Supalak Ganjanakhundee’s blog over at The Nation has a post that takes on the question of comparisons between the politics of Burma and Thailand. The bulk of the argument in the post is taken from a recent statement by Brigadier Kyaw Hsan, Burma’s Minister for Information.
If you are at all interested in how the Burmese generals see their constitutional responsibilities (or politics in Thailand)…check it out.
3 responses so far ↓
1 fall // Mar 12, 2008 at 2:43 pm
OMG, never in my entire life I thought I would say this.
But that brig-gen got a point.
As I recalled, the Thai constitution was partly referring to Burmese junta’s referendum as predecessor case. Now, Burmese junta are refering to Thai as their predecessor case. Circular logic at work here?
2 jonfernquest // Mar 12, 2008 at 9:40 pm
At the beginning of the constitutional convention in Burma over a decade ago there were many references, comparisons, and emulation of Indonesia under Suharto, but that didn’t last for long since Suharto didn’t survive long after the 1997 crisis.
The big differences between Thailand and Burma are: 1. openness to the outside world, and 2. the speed at which change takes place.
Last week the current government in Thailand was already talking about changing the new constitution after having been elected only a few months ago.
3 Srithanonchai // Mar 12, 2008 at 11:19 pm
An “advance unedited version” of Paulo Sergio Pinhero’s report on Burma to the Hman Rights Council can be found here
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/7session/reports.htm
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