Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi met with her Myanmar counterpart in Bangkok on Wednesday after widespread protest halted her plans to fly to Naypyidaw.
Marsudi was due to fly to Myanmar this week in what would have been the first official visit by a foreign minister to the country since the military took power on February 1.
Widespread protest by the Myanmar people against the coup and criticisms from around the region halted plans Marsudi’s plans with the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying a visit to the country was ‘not the right time.’
Despite the cancellation of the visit, both Marsudi and her Myanmar countepart, Wunna Maung Lwin, flew to Bangkok and met on Wednesday in a session hosted by the Thai Government.
Speaking to reporters virtually, the head of the Thai Foreign Ministry’s information department Tanee Sangrat said that there had been no intention for the two to meet but a meeting had in fact occurred.
ASEAN nations have been reticent to criticize the coup because of a non-interference clause. The bloc stated previously that it hoped to see stability within the country and urged all sides to work together.
Military and police crackdown on protesters in Myanmar have left several people dead and many more wounded. Despite the violence, protests against the coup have continued throughout the country.
Question of Quarantine
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately reply to questions from Thai Enquirer over whether the sides that met in Bangkok on Wednesday observed proper quarantine procedures.
Pictures of Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai meeting with Marsudi circulated on social media but it was unclear whether the Indonesian Foreign Minister had actually spent the last 14 days locked-up in a Thai Hotel.
Both Myanmar and Indonesia have seen a massive number of Covid-19 infections while Thailand has only recently begun to curtail its second wave of infections.
All arrivals to Thailand have to be quarantined for 14 days without exception according to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha.