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-------------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINES -------------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Amnesty concerned about Aung
San Suu Kyi freedoms AFP - AFP - Amnesty urges release of
political prisoners after first
AFP - Amnesty
concludes first
AFP - Reuters - Myanmar arrests activists for plotting sabotage Reuters - Amnesty urges
AP - Amnesty
says human rights in
AP - Asia Pulse - ADB
Approves Grant to Improve
VOA News - Amnesty International
Calls for Reforms in
-------------------------------------------------------------------- Amnesty concerned about Aung San Suu Kyi
freedoms Two Amnesty representatives met with the Nobel peace laureate, who
was released from 19 months of house arrest in May, in her Yangon home late last
month at the beginning of the organization's first-ever visit to the
military-ruled state. "Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is not a prisoner of conscience any more,"
Demelza Stubbings, Amnesty's interim program director for Asia-Pacific and head
of the mission to
"However I think it is fair to say that the organization remains
concerned about her ability not only to travel but also to meet freely with
people around the country." Stubbings also spoke of the "extremely intimidating" conditions faced
by visitors, associates or supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi, particularly
She said the country's outdated and restricted laws, such as the 1975
state protection act under which Suu Kyi was held without charge for years,
helped contribute to an atmosphere of oppression. "If there are laws that criminalize the basic right to freedom of
assembly, then you could actually be committing a crime just by, for example,
coming to a place where you've heard Aung San Suu Kyi or another prominent NLD
member might be visiting that day." Aung San Suu Kyi heads the National League for Democracy (NLD), which
won an overwhelming 1990 election victory which the ruling junta has refused to
recognize. After spending a total of seven and a half years under two stints of
house arrest, she was released undonditionally last May and has since embarked
on several political trips around the country, where thousands of supporters
often line roadsides to greet her. "Even if she is free to go to places, are people free to come to
her?" Stubbings said. She said the point was driven home to Amnesty during their visit to
Aung San Suu Kyi's lakeside residence, where she said a government security
detail photographed her through the car window as they passed barricades set up
near the house. "For ourselves it doesn't matter. But for other people who may wish
to go and visit, that can be extremely intimidating."
Stubbings would not reveal details of her two-hour meeting with Aung
San Suu Kyi, saying the contents were confidential as agreed by both sides.
In December Aung San Suu Kyi clashed with authorities who attempted
to physically bar her supporters from meeting her during a trip to the country's
west.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday February 10,
MANILA, Feb
10 (AFP) - The Asian Development
Bank (ADB) downgraded its 2003 economic growth forecast for Average gross
domestic product (GDP) growth in the region is expected to moderate to 5.6
percent this year from 6.1 percent in 2002, the Manila-based bank's Regional
Economic Monitoring Unit (REMU) said Monday. The bank had
earlier predicted the economies of
In a
quarterly report card on the health of the 12 economies, the ADB said tensions
over Iraq had led to rising uncertainty, dampened business as well as consumer
confidence and pushed oil prices 30 percent higher since mid-June
2002. "The recent
worsening of the external environment will impinge on The
Using figures
from London-based private institution Consensus Economics Inc., the ADB revised
downwards 2003 GDP growth forecast for Singapore from 4.7 percent to 3.8
percent, South Korea from 5.6 percent to 5.0 percent, Malaysia from 5.2 percent
to 4.7 percent, and Indonesia from 4.0 percent to 3.6
percent. Growth
forecasts for
The ADB also
issued a warning on the region's moderating export growth momentum due to less
imports from the Growth of
East Asian exports, the region's top money spinner, eased in the second half of
last year in
Exports also
moderated in
"This only
goes to show that the region remains dependent on the G3 (US,
"We say that
Rana said
although intra-regional trade was increasing on the back of
"Ultimately,
most of the exports head to the G3," he added. The ADB also
said that for the first time since the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, net
lending by foreign commercial banks to five crisis-affected nations --
Many foreign
banks had bailed out of the region during the crisis and the new development
signified that capital withdrawal by foreign commercial banks might have ended,
Rana said. After
withdrawing from the five crisis-hit countries a total of 113 billion dollars
during the 1997-2001 period, net lending by private international institutions
registered an inflow of 6.24 billion dollars last year, offsetting large
outflows of portfolio equity, the ADB said. The bank
projected an inflow of 8.43 billion dollars in 2003. The ADB said
that also for the first time since the crisis, 2002 saw real bank credit to the
private sector increase in
Real bank credit is lending by domestic banks. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Amnesty urges release of political
prisoners after first
The
London-based group has requested access to tightly controlled
A two-person
delegation given permission for Amnesty's first visit remained there between
January 30 and February 8 for meetings with the ruling junta, police and prison
officials, prisoners and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
"After its
first ever visit to
Demelza
Stubbings, Amnesty's interim program director for Asia-Pacific and head of the
mission to
Amnesty said
discussions focused on the administration of justice and policing.
"Without good
laws, appropriate policing, fair trials, and humane conditions of detention,
violations can and will continue, violators will remain unpunished and victims
will have no chance of gaining redress," she told a
"The visit
confirmed what Amnesty International believed to be the case, namely that
policing, trial procedures and conditions of detention fall short of
international laws and standards." Many of the
related laws date back to the 19th century, she said, and "criminalize the
exercise of certain fundamental human rights including freedom of _expression_,
association and assembly." Stubbings
said Amnesty was able to meet with a wide range of officials in the SPDC,
including the ministers of labour and home affairs,
Amnesty's
Southeast Asia researcher Donna Jean Guest, who also traveled to Myanmar, told
AFP that the impressions collected during the trip "pretty much agreed with the
information we had gathered from outside of the country. "It was
extremely useful," she said. "We were not restricted in any way."
Stubbings
added there were no specific conditions attached to visas granted for the visit
and the government had raised no objections to Amnesty's program. She and Guest
were allowed to interview prisoners at various detention facilities under
unfettered conditions. "There were
no representatives from the SPDC, prisons, hospitals -- anybody -- in those
interviews except Amnesty International and the prisoner," she stressed.
Details from
the talks were not released. Amnesty said it will publish a comprehensive report
in the next few months. Amnesty also
met for "cordial" talks with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of
the opposition National League for Democracy, though the contents of the
meetings were confidential, Stubbings said. The delegates
also talked to representatives of international organisations and the diplomatic
and business communities. Stubbings
said "(But) much
remains to be done, and we will continue to point out what it is," she said.
Amnesty said
it wanted to return to
"One of our
key objectives on this visit was to meet with as many people in
When asked if she thought whether the Amnesty visit would lead to any immediate improvements in the rights environment in the country, Stubbings said: "We are not miracle workers, this is something that takes time." -------------------------------------------------------------------- Amnesty concludes first
"It has been
found that some members of the legally standing political parties inside the
country have been engaged in anti-government activities with financial support
from dissident expatriates," Brigadier General Than Tun told a specially called
briefing in Those who
were arrested, including an NLD vice chairman from Kamayut township, had
produced "anti-government materials", he said "We will take
legal action against some of the 12 arrested and release those we deem to be
innocent after our investigation is complete," Than Tun said, adding that
"everything will be legal and above board." International
human rights group such as Amnesty International "need have no worries" on that
score, he said. The
London-based group had requested access to tightly controlled
A two-person
delegation was there between January 30 and February 8 for meetings with the
ruling junta, police and prison officials, prisoners and Nobel peace laureate
Aung San Suu Kyi. "After its
first ever visit to
Demelza
Stubbings, Amnesty's interim program director for Asia-Pacific and head of the
mission to
Amnesty said
discussions also focused on the administration of justice and policing.
