Webinar: Thailand-Myanmar Relations in Regional Perspective: Issues and Challenges
Date and Time: Sept 17, 2023 | 8:00pm HST
Registration: https://tinyurl.com/32z5s8bn
About the Webinar
Since the coup in Myanmar on 1 February 2021, Thailand’s role as immediate neighbor and a founding ASEAN member has been a topic of discussion in assessments of bilateral and regional approaches to the Myanmar crisis. During the Prayut government’s tenure, Thailand maintained a position of engaging primarily with the State Administration Council (SAC). In the recent general election, pronouncements made for a more assertive foreign policy that would reduce engagement with the SAC, and explore innovative ways to involve Myanmar refugees in Thailand’s economy, added to the interest in Thailand’s future position on and response to the Myanmar crisis. The political dynamics surrounding the formation of a new government in Thailand has also given rise to speculations on what approach that new government will take on responding to the Myanmar crisis, bilaterally and in the ASEAN context.
The Thai and Myanmar Studies Programmes at ISEAS invite a distinguished foreign policy expert to share his assessment of the challenges and/or opportunities for moving forward on this policy.
About the Speaker
Thitinan Pongsudhirak is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. He has published widely, as author of many articles, books, and book chapters on Thailand’s politics, political economy, foreign policy, and media, as well as ASEAN and East Asian security and economic cooperation. Thitinan has held visiting positions at Victoria University in New Zealand, the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and Stanford University in the United States, Yangon University in Myanmar, and Tüebingen University in Germany. He currently serves on the editorial boards of Contemporary Southeast Asia, South East Asia Research, Asian Politics & Policy, and the Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs.