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BurmaNet News: March 24, 2001
- Subject: BurmaNet News: March 24, 2001
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 25 Mar 2001 12:03:00
______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
An on-line newspaper covering Burma
March 24, 2001 Issue # 1762
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________
INSIDE BURMA _______
*Deutsche Presse-Agentur: Myanmar's ex-strongman Ne Win hosts luncheon
for 99 senior monks
*AFP: Myanmar frees jailed youth democracy activists
*Reuters: Myanmar says some Thai politicians traffic drugs
*The Nation: Border Shootout Seen as Wa Attempt to Clear Drug Routes
*SHAN: Gen Khin Nyunt worries over yaba "factories"?
REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*The Nation: Sampao urges Burma to name drug suspects
*AFP: China agrees to anti-drug cooperation with Thailand, Myanmar
*Bangkok Post: New Unit in Battle to Stop Smuggling of Precursors
*Reuters: Thailand to aid Myanmar ties with personal touch
*Bangkok Post: Military to Invest in Burma to Mend Ties
*Financial Times (London): : Dicing with death on Burma's border:
Gambling and vice have turned the pretty market town of Ruili into
China's Aids capital
OPINION/EDITORIALS_______
*The Nation: Is this 'Megaphone Diplomacy' in the Making?
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
Deutsche Presse-Agentur: Myanmar's ex-strongman Ne Win hosts luncheon
for 99 senior monks
March 21, 2001,
Yangon
Myanmar's (Burma's) former military strongman General Ne Win, who ruled
the country between 1962 and 1988, on Wednesday appeared in public for
the first time in years to host a luncheon for 99 senior Buddhist monks,
eye-witnesses said.
The lunch, presided over by Ne Win, 91, was held at the posh Sedona
Hotel in downtown Yangon.
Altogether 99 members of the Buddhist Sangha, - essentially the Buddhist
priesthood - and about 500 lower ranking monks, attended the
merit-making event, observers said.
It was the first time Ne Win appeared in public since 1988.
Political observers in Yangon, many of whom lived under Ne Win's iron
fisted rule for 26 years, took note that 99 Sangha members were invited
by the strongman, a believer in numerology.
The speculation was that Ne Win was hoping to add another eight years to
his life with the auspicious number of 99 monks, compared with his 91
years.
General Ne Win seized political power with a military coup d'etat in
1962, when he introduced the economically disastrous "Burmese Way to
Socialism" which over the years reduced the once-prosperous Myanmar to
least developed developing country status by 1988.
He officially retired from politics in mid-1988, after anti-military
demonstrations rocked Yangon (Rangoon), pitting soldiers against
students and resulting in a brutal crackdown on the protesters.
Although Ne Win has distanced himself from government affairs, he is
widely believed to be a powerful behind-the-scenes player in the
military clique that has ruled Myanmar since September, 1988.
Ne Win was a member of the "30 comrades," a group of Burmese
nationalists who first sided with the Japanese in World War II and later
formed the core of a resistance movement against them.
General Aung San, the leader of the comrades, was his superior in rank.
Aung San Suu Kyi, Aung San's daughter, now leads Myanmar's opposition
party, the National League for Democracy (NLD).
___________________________________________________
AFP: Myanmar frees jailed youth democracy activists
YANGON, March 23 (AFP) - Four young pro-democracy activists jailed for
protesting at a state funeral have been released, and others are
expected to be freed by the end of the month, a National League for
Democracy (NLD) source said Friday.
Four NLD youths who staged a demonstration at former Premier U Nu's
funeral in 1996 have completed their jail terms, the source told AFP.
"Maung Maung Oo, Moe Myat Thu, Tin Than Oo and Ko Htike who had been
involved in a demonstration at former Premier's U Hu's funeral here ...
have been released and several others who took part in the same
demonstration are expected to be out before the end of March," he said.
More NLD members jailed in the Toungoo and Tharyarwaddy prisons for
criminal offenses are expected to be freed by the end of this month, he
said.
The releases are seen as a further sign of easing tensions between
Myanmar's ruling junta and the opposition NLD, which is led by Nobel
Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.
