Published: 19/05/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: NewsAlthough the remarks by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva that he is concerned about the continuing detention of Aung San Suu Kyi is positive, what Thailand is doing about Burma is just rhetoric and far too little.
As a chair of Asean, it is a shame that Thailand is still spouting the same rhetorical phrases instead of taking concrete action. It should demand that Burma implement the resolutions passed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2007 and bring perpetrators of the September 2007 crackdown to justice. Thailand should also support the call of pro-democracy forces that the SPDC-drafted constitution be scrapped since the process was not a participatory one.
Compared with other Southeast Asian nations, Thailand is not doing enough. We should send a clear message to Burma by doing what Indonesia did in August 2008, when it invited the Burmese members of parliament who were elected in the 1990 general election, to a session of its parliament. The Indonesian parliament also called for the postponement of exchanging ambassadors with Burma for Rangoon's lack of progress in human rights.
At their bilateral meeting last month, President Gloria Arroyo of the Philippines asked Thein Sein, the self-appointed prime minister of the junta, to release Aung San Suu Kyi.
As chair of Asean, Thailand could also use the Asean Charter against Burma, since the regime is directly breaching the principles of democracy, rule of law and human rights as stated in the Asean Charter.
If brave enough, Thailand could put the issue of continued oppression in Burma for discussion at the Asean summit this October.
However, the key question to all these moves is whether PM Abhisit would be brave enough to actually take such concrete and progressive actions, or would he prefer to continue with same old phrases (that he is ''concerned about the situation''), something that Thai PMs before him have done over and over again.
POKPONG LAWANSIRI
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