowed not to work with groups that supported the military-backed establishment of Mr Prayut that undermined election victories of Thaksin, and later, of his sister.
Thaksin, who ended his 15-year exile in August, received a royal pardon on Sept 1, with the Thai king reducing the former premier’s jail term from eight years to one year.
