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Promotion of DASSK Month in Thailan



Subject: Promotion of DASSK Month in Thailand


I am wondering if it is possible to have some activities for the 
promotion of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's birthday (June 19) and the 
anniversary of her detention in Thailand (July 11). It is impressive to 
read of the various dinners, meetings, and other events planned in 
Australia, Japan, Europe, and the USA.

I realize that many of the Burmese resistance people have a delicate 
legal status in Thailand, and so must keep a low profile. Other 
non-citizens, like me, live in Thailand but do not speak Thai or have the 
connections necessary to organize events.

However, it seems foolish and sad to leave the diplomatic and political
field completely open to the SLORC in Burma's important neighbor,
Thailand. Due to government ownership or domination of the media, most of
the Thais I speak with know little or nothing of the situation in Burma
today. There must be some Thais, however -- academics, political 
activists, etc. --  who are aware of and sympathetic to the resistance.

These are the people who could organize workshops, seminars, and 
meetings, at universities and other sites around Bangkok. Unless these 
sorts of gatherings are prohibited by the Thai police or military, we 
should be encouraging and supporting any Thais who are willing to use 
their names and connections to get these sorts of events underway.

Why is this not happening, given all the resistance groups with offices in
and around Bangkok? Can we not overcome any historical antipathies between
Thais and Burmese, and support each other in creating and maintaining
democracies in the region? 

I, for one, would be happy to work with any Thai people who are 
interested in sponsoring any of the above events.  

John