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Bkk Post - Trade with Burma isn't e



Reply-To: "TIN KYI" <tinkyi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Bkk Post - Trade with Burma isn't everything

Bangkok Post - Oct 13, 1999.
Editorial
Trade with Burma isn't everything

The praise and words of appreciation from the Burmese authorities for the
way with which the Thai government handled the Oct 1-2 occupation of the
Burmese Embassy were in sharp contradiction to the action taken by Rangoon
so soon after this potentially explosive situation was brought to an end
without any bloodletting.

The military junta abruptly scrapped the concession rights granted to Thai
fishing trawlers without any clarification. Hundreds of Thai vessels were
forced to hurry back home to Ranong from Burmese waters and, as a result,
now at least 5,000 Burmese who crewed on the trawlers are without work. The
closure of the border at the same time has brought a complete halt to trade
and travel between the two countries and so caused tremendous damage to a
large number of businesses.

If actions speak louder than words, as we are all taught, then clearly the
praise and the thanks offered by Burma's leadership-the most recent
expression being from Nyunt Maung Shein, director-general of the Political
Affairs Department, at the senior Asean officials meeting in Bangkok-are
meaningless. They are intended only to fool the more gullible into believing
the Rangoon regime is made up of civilised men who are as willing as the
next fellow to congratulate the peaceful end to the embassy siege.

The reality is that the junta is unhappy with Thailand's handling of the
five hostage takers and the fact that they were allowed to go free. Instead
of drawing a lesson from this incident and appraising how it contributed to
the affair, the military junta wants simply to place all the blame on
Thailand.

The rest of the world saw the embassy siege very differently to Rangoon. The
general consensus is that the repressive military regime must be held
responsible. Had the generals ended their brutal treatment of Burma's
pro-democracy elements and allowed Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League
for Democracy to govern the country after they swept the polls in the
general election of 1990, then this embassy siege almost certainly would
never have happened.

The hypocrisy of the Burmese dictatorship over this latest incident just
reinforces the doubts of the Thai government and others around the region
about the legitimacy of "constructive engagement", one of the principal
platforms of Asean, in gradually transforming the Rangoon military
leadership into a civilised administration with a human heart. Two years
after being inducted into Asean, Burma remains a pariah state and gives no
sign that it will ever change for the better while the military junta
continues to be in firm control.

Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai's recent message to his Burmese counterpart,
Gen Than Shwe, in which he expressed the hope that bilateral ties between
our two countries could return to normal and even improve was an olive
branch offered by Thailand. His conciliatory words are reinforced by the
presence of Deputy Prime Minister Korn Dabbaransi in Rangoon for talks aimed
at easing tensions. Now it is the turn of Burma to extend a gesture in the
spirit of good neighbourliness.

The normalisation of ties will benefit both countries and their peoples. But
in the pursuit of this aim, Thailand must not compromise its human rights
principles, especially where they concern the Burmese students living in
exile in Thailand, in exchange for trade, business or fishing concessions
from Burma.

Thai-Burmese relations have always been dominated by trade issues. This is
why Rangoon has enjoyed the upper hand to dictate the course of our ties. It
is about time Thailand explored new markets for its products and new sources
of natural resources so that we reduce our dependence on Burma and distance
ourselves from its brutish ways.