"Without good
laws, appropriate policing, fair trials, and humane conditions of detention,
violations can and will continue, violators will remain unpunished and victims
will have no chance of gaining redress," she told a
"The visit
confirmed what Amnesty International believed to be the case, namely that
policing, trial procedures and conditions of detention fall short of
international laws and standards." Stubbings
said Amnesty was able to meet with a wide range of officials including the
ministers of labour and home affairs,
Amnesty said
their trip was unhindered and included interviews with at least seven prisoners.
"There were
no representatives from the SPDC, prisons, hospitals -- anybody -- in those
interviews except Amnesty International and the prisoner," she stressed.
Amnesty also
met for "cordial" talks with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, though the
contents of the meetings were confidential, Stubbings said.
Stubbings
said "(But) much
remains to be done, and we will continue to point out what it is," she said.
Amnesty said
it would publish a comprehensive report in the next few months.
It also
expressed its aim to return to
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Thaksin was
in "The
Relations
between the historic enemies were strained to the limit last May when deadly
border clashes led
Thaksin said
the two countries "will also cooperate on drugs suppression which will improve
our image internationally and will lead to trade and investment later."
The vast
majority of methamphetamines flooding
Thaksin said
He said
"From now on,
The visit was
Thaksin's second to the country since he came to power two years
ago. --------------------------------------------------------------------
Feb The arrests
are a sign of rising tension between ruling generals and the pro-democracy
movement and come as human rights watchdog Amnesty International urged
Military
intelligence spokesman Brigadier-General Than Tun said seven of those arrested
were low-level members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) headed by
Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The NLD won
elections in 1990 by a landslide but has never been allowed to govern
Also arrested
was Sai Nyunt Lwin, secretary-general of the Shan National League for Democracy
(SNLD), which was the second most successful party in the 1990 elections,
winning 23 seats. The political
affiliation of the other four was not given. Than Tun told
a news conference the group had plotted civil unrest including acts of sabotage,
distributed anti-government leaflets and formed an illegal organisation called
the ''Total Revolutionary Committee,'' which was financed by exiled opposition
groups based in
One member of
the group had been assigned to set off an explosion near
''They
planned to spark civil unrest by spreading agitation leaflets and staging
protests and demonstrations at busy public places,'' he said. He said
investigations were continuing and other arrests could follow.
Asked by
reporters if the arrests would affect relations with the opposition, Than Tun
replied: ''We need to see how the legally existing parties respond to the
illegal activities of their members.'' NLD and SNLD
officials were unavailable for immediate comment on the announcement.
News of the
arrests comes at a time of worsening relations between the military government,
in power for most of the past 40 years, and the pro-democracy opposition.
Diplomats
predicted a new era of reconciliation for
But there
have been few signs of progress since then and the government and opposition
have begun to criticise each other in public again after a pause of more than a
year. Amnesty
estimates
The group's
Asia-Pacific programme director, Demelza Stubbings, said conditions for the
prisoners had improved in the past couple of years. But she said Amnesty would send the junta a letter within three months to demand that it scrap British colonial laws used to detain prisoners without giving them access to a lawyer, relatives or medical care. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Amnesty urges
Feb Amnesty's
Asia-Pacific programme director, Demelza Stubbings, said conditions for the
estimated 1,200 to 1,300 political prisoners had improved in the last couple of
years. But she said
Amnesty would send the junta a letter within three months to demand that it
scrap British colonial laws used to detain prisoners without giving them access
to a lawyer, relatives or medical care. ''Some of the
laws that apply date from the British colonial period -- they are extremely
outdated,'' Stubbings told Reuters television in an interview in
''Basic
fundamental human rights, including freedom of _expression_, freedom of
association, freedom of assembly are in fact criminalised by many of the
laws...and this is a matter of grave concern.'' In
Military
intelligence spokesman Brigadier General Than Tun said seven of those arrested
were junior members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) headed by Nobel
Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The party won elections in 1990 by a landslide
but has never been allowed to govern. The ruling
generals freed Suu Kyi from house arrest last May and have released hundreds of
political prisoners since entering into U.N.-brokered ''confidence building''
talks with the NLD in late 2000. Suu Kyi's
release raised hopes of a democratic transition, but the NLD says the junta is
reluctant to enter into talks on real political change. Stubbings,
who met Suu Kyi at her ''If people were to assemble because they had heard that Aung San Suu Kyi might be visiting the area, they could actually be committing a criminal offence,'' she said. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Amnesty says human rights in
Feb By GRANT PECK, Associated
Press Writer BANGKOK,
Thailand (AP) - Human rights in
Myanmar continue to "fall short of international law" but are improving, Amnesty
International said Monday after its first official visit to the military-ruled
nation which has long been accused of state-sponsored atrocities.