In October last year, Aung San Suu Kyi and military intelligence chief
Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt began historic talks aimed at setting up
their first official dialogue since 1994.
The substance of the discussions has been kept tightly under wraps by
both sides, irritating the exiled dissident community and minority
leaders who have called on the junta to reveal any progress.
Until now, members of the NLD youth wing who had completed prison terms
often found themselves back in jail with extended sentences.
But the improved political climate brought about by the talks may have
changed the trend, and those who have remained free are coping with less
harrassment by the junta, the source said.
___________________________________________________
Reuters: Myanmar says some Thai politicians traffic drugs
By Aung Hla Tun
YANGON, March 23 (Reuters) - Myanmar's military government accused
unidentified Thai politicians on Friday of drug trafficking, saying it
had ``abundant information'' of their involvement in the lucrative
trade.
In the latest salvo in a heated war of words between the two
neighbours, a Myanmar government spokesman said Yangon had learnt of the
involvement of Thai politicians from known drugs figures.
``We have abundant information about the involvement of foreigners in
drug trafficking in the region, including Thai politicians,'' the
spokesman told Reuters.
The claim echoes a statement on Thursday by a Thai army general.
The Myanmar government spokesman declined to reveal the identities of
the Thai politicians, saying Myanmar wanted to cooperate with Thailand
in the fight against illegal narcotics.
Asked where the information came from, the spokesman said:
``From those who have surrendered to the government and who were in the
drug trafficking business -- for example Khun Sa.''
Drug baron Khun Sa ran an infamous trafficking syndicate for years from
a base in Myanmar.
He surrendered to the Myanmar government in the mid-1990s and was
reported to have given up the drugs trade but Thai narcotics suppression
agencies have said there are signs he may have returned to the business.
The Myanmar spokesman's statement is the latest in a verbal exchange
that followed the election in January of a new Thai government under
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
THAILAND PROMISES CRACKDOWN ON DRUGS
Thaksin has vowed to crack down hard on drugs and his government
organised a conference in the northern city of Chiang Mai three weeks
ago which heard a string of accusations that most illegal drugs in
Thailand came from Myanmar.
Thailand has challenged Myanmar to tackle what it has called the
``known locations'' of drugs production within its borders.
Yangon denies the Thai charges and says Bangkok is trying to blame its
own problems on others. The Myanmar military says it is doing its best
to stamp out the drugs.
On Thursday, Lieutenant-General Wattanachai Chaimuanwong, commander of
Thailand's third army, said several politicians and businessmen were
involved in drugs trafficking.
Wattanachai, responsible for defending the northern border with
Myanmar, said he could not take action because he did not have any
authority or evidence to do so.
``Narcotics trafficking is a multi-billion-baht business involving
hundreds of people and networks... Politicians need money from them to
buy votes,'' Wattanachai said.
Thaksin said he would ask for a list of politicians involved in drug
trafficking.
``I will ask him for the list, to keep a close eye on those suspects,''
the prime minister said. ``So when we have enough evidence, I will order
their arrest -- I won't spare any of them, no matter who they are.''
Wattanachai has been extremely critical of Myanmar following a series
of clashes along the Thai-Myanmar border last month.
He says Myanmar's government is encouraging the activities of the
United Wa State Army (UWSA), which he says is the source of most of the
methamphetamine pills flooding Thailand.
Thai and Myanmar officials plan to hold their first border talks in two
years on April 2-4 in the northeastern Myanmar town of Kengtung in a bid
to soothe simmering tensions.
``It is our sincere conviction that with effective cooperation and bona
fide responsibilities among nations, our fight against the drug menace
will result in success sooner or later,'' said the Myanmar spokesman.
(With additional reporting by Chris Johnson in Bangkok)
___________________________________________________
The Nation: Border Shootout Seen as Wa Attempt to Clear Drug Routes
Friday, March 24, 2001
AN attempt by the United Wa State Army (UWSA) to clear one of its drug
trafficking routes could have been the trigger for an intense
cross-border shootout between Thai and Burmese troops in Thailand's
north on Wednesday.
A military source yesterday said the trouble began when the UWSA shelled
Shan ethnic minority rebels on the Burmese side of the border - some of
the shells fell onto Thai territory near Chiang Rai's Mae Fah Luang
district.
