The government needs to do more than ask for understanding of the Burmese dictatorship, because the policy seems to put Thailand squarely on the side of that nasty, oppressive regime. Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said he had submitted a secret plan for peace and reconciliation to the ruling junta in Rangoon. It seems clear that the generals in charge of Burma are not thrilled with the Thai proposal. If Mr Surakiart wants to gain credibility as a middleman in this stand-off, he must let everyone know just what steps Thailand has suggested to help Burma.
The government's record on Burmese reconciliation has been erratic at best. On May 20, for example, Mr Surakiart told the Thai media he expected talks between democracy forces and the generals ``within weeks''. Ten days later, Burmese mobs beat and killed many members of the National League for Democracy. Eyewitnesses told the Thai Senate the attackers appeared to be government rent-a-thugs. Mrs Suu Kyi was imprisoned once again as if she were the gangster.
Thailand currently occupies a lonely position in its attempts to understand and even support the dictators. Mr Surakiart was less than honest last week when he claimed: ``The West is only shouting for democracy.'' Well, who isn't? The Association of Southeast Asian Nations issued the first demand against a member in its entire history last month, when it called on the dictatorship to free Mrs Suu Kyi. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Asean may have to consider expelling Burma, as a deadweight or worse on the regional group. When Burmese Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win went to New York to try to impress United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan with Rangoon's action, Mr Annan curtly said he expected Rangoon to release the democracy leader.
It was Khin Maung Win who received Mr Surakiart's secret ``road map''. This document spells out steps Rangoon and outsiders could take to ease, or solve, the crisis. Mr Surakiart has declined to state either the steps or the destination of his map. This is not encouraging.
Mr Surakiart should know better than any other foreign minister that Rangoon's promises are quick and frequent, while its actions in keeping them are slow to non-existent. Burma has promised to renegotiate fishing contracts it cancelled and bankrupted hundreds of Thais. Burma has promised to crack down on the drugs produced by the close, personal friends of the ruling generals and corrupting part of a Thai generation. And, of course, Burma has promised to release and negotiate with Mrs Suu Kyi three times, each time re-arresting her without legal charges.
The open support of drug dealers wanted in Thailand and abroad _ heroin warlord Khun Sa and methamphetamine kingpin Wei Hsueh-kang for starters _ seems to prove Rangoon cannot keep a promise.
Mr Surakiart's request for Thai citizens and foreign diplomats to trust him on the details of his road map might be credible in another situation. In this case, however, it is not Mr Surakiart's credibility at stake. One cannot doubt his sincerity in promoting a peaceful, non-confrontational process to solve the Burma crisis. But there is ample reason to doubt the dictators. They may have lied about the murderous May 30 riots, they certainly have evaded the truth about Mrs Suu Kyi's detention, and their claim that the small National League for Democracy threatens major violence against the junta is risible.
The Burmese record on smuggling drugs to Thailand for sale to young people is clear. If Rangoon refuses even to cooperate in combating the methamphetamine factories and merchants, how can it be trusted to negotiate an end to its own absolute power? Mr Surakiart should tell everyone exactly what he has in mind.