“Constructive engagement” was elevated to become an ASEAN official position in 1992 and since then has become ASEAN’s point of criticism by its foreign counterparts regarding ASEAN’s Myanmar policy. With Thailand’s push, Myanmar became an ASEAN observer in 1996 and a full member in 1997. The military viewed that the constructive engagement worked well and should not be changed. Thailand’s proposal of “Flexible Engagement” in the second Chuan government was therefore poorly received at home as the proposal would eventually remove the military’s prerogative out of hand