Regime cannot be trusted just yet

I’m astonished that Khun Songdej believes a better future for Myanmar is now certain. Is he aware that the regime just rotated 59 senior military officers into parliament, one shining example of which was Colonel Aung Kyaw, the field commander who ordered the crackdown on Buddhist monks during the 2007 “Saffron Revolution”? This is a hardline backstop, if ever there was one. Why would anyone think that they will permit amendment to the constitution, which guarantees their immunity and privilege? Has he heard that the army has been daily attacking the Kachin pro-democracy resistance, in an area where 50,000 refugees are seeking shelter, with artillery and helicopter gunships, and that in one such attack two children were killed?

It would be much better if the world would focus on the regime’s treatment of Burma’s ethnic minorities, instead of engaging in an idolatrous obsession with Aung San Suu Kyi. Of course, Suu Kyi herself has never protested army atrocities, so why should anyone else care? She also opposes popular movements, what Songdej terms widespread demand. Finally, she is not Burma, and it is obscene even to suggest such a thing. Thailand’s neighbour has over 50 million people, and every single one is as important – has the same value – as her. 

Suu Kyi has blind faith in President Thein Sein, which I suppose is her right, although it is also remarkable since the army has refused to follow his orders. But given her prominence – she meets international diplomats almost every day (none talk to the Kachin), many people are still willing to trust her. Whether this will be the case in one year’s time, we will have to wait and see.

Roland Watson

Bangkok