Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra needs to do some serious soul searching over the country's policy towards Burma. The current administration is quickly becoming a laughing stock in diplomatic circles in Bangkok as the military government in Rangoon continues to lash out at the country, its people and its administration with hardly any response from the government.
For the past 10 days, Thai leaders have been called everything from "bare-face liars" to "insincere", "crafty" and "spiritually weak" by the Rangoon military government. What is troublesome is the fact the Thaksin administration has been unusually quiet over these vicious attacks.
Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai dismissed a public statement from Maj-General Kyaw Win, the junta's main spokesman who suggested Thai leaders were a bunch of liars, as "hearsay". He said he had yet to receive any official letter from Rangoon and therefore declined to respond to questions from the media over the allegations. Perhaps by then he would come to the realisation that our western neighbour is making a mockery of this nation and the Thaksin administration.
And just a couple of days ago, the Defence Ministry spokesman Lt-General Suraphan Pumkhaew tried desperately to put on a brave face by suggesting that Kyaw Win was shooting from the hip. Suraphan conveniently ignored the fact that Kyaw Win is the designated spokesman of the ruling junta. In spite of decades of military service, Suraphan seems to forget that the Burmese, like any other authoritarian regime, are very united whenever they come to a negotiating table. There may be some disagreement between the top three leaders over certain issues, but Burma has never failed to put up a unified front when speaking to the world community. For them it's a matter of survival.
But for the Thai leadership, it's a matter of individual face and political points. And so when Kyaw Win, or the state-run press, accuse Thai leaders of being liars, one can be sure that it is the feeling of the Burmese rulers.There is some irony here. Ever since taking power, the Thaksin administration has been quick to slam the local media and stifle the country's reputation as a haven for press freedom.But the entire leadership has remained tight-lipped over a series of verbal attacks.
Indeed, for the sake of the nation, no sensible Thai would want the world to think that we had elected a bunch of morons. But let's call a spade a spade. The problem with the Thaksin administration is that they think theirbrand of diplomacy - be it Thaksin's personal touch or Defence Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh's defence diplomacy, or whatever - can change things overnight.
And so in formulating the country's Burma's policy, the administration overlooked inputs and concerns from the military in spite of knowing that border security constitutes a major part in the overall Thai-Burmese relationship. As a result, they bent over backwards for Rangoon and stuck their necks out for one of the world's most condemned nations.
And so when clashes between Thai troops and pro-Burmese ethnic armies along the border broke out, Thaksin and Chavalit were quick to appease the Burmese.
Instead of formulating a common position, the premier and his defence minister lash out at their men, accusing them of "over-reacting" and ordering them to pull out of the border area.
Like it or not, the Kingdom's armed forces constitute a very important part of the country's overall political setting. Thaksin must acknowledge this fact while, at the same time, not do anything whatsoever that may suggest that his personal interests are more important then the nation's interest. Perhaps he should start with reassessing the public about his family's business dealings with Burma. But then again, the very idea of a conflict of interest doesn't seem to exist in his vocabulary.