{"id":98704,"date":"2026-11-10T21:28:03","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T13:28:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=98704"},"modified":"2026-11-10T21:28:03","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T13:28:03","slug":"asean-cannot-be-neutral-all-the-time-amid-growing-geopolitical-competition-says-thai-foreign-minister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=98704","title":{"rendered":"ASEAN &#8216;cannot be neutral all the time&#8217; amid growing geopolitical competition, says Thai foreign minister"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>In February, Sihasak called for a &#8220;calibrated re-engagement&#8221; with Myanmar after holding informal talks with his counterpart Than Swe in Phuket. The move drew criticism from those who accused Thailand of helping to normalise the military regime.<\/p>\n<p>Asked whether Myanmar&#8217;s leaders could be allowed back by the time Thailand assumes the ASEAN chairmanship from Singapore in 2028, Sihasak said the decision would depend on developments inside the country and a collective decision by ASEAN member states.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It depends on first how the situation in Myanmar evolves, and it also depends on the decision to be taken by ASEAN collectively,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur goal is to have Myanmar return to ASEAN, because ASEAN is not a complete family without the participation of Myanmar.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Sihasak also noted that Myanmar has to \u201cwork hard to regain its place in ASEAN.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span>&#8220;It&#8217;s not Thailand&#8217;s decision,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Sihasak added that he would carry that message during his visit to Naypyidaw, while expressing hope for progress on the Five-Point Consensus.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.channelnewsasia.com\/asia\/thailand-sihasak-phuangketkeow-interview-asean-neutral-relations-myanmar-indo-pacific-6539121\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In February, Sihasak called for a &#8220;calibrated re-engagement&#8221; with Myanmar after holding informal talks with his counterpart Than Swe in Phuket. The move drew criticism&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":98705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=98704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98704\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/98705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=98704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=98704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=98704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}