According to the military source, Ban Hua Mae Kam in Mae Fah Luang
district has long been under Wa influence, and serves as a major
narcotics transit point.
However, a portion of the route had recently fallen to the Shan State
Army, hindering the
Wa's drug smuggling.
"Therefore, it is possible the shelling from the Wa was a threat to open
this route," said the source.
Local authorities, meanwhile, are still investigating the incident, but
said there was no plan to evacuate residents, for fear of causing panic.
The shootout between Thai and Burmese troops, and Rangoon's Wa allies,
began when Thai troops patrolling the border intercepted a group of
about 20 Wa soldiers.
A resulting exchange of fire lasted for one hour, before the Wa soldiers
retreated into
Burmese territory. -
___________________________________________________
SHAN: Gen Khin Nyunt worries over yaba "factories"?
Burma's strongman, Lt Gen Khin Nyunt, issued an order late last month to
place heavy security over 2 methamphetamine plants in Mongton Township,
opposite Chiangdao district of Chiangmai, according to an unconfirmed
source.
On 28 February, Lt-Col Myint Sway, Commander, IB 65 of Mongton, was
reported to have received a direct order from Gen Khin Nyunt to beef up
security of the plants.
Accordingly, Captain Maung Htay from Company 4, leading 40-strong unit
and equipped with 5 60 mm mortars, was assigned to guard the plant at
Hwe Khailong, 6-miles north of Mongton. Captain Thein Kyaw from Company
5, leading 30-strong unit was sent to Hopang, 7-miles northeast of
Mongton, said the source.
3 days later, a "Col. Aung Pay" arrived in a helicopter at the IB 65
post. A shipment of 2,000,000 yaba pills and 25 kg of heroin from Hwe
Khailong reportedly went with him on his return.
2 days afterwards, another shipment of 3,000,000 yaba pills and 30 kg of
heroin was picked up by another helicopter.
A Thai border watcher remarked to S.H.A.N. that, taking for granted that
the report was true, the Burmese must be hard pressed for hard cash
because of the confrontation with Thailand.
___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
The Nation: Sampao urges Burma to name drug suspects
March 23, 2001, Friday
SUPREME Commander General Sampao Chusri said yesterday that he would
call on the Burmese government to reveal the names of the Thai
politicians it suspects are linked to drug trafficking along the border.
Sampao said he would instruct Third Army Commander Lt-General
Wattanachai Chaimuanwong to submit a request for the names to be
revealed at a Regional Border Committee (RBC) meeting scheduled for
April 2-4.
Wattanachai will lead a Thai delegation to the meeting, which he will
co-chair with Burmese Triangle Region Commander Brig-General Thein Sein.
Rangoon reportedly has drawn up a list of 10 Thai politicians that it
believes are involved in the trade of illicit drugs along the border.
However, Wattanchai said more than 10 may be involved, adding drug
trafficking was rampant along the Thai-Burmese border and government
officials were often guilty of providing protection.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said yesterday that he would not spare
any official, regardless of rank, if it can be proved they are linked to
drug trafficking.
Wattanachai has headed a war of words with Rangoon over the past month,
which included accusations that Burmese generals took kickbacks from the
United Wa State Army (UWSA), one of the world's largest armed drug-
trafficking groups.
The spat began when the two sides engaged in a day of cross-border
shelling after a battalion of Burmese troops refused to retreat from a
hill near Ban Pang Noon in Chiang Rai that it had forcefully taken from
a platoon of Thai Rangers.
Sampao said he did not believe yesterday's shootout in Mae Fah Luang
district in Chiang Rai between the Thai Army and an unidentified armed
group, would create an obstacle to the RBC talks. While patrolling the
border region, Thai troops intercepted and traded gunfire with a group
of about 20 suspected UWSA troops, officials said.
After the Thai platoon sent a radio message asking for backup, an 81- mm
mortar was deployed.
The situation remained tense for about an hour, before the suspected Wa
soldiers retreated back into their territory, the officials said.