The
London-based group said it interviewed several prisoners and former detainees
and all indicated things were getting better. "Every single
released prisoner we talked to said that conditions of detention had improved
significantly since 1999," Amnesty's Program Director for the Asia Pacific
Region Demelza Stubbings said. Stubbings and
a colleague visited
"We look
forward to a continuing dialogue with all those concerned with the promotion and
protection of human rights in
Amnesty will
present a list of suggested reforms to the government within three months,
Stubbings said. "The visit
confirmed what Amnesty International believed to be the case, namely that
policing, trial procedures and conditions of detention fall short of
international law," she said. The country's laws "criminalize the exercise of
certain fundamental human rights, including freedom of _expression_, association
and assembly." She said
prison conditions are better, but further improvements were needed, such as
allowing detainees access to their families and lawyers as well as medical care.
"This simply
doesn't happen," she said. In meetings
with government officials, Amnesty called for the immediate release of 19
prisoners on humanitarian grounds and discussed the continued detention of up to
1,300 political prisoners, Stubbings said. The two
researchers also met with pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San
Suu Kyi. Stubbings said both sides had agreed to keep their conversation
confidential. Members of
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy have been frequent targets of government
harassment and detention. Suu Kyi was released from house arrest last year. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Feb YANGON,
Myanmar (AP) - Myanmar authorities
have detained 12 people, including seven members of the opposition National
League for Democracy, for alleged anti-government activities, an official said
Monday. They are
accused of trying to stir unrest, distribute anti-government leaflets and carry
out attacks, Defense Ministry spokesman Brig. Than Tun told reporters.
They are also
believed to have links to dissident groups based in neighboring
Seven NLD
members, a joint secretary of the ethnic Shan National League for Democracy and
four other suspects have been rounded up since Feb. 5, the spokesman said.
"All 12
persons who have been detained will be questioned according to law. Those who
are found guilty under the law will (face) action, but those who are not
implicated will be released," Than Tun said. He added that
one of the detainees, Thet Nwe, also known as Nyein Lu, was arrested on Dec. 11,
2002, after being dispatched by anti-Myanmar student groups based in the border
town of Mae Sot, Thailand. Than Tun said
the suspect confessed to having received demolition and "political defiance"
training in
The two sides
have been holding reconciliation talks since late 2000, but no real progress
appears to have been made. "If legal
political parties do not engage in illegal activities that could disrupt
stability, nothing could affect the national reconciliation process," Than Tun
said. Earlier
Monday, Amnesty International said after its first-ever official trip to
The
London-based group said it interviewed several prisoners and former detainees,
who all indicated things were getting better. --------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday February 10, ADB Approves Grant to Improve
MANILA, Feb
10 Asia Pulse - The Asian
Development Bank has approved a US$1 million technical assistance [TA] grant to
prepare a project to improve a section in Vietnam of the Kunming-Haiphong
transport corridor. The corridor
is one of the key transport projects the six Greater Mekong Subregion [GMS]
countries have pledged to promote in their regional economic cooperation
program. The GMS
includes
The TA will
examine alternatives to suggest the optimum transport mode to connect Lao Cai,
near the PRC border, to
"The improved
link will not only enhance access to Lao Cai Province, one of the poorest
regions in Viet Nam, from Hanoi, but also open up opportunities for growing
trade and investment in the region," Khalid Rahman, Director of ADB's Mekong
Infrastructure Division, said in a statement. The
Kunming-Lao Cai-Haiphong railway link, formerly known as the
Currently,
most of the road in
The TA will come from ADB's Japan Special Fund, financed by the Government of Japan. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Amnesty International Calls for Reforms
in
VOA
News The human
rights group Amnesty International has called on
Amnesty's
Asia-Pacific program director, Demelza Stubbings, said Monday that although
conditions for more than a thousand political prisoners had improved in the last
few years, Ms. Stubbings
spoke in During the
visit which ended Saturday, Ms. Stubbings and a colleague visited government
