An unlikely host for key talks

Next week, the top narcotics officials from six nations will meet in Burma (Myanmar) for their bi-annual meeting. Security is the most important issue for any nation, and so the top matter at both these meetings should be the growing and increasingly dangerous traffic in illicit drugs.

The chances for serious discussion do not look bright. There are strong forces still at work at high levels in ASEAN to push aside important questions in the hope that they will solve themselves. It was neither surprising nor accidental that Burma attempted to exploit this outdated attitude last week.

Among the founding ASEAN members, Malaysia leads the direct and indirect attempts to defend Burma by silence. Rangoon can certainly count on Singapore to task and tush any serious attempt to discuss the drug trade. After all, said Singapore's foreign minister on Sunday, the golf-based outing is just a chance for informal contacts, not actual business.

This is not why Thai taxpayers send Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai abroad. They expect their minister to raise important issues, address them honestly, and make serious attempts to solve them. It is especially strange for Singapore to claim that ministers need an entire three days to get to know each other.

Singapore has supposedly staked out a policy of making ASEAN more transparent and efficient. If the ministers make no progress on important issues, as seems likely, there can be little hope for the six-nation, drug conference next week.

-- The Bangkok Post