ASEAN should accept Myanmar back at diplomat level: Bangkok

Myanmar's foreign minister should be allowed back into meetings of the ASEAN regional bloc, Thailand's top diplomat said on Thursday after a visit to the war-torn country.

Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said his meetings with President Min Aung Hlaing and others had revealed "a desire on the part of Myanmar to engage, to return to ASEAN". But he said there was no talk of specific steps.

Myanmar has been excluded from high-level meetings of the 11-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) since a 2021 military coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and triggered an ongoing civil war.

Thailand has been leading efforts to normalise ties since coup leader Min Aung Hlaing was installed as civilian president earlier this year following elections dismissed by monitors as a charade.

"For Thailand, we believe that the next step is to have the foreign minister of Myanmar participate in the ASEAN meetings at the level of foreign minister," Sihasak told reporters.

His comments came ahead of a meeting of ASEAN leaders starting Sunday in the Philippines.

Sihasak said he had also raised the "very urgent problem" of water pollution among tributaries of the Mekong River, which straddles five Southeast Asian countries and China, saying a working group would meet later this month.

Last week, authorities in northern Thailand suspended tap water production after arsenic levels at the waterworks intake was found to be 30 times higher than the safety standard. More than a dozen villages were affected by the suspension.

A subsequent field sample from the nearby Sai River measured arsenic at 25 times the safety standard, the government said.

Thai officials previously pinned the toxic sediment on wastewater from mining activity upstream in Myanmar.

Sihasak said he also raised the issue of a spillover of violence into Thailand.