Thailand intercepts China’s initiative to de-escalate the war in Myanmar after Beijing’s attempt to launch an “intervention”

On December 19, 2024, the first round of de-escalation talks between the Myanmar junta and security advisers from five neighboring countries — Thailand, India, Bangladesh, Laos, and China — took place in Bangkok.

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra initiated the meeting, proposing this format during the ASEAN summit in Vientiane in November. The main goal of these talks was to achieve the status quo and end the almost four-year civil war in Myanmar.

The next day, on December 20, the Thai government organized an ASEAN meeting with the foreign ministers of the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Laos and diplomatic representatives from Vietnam, Indonesia, Brunei, and Cambodia.