Thailand has expressed willingness to work with parties in the South China Sea dispute to ensure peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
Thai's Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa expressed Bangkok's commitment to address the decades-long conflict—a move that only reiterated the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) stand on the sea row that does not take sides despite international law and arbitral ruling and only calls for settlement of disputes.
"On the South China Sea, I convey Thailand's support for peaceful solutions through dialogue and diplomacy," he said in a press conference after his bilateral talk with Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Enrique Manalo in Manila Thursday, July 4.
"[We] expressed our readiness to work with all relevant parties to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea, and promote win-win cooperation in accordance with international law," he added.
Sangiampongsa's remark came after Manalo reiterated the Philippines' stand on the South China Sea issue, particularly the country's rights over the West Philippine Sea.
Manalo said he briefed his Thai counterpart about current developments in the disputed waters and reiterated that the Philippine position.
He said the country's stand "has been consistent, clear, and firmly anchored on the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the final and binding 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea."
"I reaffirmed the Philippines' continued commitment to ASEAN's centrality and ASEAN’s goal of peace and stability in the region," he added.
Thailand is part of ASEAN. Five of its members are claimants of parts of the South China Sea, which China claims in its entirety.
Since the escalation of sea dispute over a decade ago and the successive reports of harassment in the South China Sea, ASEAN has kept its silence in calling out aggressive behaviors in the waters.
Instead, it has come up with the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) that is aimed at preventing further escalation of tension in the waters.