POLITICS: Burma’s Attacks against Monarchy Test Thai Tolerance

By Marwaan Macan-Markar Reprint | | Print |

Marwaan Macan-Markar

Jun 30 2002 (IPS) - Thailand is known the world over as a tolerant nation, but it draws the line when barbs are thrown at the country’s monarchy, as Burma’s government-run press has been doing of late.

Since Wednesday, the Thai military has been aiming its verbal fire at the Burmese for violating this prohibited zone — insulting the monarchy, a serious no-no in Thai officialdom.

The military used the 220 radio stations and two televisions stations it owns to counter the critical articles that have appeared in the ‘New Light of Myanmar’, a paper published in Burma echoing the views of Rangoon’s military rulers.

The military programmes let loose choice expressions during the course of commentaries about the questionable reputation and character of Burma, particularly the strongmen who have ruled it for the past 40 years.

One such radio broadcast on Friday described the Burmese government, which had renamed the country Myanmar years ago, as being “fickle minded” and “two-faced”.

An earlier commentary took on a political tone, criticising Rangoon’s junta for suppressing Burma’s many non-Burman ethnic communities after the country’s independence in 1948.

By Saturday, Thailand was looking for clues from across the border — signs that Rangoon had heeded Thailand’s sniping in this war of words and was willing to tone down its anti-Thai monarchy jibes, for one.

“If they do not stop or take responsibility, the defence ministry will order the army to take offensive measures as planned,” Major General Palangkoon Klaharn, deputy defence ministry spokesman, was quoted by the English-language daily newspaper ‘Bangkok Post’ on Saturday.

In the past days, Thai officials have focused their sights on is a Burmese woman who has dominated the first act of this political theatre between these two South-east Asian neighbours – Ma Tin Win.

She has continued to pen the articles in the ‘New Light of Myanmar’ attacking a king the Thais respect, King Narensuan the Great, who ruled the country in the late 1500s from the then Thai capital, Ayutthaya.

King Narensuan, Thai history asserts, defeated the Burmese armies in a battle over Ayutthaya, thus liberating the historic city from Burmese occupation.

Ma Tin Win’s disparaging remarks, which have appeared on and off through June, reveal just how sensitive attacks on the monarchy are for the Thais, including those that involve events that happened four centuries ago.

“The Burmese have gone beyond the limit,” says Veera Prateepchaikul, editor of the ‘Bangkok Post’. “It is a very sensitive issue, the monarchy. The former kings are revered by the Thais.”

Thailand’s army chief, General Surayud Chulanont, echoes this view. “We must hit back at them (Burma) although it is ancient history. King Narensuan the Great is the centre of our faith and courage,” he was quoted as having told the media after Thailand launched it verbal barrage.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Defence Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh have also got into the act, supporting the military’s verbal counter-attack as a legitimate response to the writings of Ma Tin Win.

By Saturday, the press here were reporting that Ma Tin Win, who has a doctorate in historical pedagogy from a Russian university, had been “blacklisted as persona non grata and barred from the country” by Chavalit.

Such a reflection of zero tolerance is not out of step with law here. Thai officialdom upholds the law of lese majeste to protect the ruling monarch from any critical comments.

Early this year, in fact, two international news magazines ran into trouble for publishing accounts interpreted as showing disrespect to the reigning monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The journalists of one magazine tendered a letter of apology saying that it held the “monarchy in the highest esteem” after the government protested a short article that appeared in their publication.

The editions of both publications where the perceived disrespectful articles appeared were not available on the stands or released to subscribers.

Thailand’s current quarrel with Burma evolved out of a dispute in late May, when Burma accused the Thais of firing military rounds into its territory during a military exercise along the border the two countries share.

Soon after, Rangoon ordered local media to remove all references to “Thais” and “Thailand” in its stories and replace it with “Yodaya,” a term derived from Ayutthaya and one the Burmese official have often used when making derogatory references to Thailand.

Hence, articles have appeared in the ‘New Light of Myanmar’ headlined ‘Yodaya wants to grab other’s territory free’ and ‘In Yodaya, sycophants prosper”.

Burma, of course, has been down this road many times before. “It is a way of diverting attention or instigating anti-Thai sentiments to serve its own purpose,” says Teddy Buri, who heads a group of Burmese parliamentarians living in exile.

“Whatever is written has military sanction, particularly political articles, since there is no press freedom in Burma,” he adds. “These sentiments do not reflect the view of Burmese people.”

The Burmese have been known to use history as a favourite device to hector the Thais, given the long years of distrust, enmity and conflict between the two, explains Matt Copeland, a South-east Asia expert at Mahidol University here.

But this time around, Burma stepped on a sensitive issue with the disparaging remarks against the monarchy, Copeland says. “The military had to respond. The military is very sensitive, sees itself as the defender of the monarchy and the nation.”

The next act in this political theatre will be shaped by the Burmese response. Thai officials are hoping it would reflect a tone of reconciliation, and Defence Minister Chavalit is on the lookout for a “positive” sign from his counterparts.