ministers, current and former political prisoners, and opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi. Meanwhile,
A military
intelligence spokesman General Than Tun said seven detainees are members of Aung
San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD). The spokesman said the group
had distributed anti-government leaflets and had been planning demonstrations
and what he called other "disruptive activities." Members of
the NLD have been frequent targets of government harassment and detention. The
party won a landslide victory in 1990 general elections, but
-------------------------------------------------------------------- The
By
Ellen Nakashima Monday, Naing Win
said he was forced at 15 into the army, where he and other boys were given
amphetamines and were often brutally punished. (Ellen Nakashima -- The
MAE SOT,
Now 14, the
taciturn boy Kyaw Zay Ya lives in a rebel-held village in Burma near the Thai
border, one of the few places in the country willing to protect him from service
in what human rights monitors call the largest child army in the
world. According to
New York-based Human Rights Watch,
The numbers
would make the military-ruled
The Burmese
government has denied that its army takes in recruits under 18, and says that
its force is all volunteer. But people interviewed in safe houses and camps
along the border disputed those contentions. In a two-hour
talk here, Kyaw said he was press-ganged into the army at age 11, took part in
combat repeatedly and felt "afraid and very far from
home." Another young
man, Naing Win, said he was 16 when he was ordered into a nasty firefight. To
fuel the soldiers, he said, the commander made them take amphetamines, washed
down with whiskey. The troops, Naing recalled, "got very
happy." In the
encounter, each soldier was ordered to lob five grenades at the enemy. Naing,
whose forehead bears a shrapnel scar, said he was sufficiently high on the drugs
that at one point he was throwing stones. With one grenade, he forgot to remove
the pin that allows it to explode. Then he was ordered to run forward exposed to
enemy fire, retrieve the grenade, take out the pin and throw it again. The
battle killed his best friend, 15. Another time,
after his unit had won a battle against ethnic Karenni rebels, his commander
wanted the area cleared of mines. About 40 Karenni villagers were made to walk
through the mined zone, he said. In the ensuing explosions, some died and some
lost their legs. Those who survived were lined up. Naing said he and several
other soldiers were ordered to shoot them. They did. "I'm very
sorry," he said. For much of
The army has
a major advantage in numbers over these groups, none of which has more than
15,000 troops, according to Karen and Karenni officials and Human Rights Watch,
but they say the army still employs underage soldiers. "Children are
picked up off the street when they are 11 years old," said Jo Becker, child
advocacy director for Human Rights Watch. "Many have no chance to contact their
families and see their parents again. Everyone that we had talked to had been
beaten during the training. Most were desperately
unhappy." The Burmese
government denies the charges. "I am totally flabbergasted at the assertions in
the Human Rights Watch report," said Col. Hla Min, deputy head of the Defense
Ministry's international affairs department in the capital,
In a faxed
reply to a query, he stated that Burmese troops are now engaged in work similar
to that of the U.S. Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great
Depression. U Kyaw Tint
Swe, In an
interview, a 19-year-old named Aung, who asked that his full name not be used,
said he was taken into the army in 1998 at age Aung thought
that after he finished his studies, he would become an army captain. But one
June day in 1998, when he was 14, a general showed up at the school. All boys
older than 13 who had not finished the 10th grade were pulled aside. He and his
schoolmates thought they were just being sent to another class. Instead, they
were trucked to a holding center in
Aung said he
first saw battle at the age of 15, and he was sick for three days afterward. But
he grew used to it: In the following two years, he took part in seven major
firefights and countless minor skirmishes, he said. The worse
battle lasted from early morning into the evening, in the
"During the
fighting, you don't have time to think," he says. "Only
shoot." He said he
felt powerless to resist. In the army, "if a bad person gives an order, you have
to follow it. If he says burn the village, you have to burn it. If he says kill
a person, you have to do it." Naing Win,
the boy soldier who recounted use of amphetamines, said in an interview that he
was picked up at a train station near
If a boy
refused to eat his food, was late or missed a task, the other soldiers would
often be forced to beat the victim with bamboo strips or a whip, Naing said.
