Thaksin behind PM's Burma trip

Ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra confirmed yesterday he travelled to Burma last week to help smooth the way for his sister, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, to visit and said the move would benefit Thailand.

The meeting today between Ms Yingluck and Burma's pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi is symbolic of democracy and the cordial relations Thailand and Burma have enjoyed, he said.



Thaksin told the Bangkok Post in an exclusive interview by phone from Dubai he travelled to Burma last Thursday and visited Burmese President Thein Sein and former president Than Shwe.

Thaksin admitted he helped smooth the way for Ms Yingluck to visit and meet Mrs Suu Kyi.

Thaksin said the meeting of the two political leaders has significant implications and shows two things.

First, allowing Ms Yingluck to meet Mrs Suu Kyi means Burma attaches a great deal of importance to Thailand. It is the first time a Thai leader has met the democracy icon. Burma has never allowed the leaders of other countries to hold such a meeting before, Thaksin said.

Second, the world community will also know Thailand has advocated and promoted democracy vigorously and that Burma considers Thailand as its most important neighbour.

"Relations between Thailand and Burma have never faded since my time. I never used a stick to deal with Burma like the superpowers did. I always used a carrot to deal with it," Thaksin said.

He also said when he was prime minister, he once offered Burma an opportunity to use Bangkok as a venue to draw up its constitution and gave Burma a chance to explain itself to western countries with the goal of them lifting sanctions on the country.

Ms Yingluck yesterday left Bangkok for Burma's capital Naypyidaw to attend the 4th General Mekong Sub-Region (GMS) Summit to discuss development of land transport in the region before visiting Rangoon, where she will meet Mrs Suu Kyi.

The GMS comprises Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, Laos,Vietnam and China.

At the meeting, three memorandums of understanding (MoUs) will be signed. They comprise the Joint Cooperation in Further Accelerating the Construction of the Information Superhighway and its Applications in GMS, the Joint Action to Reduce HIV Vulnerability Related to Population Movement, and the Establishment of the GMS Freight Transporters Association.

Previously, a government source said the government would use the occasion of Ms Yingluck's two-day Burma visit to hold separate meetings with Burmese officials and investors to discuss transport and energy development projects.

Thailand plans to buy natural gas and invest in construction of a transport system linking the Dawei industrial complex in southern Burma with the west of Thailand.

But critics fear the Yingluck government's plan to open transport and energy talks with Burma might benefit Thaksin's cronies.

When Thaksin was prime minister between 2001 and 2004, the government took a special interest in investing in land transport, energy and telecommunications development in Burma.

The former premier ordered the Foreign Ministry to help Burma secure a 4 billion baht loan from the Export-Import Bank of Thailand to buy equipment from his telecoms empire.

Thaksin said yesterday that after the GMS meeting Thailand would gain benefits from Burma, including more gas field development deals.

Energy Minister Pichai Naripthaphan, who is accompanying Ms Yingluck to Burma, said PTT Plc executives have also joined the trip to hold talks on oil and gas exploration.

The Burmese government is offering licences for exploration and production firms to drill onshore and offshore.

PTT Exploration and Production Plc is seeking licences for an onshore petroleum block as well as the MD7 and MD8 offshore gas blocks in the Gulf of Martaban, Mr Pichai said.

If Burma awards the concessions to the company, this would help boost Thailand's energy security, he said.

Government spokesman Thitima Chaisaeng said Ms Yingluck would take the opportunity to get to know Mrs Suu Kyi. It was a good chance for the two female leaders to exchange views on Mrs Suu Kyi's role in the pursuit of democracy.

The prime minister will also ask Mrs Suu Kyi to visit Thailand if and when she is allowed to leave Burma in the future, Ms Thitima said.

Meanwhile, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS) at Chulalongkorn University and an expert on international relations, said Ms Yingluck's visit was well-timed given the flurry of recent positive developments in Burma. Her visit comes at a time when reform and dialogue are gaining momentum in Burma.

"If Burma continues with a transition from military rule to democratic reform, Thailand will not want to miss the train. The democracy train in Burma bodes well for Ms Yingluck's democracy credentials," Mr Thitinan said.

Most importantly, he said, Burma is now Thailand's energy lifeline and a longstanding source of labour for the Thai economy.

Thai investments in Dawei also underscored Burma's crucial role in boosting Thailand's future economic growth, he said.

bangkokpost.com