The commander of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) is attending a meeting of Asean air force leaders hosted by Myanmar but many of his Southeast Asian peers are staying away.
ACM Alongkorn Wannarot has been joined at the Asean Air Chiefs Conference in Nay Pyi Taw by air force leaders from Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Brunei, according to the activist group Justice for Myanmar.
Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines earlier announced they would boycott the event because it would be held in Myanmar and chaired by the military junta, regional media reports said. Singapore also did not send a representative.
The four Asean states that stayed away have been outspoken in their demands that the military junta in Myanmar end violence against its citizens and comply with an Asean peace plan it agreed to in 2021 but has since ignored.
Myanmar has been excluded from most high-level Asean meetings including the leaders’ summit for the past two years.
Maung Maung Swe, deputy defence secretary of Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government, welcomed the boycotts and said it reflects the increased isolation facing the junta since the coup in February 2021.
In any case, the slimmed-down Asean Air Chiefs Conference will continue through Friday, with a focus on environmental issues.
ACM Htun Aung, the Myanmar air force chief, said the theme of this year’s event was “Asean Air Forces’ Cooperation for a Sustainable Environment”.
The RTAF said it would join forces with its Asean peers to reduce carbon emissions and air pollution to protect the environment.
Air pollution caused by ultra-fine dust, much of it from agricultural burning, has had an impact on countries in the region and the RTAF has a rainmaking squad to help address the problem.
ACM Alongkorn also used the meeting to invite Asean air force chiefs to join the Asean HADR (humanitarian assistance and disaster relief) Exercise 2025 in Thailand to jointly improve their capacity to cope with natural disasters.
Cambodia will host the 2024 Asean Air Chiefs Conference.