ASEAN re‑engagement with Myanmar ‘difficult’ even after polls, Thai foreign minister says

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 11-member regional bloc will find it difficult to re-engage with Myanmar even after its upcoming election, the Thai foreign minister said on Tuesday, calling for the release of the country’s detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Myanmar is scheduled to hold a multi-phase general election starting on December 28 amid a raging civil war, an exercise that critics have derided as a sham to extend the control of the military that took power in a 2021 coup.

Many pro-democracy parties have either been banned or are refusing to take part in the polls, which military leader Min Aung Hlaing has acknowledged will not be held nationwide.

“I think under the present circumstances and the fact that the elections will be held when they haven’t had the needed inclusive dialogue yet, it will be difficult for us to re-engage with Myanmar,” Sihasak Phuangketkeow said at an event at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand (FCCT).