Can new style of Thai diplomacy work?

Can new style of Thai diplomacy work?

By Suthichai Yoon

BANGKOK: There is nothing wrong with resorting to "megaphone
diplomacy" if it gets two neighbors to move on to the next stage
of "personal diplomacy". And there is nothing wrong with
"personal diplomacy" if it doesn't end up in the form of logging
concessions, hotel construction contracts or fishing permits
granted to individuals from our side of the border.

Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai's "forward engagement"
policy can certainly replace his predecessor Surin Pitsuwan's
"flexible engagement" if it allows both Thailand and the military
government of Myanmar to tell each other to "put your own house
in order" to avoid creating unnecessary trouble on the border for
your neighbor.

The military junta of Myanmar has obviously taken note of the
new style of Thai diplomacy through Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra's "cross-border diplomacy" expounded almost off-the-
cuff two weeks ago in the border town of Chiang Rai.

His was a typically populist approach which went down well
with many a Thai seeking an end to the drug flow from the
Myanmarese side of the border. Thaksin was apparently bent on
showing that he was changing the game of Thai diplomacy by
talking straight and getting tough.

The new premier, after launching the high-profile and widely-
publicized "workshop" on drugs, caused a stir by deliberately
delivering a stern message to the other side of the border.

He departed from the old "good neighbors" tradition of not
posing embarrassing questions in public by saying that he would
demand explanations from Myanmar's generals over the deadly flow
of drugs from jungle refineries controlled by Wa minority groups.
Thaksin, the no-nonsense CEO, was getting down to business. The
previous undeclared "don't-ask-because-you-won't-get-an-answer"
policy was unceremoniously thrown out the window.

In another act in his unusual push for policy transparency,
the prime minister even de-classified Army intelligence on the
dramatic expansion of the once sleepy town of Mong Yawn on the
other side of the border.

It was the first time that Thai authorities, in the presence
of the prime minister, had publicly hurled charges of possible
connivance between the Wa warlords and the authorities in
Yangoon. Reporters were even told of pictures taken of several
Myanmarese generals inspecting Mong Yawn's vast expansion -- a
gesture of condoning what Thai officials consider to be
inexcusable.

The junta's angry reaction wasn't unexpected, although its
call for Thailand to put its own house in order instead of trying
to make Yangoon a "scapegoat" for its drug problems was more
rhetorical than substantive. Thaksin's immediate response
obviously didn't help pacify the junta. "Of course, we have been
trying to put our house in order, but dust keeps blowing in from
the North." That's as diplomatic as the new Thai CEO can get in
suggesting that you can't live in peace if things aren't settled
next door.

Blunt talk isn't necessarily bad or counterproductive if the
objective is clear. Tough political talk should be aimed at
bringing the neighbor to the negotiation table where real
substantial bilateral issues, and not "personal grievances" or
"vested interests", are ironed out.

Personal diplomacy, of course, should be employed if
familiarity among senior officials on both sides paves the way
for candor and dispenses with deep-rooted mutual suspicion.

The convening of the Regional Border Committee won't resolve
what basically constitute national-level conflicts. It's not just
border disagreement over demarcation. Nor is it purely a case of
Thailand being flooded with illegal Myanmarese migrants -- which
has in itself become a problem of growing magnitude in political,
economic and social terms here.

The paramount sticking point is the drugs issue, which goes
beyond the Thai-Myanmarese context. It's a worldwide problem and
Premier Thaksin, with no skeletons in the closet on this
particular issue, should engage the world community in this
highly critical problem.

Myanmar has to convince not only Thailand but the
international community that it's serious about tackling the
drugs issue. In other words, the new Thai government has to
perform where the previous administration failed.

To be effective in the long term, any Thai strategy towards
our western neighbor has to be based on the concept that it's
Myanmar against the world -- and not just one of those normal
irritants two neighboring countries usually encounter.

Thai authorities, of course, aren't innocent of any
shenanigans along the border. But if the new premier is
determined to get a fresh start on this front, he will have to
embark on a major overhaul of the security and foreign policy
establishment to ensure consistency and clear direction to
achieve national goals.

"Personal diplomacy" in this particular case got a bad name in
the past because it was seen to be a case of
"you-scratch-my-back-and-I-scratch-yours" for certain Thai senior
officials and their Myanmarese counterparts.

Taking the cue from Yangoon and, in the name of good
neighborliness, Thailand should take up the gauntlet and adopt a
new, constructive policy towards Myanmar: I clean up my house and
you clean yours.

-- The Nation/Asia News Network