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