Insight Myanmar26 Jul 2024

A Diplomatic Deadlock

Episode #254: Kitti Prasirtsuk, a professor at Thammasat University, explains that neither ASEAN, nor Thailand in particular, have done enough to address the regionally important Myanmar crisis. In terms of Thailand, its strong economic ties to Myanmar, as well as their close military-to-military relations, have influenced its passive approach. He underscores the necessity of engaging Myanmar's military junta in negotiations, despite its lack of credibility, due to the junta’s continued control over the country’s central areas.

Kitti also points out the potential role of China in influencing the junta, emphasizing the importance of major powers in facilitating negotiations. He stresses the need for a unified approach by ASEAN and the involvement of international actors to address the humanitarian crisis and push for a ceasefire.

Despite the complexity and challenges, Kitti believes in making attempts to resolve the situation, highlighting the changing dynamics within Myanmar, where opposition forces are gaining ground. He advocates for continued efforts towards negotiation and dialogue, even if success seems unlikely.

“I just think that Thailand, ASEAN, and the major powers should discuss together how to engage with Myanmar as a whole,” he says. “Unless we have a hope, we have nothing, and we let the people suffer. It’s not good.”

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(627)

Full-Service Autocracy

Episode #612: “You do create a dependency. You create a long-term relationship that also you can leverage into political influence as well.” Ian Storey, a principal fellow at the ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Ins...

24 Sep 1h 25min

Freedom’s Just Another Word

Episode #611: “I always want to be free.” Lienchi Tran, a Vietnamese American meditation teacher, first learned what unfreedom meant in postwar Vietnam. After South Vietnam fell in 1975, her father wa...

22 Sep 2h 7min

Critical Condition

Episode #610: “I can't leave anymore, because if I were to leave now, I would like never be able to live the same way, because of the comrades who have fallen and the comrades that are still with me… ...

21 Sep 1h 34min

Birth of an Icon

Episode #609: Jostein Kobbeltvedt, director of the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights in Bergen, Norway, reflects on how the 1990 Rafto Prize awarded to Aung San Suu Kyi helped bring Myanmar’s democrac...

18 Sep 1h 46min

The Giving Tree

Episode #608: Dave Hopkins came to vipassana meditation not as a scholar, traveler, or spiritual seeker, but as a working-class tree worker carrying grief, anger, addiction, and exhaustion. Raised in ...

17 Sep 1h 53min

From Section A to 505 A

Episode #607: “I could not stay under a military rule that’s been killing thousands of people,” Maple says. “I cannot just sit and watch.” When Myanmar’s military seized power in February 2021, Maple ...

15 Sep 1h 58min

No Neutral Neighbor

Episode #606: Anusorn Tamajai’s attempted intervention during Min Aung Hlaing’s visit to Thailand began with an undelivered letter. Prevented from placing his proposals directly before Myanmar’s milit...

14 Sep 36min

Borrowed Intimacy

Episode #605: Note: this podcast episode, as well as the following text describing it, includes frank language about sexuality, male sex work, and self-harm. Reader and listener discretion is advised....

11 Sep 1h 8min