BANGKOK - Thailand and Myanmar discussed border security and exchanged cooperation documents on Thursday.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul met Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing at Government House on Aug. 6 during his first official visit to Thailand since taking office in April. Anutin emphasised stability along the frontier and proposed closer security cooperation against transnational crime, particularly narcotics trafficking, online scams and money laundering.
Following the talks, the leaders witnessed the exchange of a labour-cooperation memorandum and employment agreement, terms of reference for a joint working group on water quality in shared and transboundary rivers, and a memorandum on peaceful applications of Earth-observation technology.
The Thai government said the countries would also accelerate work on cross-border haze, river pollution, water-resource management and flood prevention.
Economic discussions covered border trade and transport links. Anutin welcomed the reopening of the Second Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge at Mae Sot-Myawaddy and proposed reducing regulatory barriers. Thailand also offered to host a Joint Trade Committee meeting later this year and called for work on bilateral payment mechanisms, infrastructure and economic corridors.
The meeting took place as UN displacement data showed that 3,997,600 people were internally displaced across Myanmar as of July 27. Sagaing Region accounted for 1,346,100 people, or 33.7% of the nationwide total.
Thailand hosts around 80,000 forcibly displaced people from Myanmar in temporary shelters along the border. UNHCR said in June that around 45% were born in the shelters, many had lived there for decades and conditions inside Myanmar meant they continued to require international protection.
Thailand is pursuing what Anutin has called “calibrated re-engagement” with Myanmar while seeking progress through ASEAN. ASEAN leaders said in May that implementation of the Five-Point Consensus had made minimal progress. They called for an immediate halt to indiscriminate violence, protection for civilians, conditions supporting humanitarian assistance and inclusive national dialogue.
The approach has raised concern that closer engagement could strengthen the standing of Myanmar’s military-backed government while ASEAN’s peace initiative remains stalled. “There is a fine line between re-engaging and endorsing,” Southeast Asia specialist Dulyapak Preecharush told Reuters.
Min Aung Hlaing and Anutin also attended the Thailand-Myanmar Business Forum on Thursday. The two-day official visit is scheduled to continue through Friday, Aug. 7.