Thailand-Myanmar border problems

The Straits Times, Asia News Network, Singapore

Thailand and Myanmar have a long history of squabbles over incursions at their long and ill-defined border. This is made worse by the problem of refugees and illegal migrant workers in the northern frontier areas being bound up with an anti-Yangon insurgency and the profitable drug trade.

Periodic flare-ups over the past decade were patched up or left to fester, but never resolved satisfactorily. This should not lead the two nations into thinking that the latest outburst of ill temper can be left to spend itself.

The Myanmar military government has signaled that it seeks international rehabilitation with its release from house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Any untoward military adventure or an inability to get along with its eastern neighbor is not going to help its case with investors and prospective lenders. Thailand, on the other hand, is not in hock to the rest of the world. But persistent tension at the 2,400-kilometer common border is an unnecessary distraction for Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who much prefers to direct the economic recovery.

It has not been established yet whether Tuesday's attack on a school bus on the Thai side of the border, which left three Thai students dead, was a staged provocation to inflame rivalry between the two nations' armies. The incident has certainly inflamed the Thai people. Reports said the attackers' dress appeared to identify them as rebels from a splinter Karen army aligned to the Yangon junta.

Thaksin has properly tried to be circumspect, saying he did not think either Myanmar army regulars or separatist forces were involved. He thought it was more likely the work of saboteurs from the border militias. This still leaves hanging the source of the tension building up in the past few weeks.

Yangon closed all key border crossings last month, its standard response after armed clashes with Thai forces, for which it usually blames the Thais for providing shelter and support to the Karen and Shan rebels opposed to the junta. Thailand denies this routinely.

But the large-scale dispatch of troops and armor to the northern border region last month for what was described as an exercise was of questionable value: It aroused suspicions in Yangon of meddling in its admittedly messy border affairs, and it led indirectly to a Shan attack on army camps.

Both countries should show sincerity in wanting to lower tension as an immediate step. This is a matter of urgency, as the language coming out of Yangon is increasingly strident. It has sent troops to the border region the Thai army had vacated, with the intention of waging war on the Shan rebels.

Added to that has been a warning by its deputy chief of military intelligence, Maj. Gen. Kyaw Win, that it would "retaliate" if Thai troops got themselves involved in the operation. This is a highly dangerous situation which could well widen the conflict.

Both countries now should let things cool down. Thaksin's language thus far has been conciliatory, and he has rightly suggested high-level talks. Myanmar should reciprocate, and agree to talks to set a framework to sort out the outstanding disagreements. For a start, Yangon's official spokesmen could stop referring to Thailand as "Yodaya", a historical reference to the Burmese sacking of the ancient capital Ayudhya in 1767.

This is no doubt seen in Bangkok as a calculated insult. Myanmar needs to observe normal diplomatic courtesies, even when it feels it is the injured party. And Myanmar ought not forget that it is, like Thailand, a member of ASEAN.