The visit of the Burmese prime minister to Thailand to discuss dozens of business deals between the neighboring countries has damaged Thailand’s image in the international community, say human rights groups. The Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma, the Peace for Burma Network and the Peaceway Foundation issued a statement on Monday saying the business and investment agreements between the two governments will benefit business interests rather than the Burmese and Thai people and help to support the dictatorial military regime
“The political discussion focused on ‘national interests’ such as hydro-electric dam projects on the Salween River and soft loans to the Burmese government, and they are not aimed at the interests of all Thai and Burmese citizens,” the statement said.
Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein’s visit comes one month after Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej visited Burma. Thein Sein is scheduled to return to Burma on Thursday.
Samak said on Wednesday that high level delegations discussed 13 issues focusing on agricultural deals, agriculture production technology and energy. A memorandum of understanding on contract-farming cooperation between the two countries was signed.
Others issues included the Thai development of the Burmese port of Tawai, the improvement of Burmese highways designed to enhance transportation between China, Laos, Burma and Thailand’s Kanchanaburi Province.
Thailand has major natural gas development deals with Burma in the Gulf of Andaman, in addition to hydro-electric dam projects. China is a joint developer on the hydro-electric projects.
Samak said the prime minister said Burma was taking steps to move toward democracy, including the constitutional referendum on May 10 and a general election scheduled to be held in 2010.
Samak told journalist that he did not see anything wrong with democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi being detained under house arrest.
“They don’t want [her] to get involved in politics,” he said, according to a report in The Nation, a Thai language newspaper, on Wednesday. “The international community might be upset about the idea, but I see nothing wrong as the proposed constitution prohibits those who were married to foreigners from politics. That’s the [nature of] quasi-democracy.”
Human rights groups urged the Thai government to delay its mega-dam projects in Burma, and to play a stronger role within Asean to urge the Burmese junta to move toward democracy and human rights.
Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said Thailand offered its condolences over the death of 54 Burmese illegal migrant workers earlier this month, who died of suffocation in a container truck while being smuggled into the country. The survivors will be deported to Burma.
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