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SCMP-Asean silence allows junta to (r)

Subject: SCMP-Asean silence allows junta to punish Bangkok

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<font size=3>South China Morning Post<br>
Wednesday, October 13, 1999<br>
MEKONG REGION<br>
<br>
Asean silence allows junta to punish Bangkok<br>
CURRENTS by HOWARD WINN<br>
<br>
Thailand gained considerable kudos from the peaceful outcome to the siege
of<br>
the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok.<br>
But after the celebratory back-slapping a sour note has crept into
its<br>
dealings with the Burmese dissidents currently in Thailand.<br>
<br>
The secretary-general of the National Security Council, Kachadapai<br>
Burusapatan, is urging the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
to<br>
send all exiled Burmese students under its care in Thailand to a
third<br>
country.<br>
<br>
But Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra said any
repatriation<br>
would be voluntary.<br>
<br>
Whether Mr Kachadapai's remarks should be taken at face value is unclear
as<br>
they may have been made to pressure the international community or
to<br>
appease the Burmese Government.<br>
<br>
The Burmese junta is clearly displeased with the Thais for what it
considers<br>
to be the soft treatment of the student hostage-takers. It has closed
the<br>
border and suspended fishing licences, resulting in the loss of millions
of<br>
dollars worth of business.<br>
<br>
Thai Commerce Minister Supachai Panitchpakdi says Thai traders stand to
lose<br>
their market dominance in Burma if the border stays closed for another
week<br>
as Rangoon importers turn to other sources.<br>
<br>
So Thailand ends up getting punished for its peaceful handling of
the<br>
dissidents and for looking after refugees on humanitarian grounds.<br>
<br>
The root problem is that the junta is an oppressive regime that
overturned<br>
an election result and maintains power by force.<br>
<br>
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations' policy of constructive<br>
engagement with Burma has achieved nothing. In fact, by allowing Burma
to<br>
become a member of an international body it has given it a veneer 
of<br>
legitimacy. How long is Asean prepared to sit back and do nothing?<br>
<br>
Meanwhile, because of the lack of a co-ordinated approach to Burma,
the<br>
junta plays one member country off against the other with ease. By in
effect<br>
imposing trade sanctions on Thailand, it opens the door to Singaporean
and<br>
Malaysian traders.<br>
<br>
Thailand, which has carried the brunt of the human consequences of
its<br>
unsavoury neighbour, will always be vulnerable until Asean adopts a
more<br>
creative policy towards Burma.<br>
<br>
It is difficult to hold out much hope, given Asean's silence while the
army<br>
of one of its members slaughtered thousands of unarmed civilians in
East<br>
Timor. What kind of crisis, what atrocity, is necessary to get this body
to<br>
recognise its responsibilities?<br>
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