___________________________________________________
AFP: China agrees to anti-drug cooperation with Thailand, Myanmar
BANGKOK, March 24 (AFP) - China has agreed to cooperate with Thailand
and Myanmar to combat the flow of illegal drugs in the region, the
foreign ministry here announced Saturday.
"The Chinese foreign minister has agreed in principle on a tripartite
cooperation with Thailand and Myanmar for drugs suppression," a ministry
statement said.
The announcement coincides with a four-day official visit by Thai
Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai to China that started Thursday
and which has included meetings with President Jiang Zemin and his
counterpart Tang Jiaxuan.
The minister said before the visit he would request broad cooperation
from Chinese officials on the regional narcotics trade, especially the
fight against the amphetamines which are tearing at the fabric of Thai
society.
He has specifically asked Beijing to exchange information and offer
technical assistance to combat drug production and trafficking along the
Myanmar-Thai border, an area close to China's southern Yunan province.
Thailand and China have agreed during Surakiart's visit to exchange
embassy-level anti-narcotics agents.
Beijing has already signed separate initial agreements with Bangkok and
Yangon on bilateral anti-drug cooperation.
However, Thai authorities are increasignly concerned by the flood of
amphetamines -- estimated at some 600 million pills per year -- from the
Golden Triangle drug-producing area which includes parts of Myanmar,
Laos and Thailand, and borders on southern China.
The raw chemical ingredients which go into the making of amphetamines
are often illegally imported into Thailand and Myanmar from China.
Thailand is hoping China will be able to use its influence on Myanmar
at a time when its own relations with Yangon are at a low point over a
border dispute stemming mainly from the region's lucrative drug trade.
Isolated by the international community, Myanmar has drawn close to
China, and is counting on its "big brother" to help thwart Western
sanctions, and with its failing economy.
Surakiart's visit to China is his first outside Southeast Asia since he
took up his post last month.
He is scheduled to hold anti-drug talks with Myanmar's vice foreign
minister Khin Maung Win next week in Chile on the sidelines of a meeting
between ministers of East Asian and Latin American countries.
___________________________________________________
Bangkok Post: New Unit in Battle to Stop Smuggling of Precursors
Saturday, March 24, 2001
Modern equipment, funding promised
Anucha Charoenpo
A special drug suppression centre will be set up to stop the smuggling
of precursor chemicals through 16 border provinces to methamphetamine
factories in Burma.
The centre will be under the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, Pol Gen
Pornsak Durongkhaviboon, the national police chief, said yesterday.
Special funding would be arranged and he would seek modern equipment and
weapons for officers assigned to the task.
Most of the chemicals were smuggled from China and India, arriving in
Thailand through sea ports and Bangkok international airport, he said.
The major customer was the United Wa State Army, based in Mong Yawn
township.
The smuggling networks ran through Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Nan, Phayao,
Phrae, Mae Hong Son, Lampang, Lamphun, Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala,
Songkhla, Satun, Tak, Kanchanaburi and Ranong.
Pol Gen Pornsak also said special task forces would be set up to combat
drugs nationwide-54 in Bangkok, 140 in the Central Plains, 150 in the
North, 136 in the Northeast and 105 in the South.
Community police would be encouraged to specify targets for the task
forces. Villages would be declared drug-free zones.
Books and equipment would be distributed to help communities and
students understand the drug menace.
More drug checkpoints would be opened and police would be tough on
owners of pubs and night entertainment places allowing underaged people
on the premises and staying open beyond legal hours.
Entertainment areas would be zoned, and kept away from communities.
Amendments had already been proposed to laws that cause delays in police
work, such as requiring a court order for a search warrant. Police want
enhanced power to search drug suspects' houses, he said.
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
Reuters: Thailand to aid Myanmar ties with personal touch
By Nopporn Wong-Anan
BANGKOK, March 23 (Reuters) - Thai Defence Minister Chavalit
Yongchaiyudh says the Thai military plans to improve its relationship
with Myanmar by reinforcing traditional personal ties with senior
military leaders.
Chavalit, also deputy prime minister, said in a television interview
taped on Thursday and heard by Reuters on Friday that he called the
approach ``defence diplomacy.''
