"Thailand and Myanmar discussed working toward reopening border trade and deepening energy cooperation, Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said on Wednesday after meeting his Myanmar junta counterpart in Phuket. The minister added that his government hopes to bring Myanmar back into full participation in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), nearly five years after the Myanmar regime was barred from the regional bloc’s high-level meetings following the military coup in 2021. “Thailand wants to be a bridge connecting Myanmar back to ASEAN. We want Myanmar to be part of the ASEAN family. We hope that our policy is to work for reengagement,” Sihasak told reporters after the meeting, while cautioning that Myanmar must demonstrate responsiveness to the regional bloc and the international community. ASEAN did not recognize the Myanmar junta’s election, and declined to send an official election monitoring team. The Thai minister held nearly two hours of discussions with junta Foreign Minister Than Swe on Wednesday evening—the first such meeting between the two countries since the junta-organized phased election was completed in late January. Sihasak said Than Swe told him the junta will set up a new government before Myanmar’s upcoming traditional New Year Festival in April and reassured him that its priority would be the “stability of the country”. Thailand welcomed the pledge and stands ready to facilitate local-level contacts with Myanmar’s ethnic groups along the border, if requested, in order to help bring peace to Myanmar, Sihasak said. Ahead of the Phuket meeting on Wednesday, Sihasak said the meeting “should not be interpreted as Thailand’s recognizing or endorsing the outcome of the Myanmar election,” while suggesting it could facilitate a transition toward peace and dialogue, depending on how the Myanmar government proceeds. Thailand wishes to see sustainable peace and stability in Myanmar, which would benefit Thailand’s national security as well as bilateral economic cooperation, Sihasak said. The regional outreach has not stopped the junta’s indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets across the country, however, including bombing schools and hospitals, or prevented it from accelerating its military offensives. On Tuesday, junta airstrikes near a school in Khin-U in Sagaing killed three civilians and injured eight. Seven people, including a seven-month-old baby, were killed when regime warplanes bombed a displacement shelter and homes in Kyauktaw and Mrauk-U townships, Rakhine State, last week. Border stability was a central issue in the talks, unsurprisingly given the countries’ 2,400-km-long shared frontier. Sihasak said Thailand wants to see the reopening of border trade, which has been closed for a prolonged period, stressing that it is mutually beneficial for both countries. “We agreed that we would work to reopen border trade as soon as possible. But for that to happen, there needs to be stability. And so we offered to help in terms of facilitating dialogue with the ethnic groups along the Thai border,” he added. The two sides also discussed easing restrictions faced by Thai businesses operating in Myanmar, including rules related to exchange rates and imports of raw materials. Energy cooperation was another key topic on the agenda. Sihasak said Thailand’s state energy company PTT is interested in new exploration and production in offshore gas fields in Myanmar, and that Bangkok wants to strengthen economic ties as the country returns to what Thailand hopes will be greater stability. In a separate statement, Thailand’s Foreign Ministry said the two sides reaffirmed their close relations as neighboring countries and agreed to enhance economic cooperation, revive border trade and facilitate trade and investment, including support for Thai private companies in Myanmar. They also pledged to increase cooperation between their armed forces and security agencies to address cross-border challenges such as online scam operations and drug trafficking, and to work together on transboundary air and water pollution, the ministry stated..."