As Covid-19 case hits Blinken trip, Myanmar may offer path for closer US-Thailand ties

While Thailand is the US’ oldest treaty ally in Asia, ties between both have been rocky since the coup in 2014, after which Bangkok has grown closer to Beijing

But analysts said there were still avenues of US-Thai cooperation on regional issues, including securing the border and working to pressure Myanmar’s junta

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Thai PM Prayuth Chan-ocha. Photo: Reuters

Published: 3:41pm, 16 Dec 2021

The cancellation of a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Thailand on Thursday was a “missed opportunity” for the security allies to review areas of cooperation, analysts said. But Bangkok and Washington should now work more closely on the Myanmar crisis to strengthen bilateral relations that had become rocky after the 2014 coup that first brought Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha to power.

Jason Tower, country director for the Burma programme at the United States Institute of Peace, said the Myanmar issue offered a significant opportunity for revitalising and strengthening the US-Thailand relationship.

“Options include the US and Thailand partnering to address the growing health crisis by providing highly-effective vaccines across the border; to address the humanitarian crisis by jointly announcing a humanitarian buffer zone along the border; and to address the rising threat of transnational crime by jointly reviewing the growing presence of ‘crime cities’ and criminal activity along the border,” he said.

These could provide a strong basis for the US and Thailand to work closer on tackling regional issues – including deepening security ties to respond to growing threats and building capacities for the provision of joint development aid across the Mekong region, Tower said.

Blinken had been scheduled to begin his Bangkok visit on Thursday morning, meeting Prayuth and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai. But a Covid-19 case in the press corps accompanying him resulted in the delegation heading back to Washington out of an “abundance of caution” after his visit to Malaysia, his second stop in Southeast Asia after Indonesia.