February 18, New Delhi — Thailand hopes to re-admit Myanmar into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) almost five years after a military coup, according to Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow, who made the statement after meeting with his Myanmar counterpart.
Sihasak and Myanmar Foreign Minister Than Swe held talks in southern Thailand. The 11-nation ASEAN grouping has excluded Myanmar's top junta leaders from its main summit since shortly after a military coup in 2021 that toppled the first democratic administration in half a century and sparked nationwide conflict and repression.
Meanwhile, Myanmar, under military rule, held a three-phase election from December to January, the first after the coup.