``This is diplomacy to establish peace by a contribution from the
military to assist the foreign ministry to (personally) know and
understand heads of military units, commanders, and country leaders of
all neighbours around us,'' Chavalit said.
Chavalit, who has often spoken of his good relations with Yangon's
ruling generals and keen to bring back friendly ties, appeared on a
programme to mark the defence ministry's 114th anniversary to be
broadcast nationwide on April 8.
Relations between the two neighbours dived last month after border
skirmishes between Myanmar troops, their allies in the United Wa State
Army (UWSA), and anti-government Shan rebels.
Thailand says the battles spilled over onto Thai soil, forcing a
response. Myanmar denies this.
Bangkok says the UWSA is the source of hundreds of millions of
methamphetamine stimulant tablets flooding Thailand each year, and has
accused Yangon of turning a blind eye to the problem.
Myanmar says Shan rebels are the main drug traffickers.
BORDER TALKS
Officials of both countries plan to hold their first border talks in
two years in April in Myanmar's northeastern town of Kengtung in a bid
to soothe tension simmering after their soldiers clashed last month.
Chavalit, who served briefly as Thai prime minister in 1997, said the
diplomacy would start by helping neighbours restore peace in their
countries and then help them develop the economy.
``If we can create peace along all borders, we will be able to
introduce a development scheme across all borders, which is, in military
terms, called 'cross border development,''' he said.
``If we help them develop the economy, all kinds of our problems,
namely drug trafficking; the massive amount of illegal immigrant
workers, and transnational crimes, will be gone.''
Chavalit, who was Thai Army commander in chief in the early 1990s, said
the military had offered in the past to help Myanmar develop its border
towns near northern Thai towns in projects such as the Salween water
diversion scheme.
The project, discussed almost 20 years ago, is being dusted off by
Bangkok to find ways to fight drought and fill up a drying major
reservoir.
Chavalit said a hydroelectric dam, part of the Salween project, would
generate both
water and electricity to people of both countries around the area.
He also said the military would offer to help Myanmar develop various
businesses, including a sea port around Moetama Bay, and a coal mine in
a Myanmar town opposite the western Thai town of Bang Saphan.
``This is what the Ministry of Defence has done for over a decade and
we will continue to do it,'' Chavalit said.
___________________________________________________
Bangkok Post: Military to Invest in Burma to Mend Ties
Friday, March 24, 2001
The military plans to develop a river pier in Tak and invest in a coal
mine in Burma as part of efforts to restore relations with Rangoon, said
Defence Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh.
The Defence Military is also intent on restoring border peace, he said.
This would include developing a pier in Mae Sot district and investing
in a coal mine in Burma opposite Bang Saphan district in Prachuap Khiri
Khan.
Gen Chavalit spoke during a pro-gramme to be aired on Channel 5 to mark
the 114th anniversary of the Defence Ministry, in which he also hinted
at military cuts and mokre involvement in international peacekeeping
missions.
___________________________________________________
Financial Times (London): : Dicing with death on Burma's border:
Gambling and vice have turned the pretty market town of Ruili into
China's Aids capital
March 24, 2001
Richard McGregor reports
By day, there is little about the small border town of Ruili that lets
on that it is China's Aids capital, an incubator for the disease that is
spreading rapidly through the world's most populous country.
Amid the gentle mountains on the border with Burma, the town sparkles in
crisp weather that the locals call a "permanent spring". Even the river
that glides alongside the town, and in some parts marks the border, is
free of the debris and stench that blight most Chinese waterways.
The market bustles with Pakistani and Burmese Muslims, stealthily
unwrapping pieces of cloth to reveal their wares of jade, while back-
packers on the Mekong trail straggle by.
But by night, Ruili sparkles with a different energy. Narrow lanes are
transformed, with scores of pink-lit brothels facing on to the street.
Heroin users with the gaunt, hunted look of serious addicts lurk on dark
corners.
Ruili has a touch of Las Vegas, too -a24-hour casino that operates on a
narrow, sandy isthmus in the middle of the river, and is reached only by
a privately run boat from the Chinese side.
Prostitution and drug use can be found throughout China, although
rarely, if ever, as blatantly as here. But the casino's free rein is
astounding in a country in which a ban on gambling has been rigidly
enforced since the communist takeover in 1949.
