Reuters-Thailand rejects Suu Kyi ap (r)

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Subject: Reuters-Thailand rejects Suu Kyi appeal for ASEAN help 

Thailand rejects Suu Kyi appeal for ASEAN help
08:39 a.m. Jul 16, 1999 Eastern
BANGKOK, July 16 (Reuters) - Thailand's deputy foreign minister has
dismissed an appeal for help from Myanmar's pro-democracy leader, saying
there is no alternative to a policy of friendship with Yangon's ruling
military.

Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi urged the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) earlier this week to launch an initiative to
encourage dialogue between her National League for Democracy (NLD) and the
generals.

Thai Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra responded in the Friday
edition of the Bangkok newspaper The Nation by saying the principle of
non-interference in the internal affairs of member states had been one of
the founding tenets of ASEAN.

``We believe that the principle...should be adapted to suit the changing
times and circumstances. But to abandon it is to tear ASEAN asunder,'' he
said. ``The reality is that ASEAN cannot be a proactive promoter of changes
in the existing political arrangement of any member country.''

Sukhumbhand added that even if ASEAN countries wished to act in such a way,
their capacity to do so was limited.

``There is only a choice between exclusion and engagement where (Myanmar) is
concerned,'' he said.

``We reject exclusion because we believe that isolation will simply
reinforce the status quo, heighten whatever sensitivity to the outside world
there is, and increase the suffering of the common people.

``As a fellow ASEAN member, (Myanmar) is a close friend and must be
encouraged to contribute to the cause of regional cooperation.''

Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel peace laureate, said in a commentary published in
the Tuesday edition of The Nation ASEAN'S Myanmar policy was an excuse for
not helping the democratic cause.

Her NLD won Myanmar's last election in 1990 by a landslide but the generals
who seized power two years earlier by crushing a pro-democracy uprising
ignored the result and have tried to silence the party through a campaign of
arrests and intimidation.

Suu Kyi said she believed support from ASEAN, which groups Myanmar with
Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Laos,
Vietnam and Cambodia was crucial.


Sukhumbhand said Thailand would encourage existing international initiatives
aimed at fostering dialogue in Myanmar. These included a mission by the
United Nations last year and by the European Union last week.
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