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Border to reopen after stand-off Ev



South China Morning Post 
November 24, 1999 

Border to reopen after stand-off Everything back to normal, says Thai
Foreign Minister
after Rangoon talks 

WILLIAM BARNES and Agencies in Bangkok 

Thailand and Burma have agreed to reopen their border, closed by Rangoon
after a hostage crisis at its
Bangkok Embassy, Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan said yesterday. 

"Everything will be returned to normal, including border trade, travel of
people and tourists," said Mr
Surin after returning from a one-day visit to the Burmese capital aimed at
mending ties. 

Burma closed the border on October 1 and cancelled Thai fishing licences
after Bangkok supplied five
anti-junta gunmen with an escape helicopter in exchange for the release of
38 hostages. 

Rangoon was particularly upset because the dissidents ransacked a safe amd
took a number of highly
sensitive documents. 

After meeting counterpart Win Aung and powerful junta intelligence chief,
Lieutenant-General Khin
Nyunt, Mr Surin said he believed the border would re -open today. 

"We agreed that the township border committees from Ranong to the Three
Pagoda Pass, Mae Sot and
Mae Sai will meet on the matter and everything will return to normal," he
said. 

Critics of the regime were quick to point out that what has not been done
is to remove what they
describe as the root cause of the surprisingly bitter row - the Rangoon
regime's intolerance of dissent. 

"The regime is like an old punch-drunk boxer who lashes out at shadows, at
anyone who offers even
mild criticism. It thinks it has to act tough to maintain respect," said an
exiled opposition activist in
Bangkok. 

In closing the border, Burma appeared to have provoked Thailand into
behaving like Rangoon does. 

However, Bangkok was finally tempted to do what it has been threatening to
do for several years: kick
out the many thousands of Burmese working illegally in the country. 

The result might have been painful and caused confusion, but at least it
taught the Burmese that their
aggressive actions sometimes had a high price. 

"It's been a face thing. Neither side felt like backing down on the issue,"
said an observer. 

The two countries are historically old enemies: Thai children are still
taught to blame their neighbour for
the sacking of the old capital of Ayuddhya more than two centuries ago as
if it was something that
happened last year. 

But the problems are as much cultural as historic. The proud and prickly
Burmese regime deeply
distrusts what it sees as the devious and treacherous Thais. 

The Thais, in turn, regard the Burmese as ludicrously obstinate and rigid. 

The ruling generals have in recent times been angered by Thailand's
attempts to push the idea that the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) should go beyond
"constructive engagement". 

The point being to try to apply pressure on neighbours who step out of line
- albeit in the guise of
offering friendly advice. 

This relatively bold notion has found little favour with most of the other
members of Asean, who regard
it as a stick that might later be used against them. 

Nevertheless, it was a move viewed with thinly disguised loathing by a
regime that has long blamed
Thailand for its often covert support for ethnic rebels who operate along
their common border. 

Yesterday's patching up of the quarrel will allow both countries to sail
smoothly into this week's Asean
heads of government meeting in Manila. 

Yet Burma remains - as a recent World Bank report has emphasised - in
desperate straits. 

Its economy is in tatters and social problems are getting worse. 

That will inevitably mean that more Burmese will seek refuge and work in
Thailand. 

The Thai Government will then again face the choice of trying to appease
its fed-up domestic audience
or pander to international opinion. 

Thailand's protestations that it is entirely within its rights to push out
illegal workers do not cut much ice
abroad when it causes so much misery. 

This ugly little episode may have reached a diplomatically useful pre-Asean
ending. But both sides will
harbour resentments. 

Or as a diplomat in Rangoon said: "Don't throw away your hard hats -
they'll be back at it before very
long. It's in the nature of the relationship." 


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