Any talks between Thailand and Myanmar to settle fallout from the Dawei development project have to be shelved until Myanmar's military reaches an agreement on its government, says Deputy Prime Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow.
Mr Supattanapong, who is chairman of the Thai-Myanmar Joint High-Level Committee (JHC) for the Dawei special economic zone (DSEZ), said each of the related agencies comprising the Finance Ministry, Foreign Ministry and the National Economic and Social Development Council have not found any solutions to the cancelled Dawei contract for SET-listed Italian-Thai Development (ITD).
"The Thai government is not a contracting party with the DSEZ Management Committee [DSEZ MC], but pledges to help private companies that invested in the Dawei project, which is deemed very significant to Thailand's strategy," he said.
"Any talks on the Dawei issue would have to wait until a new administration emerged in Myanmar."
Myanmar's military seized power in a coup early on Monday and decreed a one-year state of emergency to probe allegations of voter fraud.
On Jan 15, ITD submitted a request for government help to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha after the DSEZ MC sent a notice of termination for seven concession agreements at DSEZ to five project companies in which ITD has partial ownership.
On Jan 19, Gen Prayut authorised Mr Supattanapong and Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, who is chairman of the Joint Coordinating Committee, to negotiate with Myanmar's officials on this issue.
The premier also authorised the duo to examine whether the contract between ITD and DSEZ MC is protected under the Asean Charter.
The Asean Charter is a constitutional instrument to provide legal status and an institutional framework for the 10 Asean member states.
Mr Arkhom reiterated yesterday the government will take care of Thai companies that invested in DSEZ.
Further discussions with Mr Supattanapong are planned on how ITD was notified by the DSEZ MC about the concession termination, said Mr Arkhom.
The Thai government pledges to hold talks with its Myanmar counterpart, he said.
The joint high-level committee between the two countries is meant to coordinate such issues.
"It has not gotten to the point where we have to find another private enterprise to invest in this project. We will take care of the Thai private sector and investigate the story behind the concession termination because ITD has invested quite a lot in Dawei," said Mr Arkhom.
"The project has not progressed much in the initial phase or major developments, and Japan wants to see integrated development of major projects."
ITD's core focus in DSEZ investment revolves around industrial estate and road development.
Development projects in the DSEZ are joint ventures between Japan, Myanmar and Thailand, hoping to establish a logistics route between Myanmar and Thailand, as well as Dawei and the Eastern Economic Corridor, said Mr Arkhom.
At present, the 4-billion-baht road development project in Dawei is separate from the DSEZ investment contract, with the Thai government funding the road development because the outlay would be too large for ITD on its own, he said.
The Thai government has worked with its Myanmar counterpart since 2008 to promote the DSEZ development project.
Japan got involved later on through an investment partnership to develop DSEZ into an industrial base for Japanese plants.
Thailand's Neighbouring Countries Economic Development Cooperation Agency previously approved a 4.5-billion-baht loan with 0.1% interest for the Myanmar government to carry out a road construction project from Thailand to the DSEZ.
The project's total distance covers 140 kilometres and it is scheduled to be completed by 2023.