Thai Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow will arrive in Naypyidaw on Thursday to discuss security along the Thailand-Myanmar border and “full re-integration” into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Win Min, a regional policy analyst, told DVB that intense clashes in Karen State’s Hpapun and Myawaddy townships between the military and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) have affected Thais living along the border in Mae Hong Son and Tak provinces.
Hpapun, located 110-187 miles (177-301 km) north of the Karen State capital Hpa-An and Myawaddy, was seized by the KNLA in March 2024. Myawaddy is located 81 miles (130 km) east of Hpa-An.
Four evacuation shelters have been prepared in Mae Hong Son’s Sob Moei district, which lies adjacent to Karen’s Hpapun, to accommodate Thais and people from Myanmar fleeing their homes into Thailand.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said that his government would allow entry and provide humanitarian assistance to Myanmar people under “serious threat.”
Thailand will send them back into Myanmar once conditions are safe, according to Anutin.
Pongpipat Mibenjamart, mayor of the Mae Sam Laeb sub-district in Mae Hong Son, said that daily airstrikes have been carried out near the Thai border this month.
One hospital and 18 houses in Mae Sam Laeb have sustained minor damage from stray bomb shrapnel, he added.
Bangkok was asked to coordinate with the regime in Naypyidaw to halt airstrikes and establish a six-mile (10 km) safety zone along the border, without clarifying whether this applied to the Hpapun–Mae Hong Son area or the entire 1,501-mile (2,416-km) border.
During a 10-minute call on Nov. 3, Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak told regime Foreign Minister Tin Maung Swe that Naypyidaw needs to “de-escalate” violence ahead of the ASEAN summit in Manila, Philippines, on Nov. 16.
Senior regime officials have been barred from high-level ASEAN summits and meetings since 2021 after Min Aung Hlaing staged a military coup that ousted the elected government in Myanmar.
He agreed to the ASEAN Five Point Consensus, the regional bloc’s peace plan for Myanmar, but failed to implement it upon his return in April 2021.
Regime leader Min Aung Hlaing met with Prime Minister Anutin during his visit to Bangkok on Aug. 6-7.
The crisis in Myanmar will be a major point of discussion again at the ASEAN summit Nov. 16–18. Singapore will take over as ASEAN Chair in 2027 with Thailand following in 2028.
