A Decade of Thai-Burma Relations
By Kanbawza Win, March 5, 2001
Mizzima News Group (www.mizzima.com)
As immediate neighbors; Thailand and Burma face each other in a serious potential confrontation across 2,500 miles of common border, the international community is alarmed that these may come to blows.
But analysts reckon that Rangoon is either just in the process of testing the resolve of the new Thai Thaksin administration or is playing out an internal power struggle between hawks and doves, which the Junta has vehemently denied.
These two countries of the Southeast Asian peninsular have a long history of bilateral relations which often are not happy and Burma is always portrayed as an aggressor, even though there have been instances when Thailand exploited Burma. However, let us leave history behind and look at the not-so-distant past.
Even during the Burmese Socialist Programme Party days bilateral relations were somewhat lukewarm, if not normal, but they suddenly boom into business and escalated when Thailand became the first country to give tacit recognition to the Burmese military Junta who came to power soaked with the blood of students and people. General Chavelit Yongchaiyud, then Thailand’s Army Chief of Staff with his notorious “A Ko Gyi”policy (meaning ‘big brother’ in Burmese) embarked on “personal diplomacy” and successfully exploited Burma’s natural and human resources in return for recognition. Since then, bilateral relations have been more or less based on ‘personal diplomacy’.
On the Burmese side the Junta continues its tyrannical rule and seems to have a standard foreign policy of always exploiting the Thai situation whenever a new Thai administration crops up. From the Chatichai Choonhavan administration of 1988, to the current Thaksin Shinwatra administration, the kingdom of Thailand has already gone through seven administrations, whereas the Burmese Generals still continue their iron grip on the country.
Obviously, the desk officers of the Burmese Foreign ministry on Prome Road and the Strategic Studies at Signal Pagoda Road have their own expertise on Thai-Burma relations not to mention the experts at the branch of Foreign Economic Relations. Whenever there was a military coup in Thailand, Burma was always the first country to congratulate the new Junta although it does not imitate General Chavalit and say “Nga Nyi Nge” meaning ‘my younger brother’.
Thailand on the other hand does not have a standard central authority in dealing with its foreign affairs especially those with Burma. Sometimes it is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while sometimes it is the National Security Council and the Defense Ministry but often than not it is the army that overrules others, especially during a military administration. The situation very much depends on the person who is running the country. For example during General Chavelit Yongchaiyudh’s administration, or when he was a chief of staff or the defense minister, he usually called the shots on Burmese affairs as even now he is itching to go to Rangoon. Evidently Thai policy towards Burma has been implemented through their ‘personal diplomacy’.
The Burmese Generals on the other hand, clearly knew the strong and the weak points of the Thai policy and as usual used their “Divide and Rule Policy,” which they have inherited from the British and had successfully used against the ethnic groups they now applied to Thailand. It divided the Thai generals from the civilian officials. Thus whenever the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs attempted to solve a bilateral problem, the Burmese seldom relented or the problem solved, but when the Thai Generals came over to Burma and called them “Ha! A Ko Gyi” (meaning ‘Oh my elder brother’) the problem was usually settled and the Thai managed to get what they wanted and hence proved to the people of Thailand that their personal diplomacy had paid off. In short, the connivance of the Thai and Burmese Generals in the past has served them well, at least in checking the pro-democracy movement in both the countries.
However, with the second Chuan Leekpai administration that came to power in 1997 Chuan himself took over the Defense portfolio, putting the Burmese Junta in a fix. The Burmese Generals realized that ‘personal diplomacy’ no longer works. Thai-Burma bilateral relations cum the foreign affairs were handled by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs headed by its minister Surin Pitsuwan that synchronize with the international affairs of Thailand as well as with the internal policy.
The acid test came when the Vigorous Burmese Students raided the Burmese embassy in Bangkok. It was galling to the Burmese Junta when much publicity was achieved throughout the world revealing that not only the democratically-elected Thai government but also the entire people construed the Burmese students not as terrorists but as pro-democracy freedom fighters. This attitude successfully solved the embassy episode with a happy ending. The Junta’s rage was beyond itself and it retaliated by stopping all the bilateral economic relations such as border trade and canceling fishing contracts with the Thai fishermen and so on. This dawned upon the Thai government that the Burmese military government was not sincere in its conflict resolution nor in dealing with Thailand. Obviously Thailand refused to vote for the Junta at the United Nations and other international fora. It also split ASEAN, which is nearly unanimous in standing behind the Junta.
However, the weak point in the internal policy of Thailand is that the elite especially the educated and the middle class did not give much time or energy to educating the mass of the people, especially those in the districts. Many of these simple folks have somewhat out-molded idea of a leader “Khun Thai Din” and still harbor the notion that a leader must be rich, strong and able to drink with many wives. I am not saying that this notion is prevalent, what I meant is that this outdated idea still makes its present felt in the pattern of voting. Naturally Thaksin Shinawatra, a Thai millionaire and business tycoon whose Thai Rak Party was formed less than a decade ago won the election. The Far Eastern Economic Review terms it “Big Money Takes Over” in Thailand. The hope that the younger generation would usher in a new breed of politicians who represent national rather than personal interests was rudely dashed. Many familiar old faces showed up that will haunt Thailand driving it back to its old corrupt ways.
This result plays into the hand of the Burmese Junta, who are now all smiles. Under the facade of “Asian Way” the new Thai administration’s foreign policy focuses more on neighbouring countries. Reflecting Thaksin’s hard- nosed business approach to government it stresses business over the strengthening of regional democracy and human rights.
Surakiart Sathirathai, a previous senior adviser to coup leader General Suchinda Krapayoon was later forced to resign as Finance Minister under the Banharn Silparcha administration because of its ill-fated policy resulting in the currency crisis now became the Foreign Minister, and said that, “Our foreign policy must correspond with the economic needs of Thailand.” All these indications play into the Burmese Junta’s hands and these Narco-Generals make a bold move on the trafficking of narcotics using their scape-goat United Wa State Army (UWSA). But the Shan came into play and sat astride on a strategic hill of the narcotic route. The Burmese army could not take it by frontier assault and attacked from behind, but in order to do so had to cross Thailand and that was where Thailand’s sovereignty and territory were violated, resulting in the border skirmishes.
Although the guns have stopped barking from both sides it is still very tense and can flare up at any moment with the Thai 3rd Army facing more than 10,000 Burmese troops backed by the UWSA.
The Junta have made it known that if Thailand adopted a Constructive Engagement Policy it could easily be settled; meaning that if General Chavilit Yongchaiyud would come to Burma and kow tow. This is his ‘personal diplomacy’ and Chavilit will now soon be going to Rangoon. Whether his ‘personal diplomacy’, which more or less based on a gentleman’s agreement, will serve Thailand in the long run is still to be seen. Even though the Junta’s version of gentleman agreement with the cease fire ethnic groups has not served well we are quite sure that General Chavilet Yongchaiyud’s better half will manage to get all the lucrative business and the economic concessions from the Junta as she has done it in 1988.
(The author is a visiting Professor at the Faculty of International Development Studies, University of Winnipeg Cum Research Fellow at the University of Manitoba at the Institute of Humanities, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada)