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Web-only Exclusives November 30, 2000 From Our Correspondent: Hirohito and the War A conversation with biographer Herbert Bix From Our Correspondent: A Rough Road Ahead Bad news for the Philippines - and some others From Our Correspondent: Making Enemies Indonesia needs friends. So why is it picking fights? |
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Myanmar-Thailand Relations: Still lousy after all these years By ROGER MITTON October 19, 1999 Web posted at 3:30 p.m. Hong Kong time, 3:30 a.m. EDT
The minister was thinking less about internal security and more about the next general election, due within a year. It's good PR in Thailand to whack Myanmar, irrespective of the merits of a given issue. Even if you are a tainted domestic politician with a reputation for arm-twisting, nepotism and other tawdry deeds, you can -- at least temporarily -- bask in a phony libertarian glow. But let's cut to the heart of this matter. Thai-Myanmar relations are like those between Greece and Turkey, or India and Pakistan. The two countries may belong (or hope to belong) to a broader group like the EU or SAARC, or in this case ASEAN, but their historical animosity remains as deep and bitter as ever. The Thai-Myanmar border is effectively closed following the embassy incident, and tensions along it are running high. So do not expect objective appraisals if you ask officials of either country about the other. Consider that the Thai media effectively lauded the terrorists, saying "it was almost the perfect embassy siege." And Yangon's views of the Thai performance are equally vinegary. These neighbors regard each other with the unabated suspicion of the historical enemies that they are (Thai media reports of the embassy siege have even referred to the sackings of Ayuthaya, the former Thai capital, by the Burmese, in the 16th and 18th centuries). Start from that premise and you can begin to comprehend things more easily -- something that the world's press often signally fails to do. Indeed, one of the great misfortunes is that most of the ASEAN region's foreign correspondents who aspire to report objectively on Myanmar are based in Bangkok. It's rather like being based in Cairo to cover Israel; the daily intake from the domestic media is not conducive to generating a non-partisan view. And that is why Thais and the rest of the world are getting a distorted view, which in turn leads to asinine statements -- like that of the Thai interior minister. This is not only frankly dangerous, but actively works against achieving a settlement of the tragic political impasse in Myanmar. That is the real tragedy. Nobody likes the military regime in Myanmar. But that is not the issue. The issue is how to replace the regime with a democratic civilian government. Praising terrorist actions, along with distorted reportage, is not going to help us achieve that. Write to us at mail@web.asiaweek.com
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