Thailand seeks to redefine ASEAN's role<\/p>\n
By Karl Malakunas<\/p>\n
BANGKOK: When one of Australia's most senior defense officers
\nflew through Asia last month in a bid to round up troops for the
\nmultinational peace keeping force in East Timor, history
\nsuggested his plea would be ignored.<\/p>\n
Given the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN)'s 22-
\nyear policy of not interfering in the internal affairs of its
\nmember states, sending a powerful deployment from any ASEAN
\ncountry on to Indonesian soil seemed highly improbable.<\/p>\n
But with Thailand looking for a chance to redefine its own and
\nthe regional body's role in the face of increasing attacks over
\nthe region's inability to deal with crises in its own back yard,
\nAustralia found a much needed Asian ally.<\/p>\n
Air Marshall Douglas Riding, vice chief of Australia's defense
\nforces, walked out of his meeting in Bangkok with Thailand's
\npolitical and military leaders on Sept. 16 able to report back to
\nCanberra that his mission had been a success.<\/p>\n
While other nations in the region had offered more symbolic
\nthan practical support, Thailand committed 1,500 troops, a naval
\nvessel and transport plane and took on the role of deputy
\ncommander of the International Force for East Timor (Interfet).<\/p>\n
In a decision that Australian diplomats have described as
\nunusually quick, Thailand's Prime Minister, Chuan Leekpai, and
\narmy chief, Gen. Sarayud Chulanont, took less than a day to agree
\nfor the Thai military commitment to exceed that of all other
\nnations except Australia.<\/p>\n
\"In the initial stage, we cast our net as wide as we could to
\nget forces from any (Asian) country we thought had the capacity
\nand military organizational skills,\" a senior Australian diplomat
\nsaid last week. \"The Thais were terrific, the Thai military
\nforces moved very, very quickly.\"<\/p>\n
A senior Thai government official said last week that
\nThailand's decision to commit so heavily to Interfet, which came
\nafter Indonesia invited international peace keepers into East
\nTimor, was a last-ditch bid to ensure ASEAN had a say in fixing
\nits own regional crises.<\/p>\n
Thailand's foreign minister, Surin Pitsuwan, had already used
\nhis country's turn at the helm of ASEAN this year to push for a
\nmajor policy change away from the body's original goal when
\nformed in 1967 to promote economic and political co-operation
\nwithout interfering in each others' internal affairs.<\/p>\n
Thailand, and to a lesser extent the Philippines, started
\npushing for \"constructive engagement\" rather than non-
\ninterference.<\/p>\n
With the United Nations taking control of security in East
\nTimor to stop the massacres following the independence vote,
\nThailand felt that ASEAN would lose all relevance and credibility
\nif its member countries did not prove they were prepared to
\nbecome militarily involved in theirs neighbors' security issues.<\/p>\n
\"We hope this will kind of be a groundbreaking move for the
\nother challenges in this region in the future,\" the senior Thai
\ngovernment official, who is involved in developing ASEAN policy,
\nsaid. \"ASEAN has realized that we have to be more engaged with
\none another. Even if it is the internal matters, we must be able
\nto talk about it and take some action.<\/p>\n
\"Many of the member countries recognize that many of the
\nproblems that we will face in the future will be these kinds of
\nproblems and we have to not be seen as irrelevant.\" However,
\nwhile the five original members of ASEAN, aside from Indonesia,
\nhave backed Interfet, the newer members -- Vietnam, Burma,
\nCambodia and Laos -- have refused to become involved, fearing
\npossible intervention in their countries for their own human
\nrights abuses and other internal conflicts.<\/p>\n
And, wary of the diplomatic sensitivities and a possible major
\nsplit in ASEAN, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore
\nand Brunei have made clear their decisions to commit to Interfet
\nwere made as individual countries, not under the auspices of the
\nregional body.<\/p>\n
Western diplomats are unsure if Thailand and the other
\nnations' more flexible approach to non-intervention will hold if
\nanother regional crisis flared in, for example, Burma, which has
\na long history of internal conflicts and bloody suppression by
\nits ruling military junta.<\/p>\n
\"The rules are starting to change and it's very difficult to
\nsee what the end result will be,\" a Western diplomat said.<\/p>\n
With UN secretary general Kofi Annan this month calling for
\nthe international community to respond more quickly to
\nemergencies previously considered the sole domain of the
\nindividual country, Thailand and ASEAN may continue to be forced
\ninto similar quandaries.<\/p>\n
A range of other theories exist as to why Thailand has taken
\nsuch a lead role in Interfet. Some analysts believe Thailand is
\npositioning itself to compete with Australia for \"middle-power\"
\ninfluence in the region. This view gained credence when a senior
\nThai military officer recently criticized Australian Interfet
\ntroops for being too aggressive in East Timor, despite the
\nmultinational force not having fired one shot.<\/p>\n
However, rather than a power play between the two countries, a
\nWestern defense expert based in Bangkok said Australia and
\nThailand were working closely together for shared objectives
\nbased partly on their strong military relationship.<\/p>\n
A decades-old defense co-operation program has seen more than
\n100 Thai military personnel go to Australia each year for
\neducation and training which, combined with a range of other
\njoint training operations, have helped keep relations close.<\/p>\n
\"The Thais do know Australia and Australia's military system
\n-- there's a certain amount of that which is influencing this
\ncontingent of deployment of Thais,\" the expert said.<\/p>\n
Another possible factor was that Australia and other Western
\ncountries had used the US$17 billion International Monetary Fund
\nrescue package following the 1997 economic crash in Thailand as
\nleverage in pressuring the Thais to commit troops.<\/p>\n
\"The money would have probably had a slight influence,\" the
\nexpert, who has monitored Thailand's military relations with
\nAustralia and other countries for more than a decade, said.<\/p>\n
But the Thai government official denied that there had been
\nany economic pressure from the West.<\/p>\n
\"I don't think we are doing this in response to what the
\nWestern countries want,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"We are a democracy. We are concerned about this situation and
\nif it corresponds with what Western countries want, then so much
\nthe better, but that is not our aim.\"<\/p>\n
-- Observer News Service<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/thailand-seeks-to-redefine-aseans-role-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }