Photo : Collected
Thailand’s opposition Move Forward Party organised a two-day seminar at the Parliament House in Bangkok last weekend, which was attended by Myanmar’s exiled leaders of the National Unity Government (NUG).
Thailand’s parliament in Bangkok, held its first meeting with members of Myanmar’s shadow NUG – made up of former civilian leaders ousted in the 2021 coup – to discuss democracy and security issues along the Thai-Myanmar border, according to Radio Free Asia.
Thai Parliament House hosted a 3-day art exhibition in conjunction with the seminar. The exposition about Myanmar junta atrocities on the living conditions of ethnic people and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Myanmar from 1 to 3 March, writes Mizzima News.
The exhibition called ‘On navigating the evolving landscape of Myanmar’ which ran at the same premise.
The exhibition depicted the lives of ethnic people living on the Thai border and what they have to endure under the junta, concentrating on airstrikes launched against internally displaced people (IDPs). Belongings and personal items left by IDPs fleeing airstrikes were put on display along with data visualisations showing the number of victims and airstrikes.
The event angers Myanmar’s military junta. Promptly a letter was sent to Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the event tarnished Thai-Myanmar ties.
Thai Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara was scheduled to give a keynote speech but was abruptly cancelled his speech without explanation.
Thai Foreign Ministry explained that the event was not hosted by the Thai government, but instead organised by an opposition party.
The Foreign Minister earlier said that Thailand was stepping up efforts to aid suffering citizens in Myanmar by opening a humanitarian corridor to Myanmar to provide humanitarian aid to the war-torn country.
The two-day seminar “Three Years after the Coup: Towards a Democratic Myanmar and its Impact on Security along the Thai Border” was attended by Zin Mar Aung, the NUG’s foreign minister, United Nations Special Representative for Human Rights in Myanmar Tom Andrews and the permanent representative of Myanmar to the United Nations in New York, Kyaw Moe Tun.
Leaders of Myanmar’s minority ethnic groups, civil society organisations and student union leaders also attended the seminar.
Despite meeting with NUG representatives in Bangkok, Thailand’s government is determined to maintain diplomatic and bilateral relations with the junta, officially known as the Military Council, following February 2021.
NUJ is an alliance of political parties and groups that oppose the military regime after the government of Nobel laureate Aung Sun Suu Kyi was overthrown by military supremo General Min Aung Hlaing.
NUJ is also in alliance with the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), and the Arakan Army.
It is undeniable that the current military regime is facing defeats on the battlefield, their credibility has declined, and now the democracy activists have been invited for discussions, a political observer said.
The seminar and the exhibition were held to shift the stance of the Thai government to recognise the exiled government instead of the illegal military junta in the capital Naypyidaw.
Rangsiman Rome, the head of the lower house committee of parliament and a co-organiser of the seminar, said he hoped the meeting would help pave the way for Myanmar to solve the crisis through a peaceful and long-term solution, Reuters reported.
After the seminar, the former leader of the Move Forward Party Pita Limjaroenrat tweeted (now X) that they are closely monitoring the politics of Myanmar and will help in solving the crisis.
As civil war is raging in Myanmar, the News Eleven reports that as of 12 February, the number of internally displaced people in Myanmar has reached nearly 2.7 million, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).
Among the displaced persons, nearly 2.4 million people have been displaced by conflict and insecurity since the February 2021 conflict, the UN office stated.
With the deteriorating situation in Rakhine State, conflicts continue to occur in various parts of the country. UNOCHA's Weekly Humanitarian Situation Brief (13-19 February 2024) reports that humanitarian needs are increasing due to the intensification of fighting between the Arakan Army and the Tatmadaw in Rakhine State.
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