Border Clashes and ASEAN Diplomacy Shape Sihasak’s Upcoming Myanmar Visit
Border Clashes and ASEAN Diplomacy Shape Sihasak’s Upcoming Myanmar Visit
BANGKOK, November 5, 2026 — Thailand’s Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow will visit Myanmar on November 12, just days before ASEAN leaders gather in Manila to discuss the bloc’s approach to the country’s military authorities.
The visit comes amid heightened tensions along the Thailand-Myanmar border, where clashes between Myanmar’s military and armed opposition groups have reportedly caused property damage in Thailand and injured a Thai civilian.
Sihasak announced the planned trip late Tuesday while attending the 11th Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Beijing. He said Thailand wanted to hear Myanmar’s latest position ahead of the ASEAN leaders’ summit, scheduled for November 16-18 in the Philippine capital.
Meetings Planned Ahead of ASEAN Summit
Sihasak said he would meet Myanmar Foreign Minister Tin Maung Swe on November 12, adding that a meeting with military leader Min Aung Hlaing was also being arranged.
“De-escalation by all parties will help create a conducive atmosphere for essential dialogue and the peace process,” Sihasak told reporters.
He said progress on these issues could become a positive factor for ASEAN leaders to consider as they discuss the situation in Myanmar, including the country’s participation in ASEAN meetings.
Myanmar’s military leaders have been excluded from high-level ASEAN meetings since Min Aung Hlaing led the 2021 coup that ousted elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and triggered a civil war.
Myanmar is expected to send a senior civil servant to the Manila summit instead.
Border Clashes Add Urgency to Thailand’s Engagement
Thailand reported on November 4 that fighting between Myanmar’s military and ethnic armed groups along their shared border had caused property damage and injured a Thai national inside Thai territory.
Myanmar’s military blamed what it described as “terrorist insurgents” for the injury, using the term to refer to ethnic-minority armed groups and pro-democracy forces, according to a statement carried by state media.
Sihasak last visited Myanmar in April. In July, Bangkok hosted a meeting between Tin Maung Swe and foreign ministers from several ASEAN member states, marking the first gathering of its kind since the 2021 coup.
The following month, Min Aung Hlaing met Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul in Bangkok, while the two countries’ military chiefs held talks two weeks later.
Min Aung Hlaing became Myanmar’s civilian president in April following elections that international monitors widely dismissed as lacking credibility. Since then, he has received official welcomes in India, China and several ASEAN countries.
