Is this for real

Is this for real? asked Thai commentator 

Thai-Burma Relations

Surachart Bumroongsuk, a well-known Thai columnist for the "Matichon" weekly, has urged Bangkok to really set down to the business of addressing the existing problems instead of exchanging visits in the latest issue, #1099, 10 September. 

According to Surachart, there are five main issues: the boundary between the two countries, drugs, trade and investments, people-to-people relations and confidence-security building. 

The boundary, that is 2,401 km long but only 50 km regarded fixed by both, is a "world breaking" issue, he said, "because no state is ready to lose any disputed territory to the other contending states." Exchange of territory or designation of the territory in dispute as a joint development zone might be options to consider. After all, he said, both need a "win-win solution" not a "winner-take-all" settlement. 

As for the drug problem, it is unfair for either country, one 'a supplier' and the other 'a demander', to resort to "finger pointing", he said. "The criminal activities are getting more and more 'nation-less' and 'borderless', so a multi-lateral agreement may be the best option for us," he suggested. 

On the issue of trade and investments, he reminded his readers that Thailand's European and America markets were shrinking owing to the economic depression these countries were undergoing, the fact that necessitated a lookout for markets for Thai exports in the neighboring countries. "This calls for a new economic order for investors on the Thai side", he said, plus joint measures to guarantee the interests of both countries, such as the establishment of a joint chamber of commerce between Thailand and Burma. 

On the issue of people-to-people relations, Surachart was strongly against setting up joint associations made up of top government servants who are not active members. 

"A Thai-Burma academic association could be set up for the purpose of exchanging academic knowledge as well as acting and speaking for one's country in such matters." He pointed out however that such affiliations still need support from the state sector. 

For the last not least issue, he said, confidence security building measures (CSBM) might be a new thing for Thailand but it came into existence soon after the end of the Cold War in Europe where states that had security problems were able to create mechanisms that allowed them to live in peaceful co-existence. He mentioned joint border patrols as proposed by the Thailand to Burma and the purchase of military hardware as topics that called for joint consultation and control. 

In conclusion, he asked rhetorically, "Are we going to let these problems grow at random and only deal with them when they get out of hand again?"