Thailand’s outgoing foreign minister disclosed on Wednesday that he encountered ousted Myanmar civilian ruler Aung San Suu Kyi on Sunday, and she was in favour of boosting engagement with the nation’s military junta to settle the destruction there. “There was a meeting. She was in good health. We had a good meeting,” Mr Don Pramudwinai told reporters on the sidelines of the Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) and Related Meetings in Jakarta. He said the two of them are making attempts to discover a way to solve the Myanmar problem , and Ms Suu Kyi encourages dialogue, he added.
“There should be engagement with the junta. There should be engagement with the authorities in Naypyitaw.” It is understood that Ms Suu Kyi is being stuck in the annex of a prison in the capital, Naypyitaw, and has been rejected visits, which involves her legal team. Thailand’s foreign ministry spokesman Kanchana Patarachoke said on Wednesday that Mr Pramudwinai had a personal discussion with Ms Suu Kyi for over an hour, after obtaining the go-ahead from both Ms Suu Kyi and Myanmar’s ruling State Administration Council.
Their discussion “was an optimistic growth and a step in the accurate direction in getting a peaceful settlement to the ongoing situation in Myanmar, underlining that Asean has a prominent place in discovering political solutions and creating faith amongst the important stakeholders”, the ministry added. Myanmar has been ruined by deadly violence since the military overthrew the democratically elected government in a coup in February 2021.
The following violence has left thousands of civilians dead and hundreds of thousands missing. Mr Pramudwinai led to a stir in June when he called Asean counterparts to a private meeting to re-unite with Myanmar’s military. Besides Myanmar and host Thailand, Laos was the only nation to provide its top diplomat. Reports show that Asean members were doing their best to unite the group around the Myanmar problem. Without directly talking about Myanmar, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi was more worried about the plenary session on Tuesday on the need of unity and centrality to bring peace and stability in the place .