Thailand to emerge as Myanmar donor

Thailand to emerge as Myanmar donor

Nopporn Wong-Anan, Reuters, Bangkok

Thailand will emerge as a donor at a four-nation regional summit
in Myanmar next week despite the West isolating the country and
demanding the release of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi, officials said on Tuesday.

They said Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra would pledge
to help Myanmar, Cambodia and Loas to develop their economies
through grants and technical assistance at the summit in the
tourist town of Pagan next Tuesday and Wednesday.

"We see the need to narrow the widening gap of development
among us by helping our neighbors develop their economies,"
Foreign Ministry spokesman Sihasak Phuangketkeow told Reuters.

"Therefore, there will be a commitment in the declaration for
a better-off country to offer assistance to others."

Thaksin, due to arrive in Yangon on Monday, will meet Myanmar
military leader Than Shwe and Prime Minister Khin Nyunt and sign
an Economic Cooperation Strategy pact in Pagan.

The pact, agreed among four commerce ministers last month in
Bangkok, would touch on plans to reduce import duties on raw
materials to zero, the officials said.

They said Thailand would be the obvious major buyer and
benefit from cheap labor in its three poor neighbors, while the
increased demand would create more jobs there.

Thailand's promises followed the latest U.S. trade embargo on
Myanmar goods, the European Union's suspension of trade
privileges over Yangon's alleged use of forced labor and Japan's
suspension of fresh aid after Suu Kyi was detained on May 30.

Suu Kyi, 58, has spent several lengthy spells in detention
since returning to Yangon in 1988, shortly before a pro-democracy
uprising swept the country.

The military, in power since 1962, ignored a 1990 election
victory by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party.

Last month, Washington urged Thailand and its neighbors, which
are following a policy of "constructive engagement" with Myanmar,
to use every possible means to promote democratic change in
Myanmar and the unconditional release of Suu Kyi.

Thaksin, without mentioning Suu Kyi, told reporters on Monday
he would raise the issue of national reconciliation with
Mynamar's generals and offer to mediate between the junta and
ethnic armies fighting it.

"Thailand would like to see this region become more stable
politically and economically, especially for democracy and
national reconciliation to be established here," Thaksin said.
"We have our own approach to pursue."

But some Thai analysts say Bangkok's priority in Myanmar, also
called Burma, is more economic than political.

"They just want to work with any government that is in power
to maximize Thailand's strategy to be the epicenter of mainland
Southeast Asia," said political scientist Thitinan Pongsudhirak
of Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.

"Thailand won't be boycotting, but granting loans and other
aid schemes to Burma (Myanmar) -- which might not be good news
for pro-democracy activists and ethnic groups."

Another analyst said Bangkok would welcome any government that
could bring stability and development to Myanmar, the source of
drugs and illegal workers pouring into Thailand.

"I am not sure if Thailand really wants to see a democratic
Myanmar, but it doesn't want to see illegal immigrant workers or
refugees fleeing to Thailand," said Pornpimon Trichot of the
Bangkok-based Asian Studies Institute.