There were other forms of punishment, the former soldiers said, such as jumping
in the sand like frogs for 10 minutes, or lying flat on the ground and staring
at the sun. One boy was
stripped naked, his hands and legs tied, Naing recalled. After 20 or 30 blows,
his skin was bloody. An officer rubbed salt into the wounds on his back. The boy
screamed in pain. Hours later, he was dead. But not all
officers were harsh, said Kyaw, who recounted being plucked for military service
from a bus stop near In the field,
they had duties that included rounding up villagers in rebel areas to serve as
porters, the former soldiers said. Those who balked or could not keep up were
beaten or killed. Naing said he also witnessed Karenni villagers being raped. A
general told the soldiers that raping women serves "to give the soldiers
energy." "Some of my
friends said, 'It's okay. They're not Burmese. They're Karenni.' " Once, he
said, he saw a teenage girl being raped repeatedly in an open field in the
evening. First came the battalion leader, then a bodyguard, then ordinary
soldiers. She was screaming and crying. She was left to die, he
said. All three of
the former soldiers said they eventually deserted. Naing fled in
1995, after six years in the army. He married a Karenni woman and joined the
Burma Patriotic Army, a group of 30 fellow deserters whose aim is to oppose the
central government in Aung escaped
in May 2001. Today, he lives in a Thai town near the border and works odd jobs.
He is waiting for the political situation to change, so that he can return home
to And last
September, after three years in uniform, Kyaw was bathing alone in a stream near
a waterfall. No one was watching. He bolted. After walking for four hours, he
reached a Karen village, where soldiers tied his hands and punched him, thinking
he might be a spy. After he convinced a Karen officer that he was a true
deserter, he was given refuge in a border village. He does not dare to go home. "They will put me in prison," he said. He has no desire to resume studying. His only desire is to be a kickboxer one day, like his favorite Burmese boxers Shwe da Win and Wan Chai. He says he does not think much about the army. He has no nightmares. "I don't dream," he said. -------------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Report slates
Aung San Suu Kyi has fought for democracy for 15
years By
Larry Jagan BBC correspondent in
A
ground-breaking trip to
During its
10-day trip, the delegation met government ministers and opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi. Amnesty's findings Little chance of a fair trial under existing
laws Limited access to defence lawyers Continuing detention of more than 1,200 political
prisoners For Amnesty,
this was an initial visit to
The
delegation visited prisons during its stay in
Members of
the delegation also met recently freed prisoners. Even from
this short trip to
They were
also critical of the police which, they said, were well below accepted
international standards. Political prisoners Amnesty has
been one of the Burmese regime's staunchest critics. Its
authoritative reports over the past 14 years have documented the military
government's horrendous human rights record. However, as
the Amnesty delegation was keen to point out, there have been significant
improvements in recent years, although much more needs to be done.
