Statement from #MilkTeaAlliance Friends of Myanmar Calling on Thailand’s Caretaker Government to Cancel the Track 1.5 Talks

The sole objective of the Track 1.5 talks is to offer support to the illegal junta and legitimize them by not inviting the National Unity Government (NUG) or other stakeholders that represent the peoples of Myanmar. By inviting the junta to the Track 1.5 talks on the 19th of June in Bangkok but no representatives from the resistance, Thailand is supporting a propaganda tool that the illegal junta will use to try to claim legitimacy both in the eyes of the Myanmar public but also overseas.

While ASEAN’s 5PC approach has been a complete failure in most respects, at least they decided not to invite the junta to high level ASEAN meetings (to mixed results).

If Myanmar’s neighbors (In this case India, China, Thailand, Laos & Cambodia) want to support a resolution to the crisis in Myanmar they should cease supporting the Myanmar Junta with arms & aviation fuel and show that they are serious in their demands for a “return to democracy”. Moreover, they should meaningfully publically engage with the NUG & other key stakeholders such as EROS. Their current approach will only prolong the brutality against the peoples of Myanmar which includes airstrikes on civilians, burning of villages, mass arrest, and widespread use of torture and sexual violence. Weak calls for ending violence by all sides only continue to legitimize and enable the junta’s oppression in Myanmar. This oppression has resulted in the displacement of people and regional destabilization through the continued proliferation of the drug trade, cross border crime and the infamous casino complexes on the Thai-Myanmar border where ASEAN citizens are trafficked and forced into cybercrimes.

The Track 1.5 divides and undermines legitimate government (Fuck, we defending ASEAN, that’s how bad this is) and is a an insult to Indonesia as the present ASEAN chair.. Track 1.5 is the outgoing Thai foreign minister’s last gasp to legitimize the junta in Myanmar with of course the Prime Minister’s support and to embed an ineffective approach. It is clear that parties most likely to form the next government in Thailand will take a very different approach and we hope would not endorse an approach that does not include the representatives of the peoples of Myanmar.

While efforts to promote peace and dialogue are laudable, this “Ain’t fucking it”.

The Milk Tea Alliance – Friends of Myanmar group came into being from a shared desire among movement leaders, organizers and activists not only for democracy but also for solidarity and inclusion. We commit to stand with peoples of Myanmar until there is a just and transformative future for all.

#MilkTeaAlliance Friends of Myanmar

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