THAILAND URGES BURMA TO COOPERATE WITH UN

C O N F I D E N T I A L BANGKOK 005520 SIPDIS SIPDIS NSC FOR PHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/22/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV PREF PHUM KDEM KPAO TH BM SUBJECT: THAILAND URGES BURMA TO COOPERATE WITH UN REF: A. A. STATE 146862 ¶B. B. BANGKOK 5367 Classified By: Ambassador Ralph L. Boyce, reason 1.4 (b) and (d). -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) Ambassador delivered reftel A Burma demarche to MFA Permsec October 22. For the second time this month, the Thai PM sent a strongly-worded letter to Than Shwe urging the Burmese to cooperate with UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari. The Thais are waiting for a response from GOB. MFA Permsec informed Ambassador that Thai Foreign Minister Nitya recently had spoken with Singapore Foreign Minister Yeo, who mentioned that he planned to travel to Beijing October 26 to discuss next steps in Burma with his Chinese counterparts. End Summary. -------------- RTG DELIVERS SECOND LETTER TO THAN SHWE -------------- ¶2. (C) Ambassador delivered reftel A talking points to MFA Permanent Secretary Virasakdi Futrakul on October 22. Virasakdi replied that on October 19 Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont delivered a second letter to the military leaders in Burma, which called on the GOB to end the current conflict and to begin pursing national reconciliation by opening political dialogue with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The letter also requested the GOB to allow Gambari to return to Burma as soon as possible and be allowed to stay for an extended period of time. This is the second letter that the RTG delivered to Than Shwe and his ruling junta. The first letter sent earlier this month expressed Thailand's concern about the protests and the GOB's use of force to suppress them, most notably against the Buddhist monks (reftel B). The Thais have yet to receive a response to their second round of requests. -------------- SINGAPORE FM TO LOBBY CHINESE? -------------- ¶3. (C) Following their review of reftel A, Virasakdi mentioned to the Ambassador that Thai Foreign Minister Nitya had recently consulted with Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo about the situation in Burma. Yeo stated that he planned to travel to Beijing October 26 to confer with Chinese Foreign Ministry officials about the role their respective countries could take as part of the ongoing international response to Burma's political crisis. BOYCE