Amnesty
raised its continued concerns about the political prisoners still in detention.
It estimates
that there are more than 1,200 currently in jail. Amnesty also
urged the military government immediately and unconditionally to release 19 of
them on humanitarian grounds. Amnesty, like
many others before it, is hoping that the Burmese regime will respond favourably
to its requests and advice. However, the
experience of the UN rapporteur on human rights in
-------------------------------------------------------------------- The
Nation PM says
Published on ?They have
waited to talk with us for a long time. I believe relations will definitely
improve after my visit,Thaksin told
reporters. Relations
between Border
checkpoints have been reopened, but
Thaksin said
his trip would yield ?official and essential results that would benefit the two
countries bilateral ties.
?We will draw
up measures to work together on the war against narcotics, illegal immigration,
border security and tourism,Thaksin
said. Foreign
Minister Surakiart Sathirathai, who accompanied the premier, said
Thaksin
landed yesterday in the town of
The prime
minister later flew to Ngapali on the -------------------------------------------------------------------- The
Nation Letters: Hobnobbing with dictators while
ignoring the masses will in time spell disaster
Published on The dust has
yet to settle to the east in
One lesson to
be learned from the ashes of the Thai Embassy and commercial buildings in
We cannot be
perceived to be interested only in cutting sweetheart business deals with a
small circle of people in power while ignoring the abysmal conditions of the
masses. While the
Thai delegation is enjoying the pomp and circumstance, the marching bands,
waving flags and state banquets in
When meeting
with the Burmese junta, the Thai leaders should bear in mind that change will
surely come to
Suriyatai VIA INTERNET -------------------------------------------------------------------- The
Nation Opinion REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE: The big dangers of
can-do diplomacy KAVI
CHONGKITTAVORN Published on Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has blown hot and cold, playing good guy and bad guy
in handling relations with neighbouring countries. He uses different styles and
rhetoric in handling
Despite the
early faux pas of a plan to dispatch commando assault units in reaction to
The
evacuation of the Thai ambassador, his staff and over 700 Thai residents from
Like his
predecessors, Thaksin took advantage of the prevailing situation. Former prime
ministers MR Kukrit Pramoj, General Kriangsak Chamanand and Chatichai Choonhavan
did the same as continental Kukrit asked
US troops to leave and to vacant their bases. Kriangsak befriended former
communist Indochinese countries and left it to Chatichai to turn the war-ravaged
area into a market-place. None of these
leaders was as aggressive or media-conscious as the current prime minister. They
did not talk tough, but they were firm. To get what they wanted, they cooked,
sang and did the ramwong folk dance with neighbouring
countries. In contrast
to his approach to
In his
special lecture last Wednesday at the army's headquarters, he talked of
"We have to
help our neighbours better their economies by expanding Thai production bases to
neighbouring countries, especially in agriculture and small factories. This way
That was well
said, and many leaders before him had said the same. But it is almost impossible
to bring the vision to reality. Today Thaksin
is in After Thaksin
declared war on drugs, a rampage of extrajudicial killings fast became the norm.
Closed to a hundred people have been blown away in the 10 days since the
campaign opened. Now,
Thaksin's
close aides confide in private that he is losing patience. They feel that
Thaksin and the Burmese junta leaders have created enough rapport in the past
two years to make a difference on drug suppression. It is payback time.
Everybody knows that Thaksin's plan will not work if
Obviously
Thaksin wants fast and tangible results on drugs. He wants them now, not in 2015
when the countries in the region say they will attain a drug-free zone.
As his
populist policies face increased public scrutiny and mounting obstacles, he
needs a dramatic outcome for the anti-drug campaign. Let the truth
be told. The Burmese leaders seldom divert their foreign policy or domestic
objectives at the behest of foreign countries - let alone Thaksin's
Whatever
Thaksin chooses to do with
Apart from
In addition
Thai history
gives good insights. Whenever
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