The drugs, the prostitution, the frontier atmosphere symbolised by the
casino and the growing cross-border trucking trade, all make for a
potent cocktail in the era of Aids.
A map of Yunnan province, used by the local authorities to track the
disease, tells the story. From a small dot in 1989, when China's first
case of Aids was officially acknowledged in Ruili, the disease has
spread to blacken the entire provincial map, and beyond.
The victims of the epidemic are not hard to find. I see a tiny and
barely pubescent Burmese girl walking the streets with the innocent
sparkle of a cheeky teenager just making her way in the world. Her
playful perkiness somehow never leaves her, even as she plies her trade
of prostitution.
She is like the scores of Burmese girls who come out at night in Ruili,
paint their faces a ghostly traditional white, and take their positions
on a shadowy curve of a busy traffic roundabout. Only 14, though she at
first coyly claims to be 18, she and her co-workers have slipped over
the porous border a few kilometres away to sell themselves for a week or
so, before heading home.
She, at least, has learnt something about Aids. She insists she will not
have sex without a condom. "I don't want to get the sickness like the
others," she says in a scattergun pidgin-Chinese, which seems better
practised at talking about money than conversing about herself.
But her co-workers do look sick. Haunted eyes, cavernous cheeks and
hungry, desperate solicitations for customers lend the Burmese girls'
corner a freakish, frightening air.
It is something the authorities understand well. When the UK's minister
for international development, Clare Short, visited Ruili last year to
back a British Aids aid project, the streets were cleared for the night.
China's border with Burma is now also the main transit point for another
form of traffic - heroin from the Golden Triangle. A long campaign has
choked many transit routes through Thailand, so the drug lords have
turned to China.
Some of the white powder travels through Ruili and the surrounding
districts on its way to the rest of the world. But an increasingly large
amount feeds China's own growing number of heroin addicts.
Many are hidden away in remote villages in Yunnan, especially among the
province's minority groups, where the drug is cheap and the idea of
clean needles is as distant as the country's rulers in faraway Beijing.
More and more, heroin is not a drug that users graduate to. It is the
first, and often last, drug they take.
"For people in Ruili, there are three main forms of entertainment -
gambling, women and drugs," says our guide. "Drugs are the most
dangerous. Women are the safest."
The heroin, prostitution and other border trade all create a large pot
of cash, much of which finds a home at the "Sino-Burma Casino - New East
Entertainment City".
To get there, you jump on a boat, or more accurately, a few jerry-
assembled planks of wood with a diesel outboard motor attached. The
hefty gatekeeper prevents only one category of gambler from jumping on
board - anybody without a Chinese face is barred.
Gamblers say that, once on the premises, patrons march through another
set of black-suited guards, walkie-talkie in one hand, truncheon in the
other, and then an outdoor gambling bazaar using dice with animals on
each side instead of spots.
The two main gambling halls are about 50 metres long, spacious and
brightly lit, with scores of tables offering roulette, blackjack and
other card games.
Credit is not a problem here. Pawn shops on the island offer instant
cash loans at a compound interest rate of 10 per cent a day. In extreme
cases, the casino allows gamblers to borrow money using themselves as
security. The indebted gambler becomes a virtual hostage on the island
until he or she is bailed out by family or friends.
The mystery of whether the casino is in China or Burma, or just some
grey area in between, is partially solved by a sign offering a 24-hour
telephone advice service for gamblers. The number given is for a Chinese
mobile phone.
The "border crossing" itself - where you jump on the boat to go to the
casino - tells you all you need to know about the rule of law in this
wild town: two uniformed customs officials barely glance at the gamblers
arriving to board the craft.
In Ruili, China's border is policed, not by the government, but by the
private security staff of the casino.
_______________OPINION/EDITORIALS_________________
The Nation: Is this 'Megaphone Diplomacy' in the Making?
Thursday, March 22, 2001
BY SUTHICHAI YOON
THERE is nothing wrong with resorting to "megaphone diplomacy" if it
gets two neighbours to move on to the next stage of "personal
diplomacy". And there is nothing wrong with "personal diplomacy" if it
doesn't end up in the form of logging concessions, hotel construction
contracts or fishing permits granted to individuals from our side of the
border.
Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai's "forward engagement" policy can
certainly replace his predecessor Surin Pitsuwan's "flexible engagement"
if it allows both Thailand and the military government of Burma to tell
each other to "put your own house in order" to avoid creating
unnecessary trouble on the border for your neighbour.
The military junta of Burma has obviously taken note of the new style of
Thai diplomacy through Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's "cross-border
diplomacy" expounded almost off-the-cuff two weeks ago in the border
town of Chiang Rai. His was a typically populist approach which went
down well with many a Thai seeking an end to the drug flow from the
Burmese side of the border. Thaksin was apparently bent on showing that
he was changing the game of Thai diplomacy by talking straight and
getting tough.
The new premier, after launching the high-profile and widely-publicised
"workshop" on drugs, caused a stir by deliberately delivering a stern
message to the other side of the border. He departed from the old "good
neighbours" tradition of not posing embarrassing questions in public by
saying that he would demand explanations from Burma's generals over the
deadly flow of drugs from jungle refineries controlled by Wa minority
groups.
Thaksin, the no-nonsense CEO, was getting down to business. The previous
undeclared "don't-ask-because-you-won't-get-an-answer" policy was
unceremoniously thrown out the window.
In another act in his unusual push for policy transparency, the prime
minister even de-classified Army intelligence on the dramatic expansion
of the once sleepy town of Mong Yawn on the other side of the border. It
was the first time that Thai authorities, in the presence of the prime
minister, had publicly hurled charges of possible connivance between the
Wa warlords and the authorities in Rangoon. Reporters were even told of
pictures taken of several Burmese generals inspecting Mong Yawn's vast
expansion - a gesture of condoning what Thai officials consider to be
inexcusable.
The junta's angry reaction wasn't unexpected, although its call for
Thailand to put its own house in order instead of trying to make Rangoon
a "scapegoat" for its drug problems was more rhetorical than
substantive. Thaksin's immediate response obviously didn't help pacify
the junta. "Of course, we have been trying to put our house in order,
but dust keeps blowing in from the North." That's as diplomatic as the
new Thai CEO can get in suggesting that you can't live in peace if
things aren't settled next door.
Blunt talk isn't necessarily bad or counterproductive if the objective
is clear. Tough political talk should be aimed at bringing the neighbour
to the negotiation table where real substantial bilateral issues, and
not "personal grievances" or "vested interests", are ironed out.
Personal diplomacy, of course, should be employed if familiarity among
senior officials on both sides paves the way for candour and dispenses
with deep-rooted mutual suspicion.
The convening of the Regional Border Committee won't resolve what
basically constitute national-level conflicts. It's not just border
disagreement over demarcation. Nor is it purely a case of Thailand being
flooded with illegal Burmese migrants - which has in itself become a
problem of growing magnitude in political, economic and social terms
here.
The paramount sticking point is the drugs issue, which goes beyond the
Thai-Burmese context. It's a worldwide problem and Premier Thaksin, with
no skeletons in the closet on this particular issue, should engage the
world community in this highly critical problem.
Burma has to convince not only Thailand but the international community
that it's serious about tackling the drugs issue. In other words, the
new Thai government has to perform where the previous administration
failed. To be effective in the long term, any Thai strategy towards our
western neighbour has to be based on the concept that it's Burma against
the world - and not just one of those normal irritants two neighbouring
countries usually encounter.
Thai authorities, of course, aren't innocent of any shenanigans along
the border. But if the new premier is determined to get a fresh start on
this front, he will have to embark on a major overhaul of the security
and foreign policy establishment to ensure consistency and clear
direction to achieve national goals.
"Personal diplomacy" in this particular case got a bad name in the past
because it was seen to be a case of
"you-scratch-my-back-and-I-scratch-yours" for certain Thai senior
officials and their Burmese counterparts.
Taking the cue from Rangoon and, in the name of good neighbourliness,
Thailand should take up the gauntlet and adopt a new, constructive
policy towards Burma: I clean up my house and you clean yours.
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