Thai PM says meeting with Myanmar's military envoy not "endorsement"

The meeting on Wednesday mainly saw him listening to Wunna Maung Lwin, appointed by the Myanmar military who seized power earlier this month, about "political developments" and the situation in Myanmar, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters. He also denied that Thailand has joined Indonesia in becoming a mediator to solve the situation in Myanmar.

Thailand's prime minister said on Thursday his meeting with Myanmar's military-appointed foreign minister this week following a coup in the neighbouring country did not mean "endorsement". The meeting on Wednesday mainly saw him listening to Wunna Maung Lwin, appointed by the Myanmar military who seized power earlier this month, about "political developments" and the situation in Myanmar, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters.

He also denied that Thailand has joined Indonesia in becoming a mediator to solve the situation in Myanmar. "The political issue is their country's matter. I want to encourage them to move the country towards democracy as quickly as possible," said Prayuth, a former army general who himself seized power in a 2014 coup and became a civilian prime minister in a disputed 2019 election that he said was free and fair.

"It didn't mean that I was endorsing anything. He didn't ask me to. I was only listening to what he was telling me, that's all." The foreign ministers of Thailand and Indonesia also met with Wunna Maung Lwin in the Thai capital on Wednesday.