Thai silence deafening as world condemns Myanmar

By The Nation

 

 

In shutting down Bangkok panel on Rohingya crisis, junta has further damaged nation’s international standing

 

Police on Monday evening stormed into the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) and ordered a panel discussion on the Rohingya crisis to be shut down.  

 

The intervention was callous and short-sighted, inflicting more damage to Thailand’s erstwhile but rapidly diminishing reputation as beacon of free expression in Southeast Asia. The military top brass  who ordered the raid and the police who carried it out may have thought their actions were helping Thailand. Nothing could be further from the truth. 

 

The panelists had gathered to discuss whether senior generals in Myanmar should face international justice for what a recent UN fact-finding report called genocide committed by their security forces against the Rohingya and other minorities.

 

The scheduled speakers included Tun Khin, a prominent UK-based Rohingya activist; Kobsak Chutikul, a former Thai diplomat who had resigned from a committee advising the Myanmar government on how to resolve the Rohingya crisis; and Kingsley Abbott, a representative of the International Commission of Jurists.

 

More than 700,000 Rohingya were forced to flee their homes and cross the border to Bangladesh after Myanmar security forces, with the help of civilian vigilantes, launched a campaign of rape, murder and arson against them in Rakkhine state. The government justified these “clearance operations” as a crackdown, after a rag-tag group of militants known as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army launched a deadly attack in August 2017.

 

These are far from the first credible allegations of war crimes to be levelled against the Myanmar military. A decade ago the findings in “License to Rape”, a report by the Shan Women Action Network, were backed by a number of foreign governments and international organisations.

 

Today, almost the entire international community is calling for Myanmar’s generals to face justice for the Rohingya calamity. The silence among policymakers in neighbouring Thailand is evermore deafening.

 

Police argued that the FCCT panel discussion “Will Myanmar’s Generals Ever Face Justice for International Crimes?” had to be cancelled since Thailand’s national security and neighbourly relations  were at stake.

 

In doing so they chose to ignore the genocide that has befallen over 1 million Rohingya, either murdered or forced into refugee camps. Their decision to side with brutal military leaders also places Thailand’s international standing at risk.

 

 “We are not asking, we are ordering you to cancel the event,” Police Colonel Thawatkiat Jindakuansanong told the panel’s organisers. This was the sixth time police have shut down an FCCT event since the latest crop of junta generals seized power four years ago.

 

“This is an issue of global concern and Thailand, as Myanmar’s neighbour and a leading voice in Asean, should be taking a leadership role in addressing the situation,” Abbott, a senior legal adviser with the ICJ, noted of the Rohingya crisis.

 

Last month Thai authorities called off an event at a mosque in Pathum Thani commemorating the one-year anniversary of the massacre of the Rohingya. 

 

Like Monday night’s intervention, authorities thought they were saving Thailand from a possible falling-out with Myanmar government. Seemingly forgotten by them is the long humiliation over border security that these Myanmar generals have put Thailand through.

 

The influx of narcotics from pro-Myanmar drug armies, plus the exodus of Karen and Mon refugees into Thailand as they fled Myanmar troops’ atrocities, are notable examples.

 

While it is true that bilateral ties have improved recently between the two countries, Thailand continues to be at the receiving end of Myanmar’s actions against its minorities.

 

In seeking to not rock the boat with a genocidal military next door, Thailand’s junta government has damaged the country’s international standing and done nothing to resolve a regional catastrophe on its doorstep.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/opinion/30354343

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-09-13

While the Editorial is true, what did they expect?

 

If the military in Burma is to be held accountable for their actions, wouldn't that logically also apply to Thailand's military? There are different crimes, but once the principle of accountability is accepted, it is a matter of time before there are voices demanding accountability for the Thai military as well.

 

And, the Thai military can't/won't accept true accountability for their actions. What is the first action that the Thai military takes after one of their coups? Can anyone say "Legal Immunity"?

 

Hypocrisy on a galactic scale...

 

 

Thailands silence can almost be taken as a tacit approval of the slaughter of innocent people the Government doesn't like. Since the coup, this country has been sliding deeper and deeper into a dark abyss, with its leaders who seized power to supposedly help the country progress, instead  dragging it further every day into an oppressive and dangerous place to open ones mouth. One has to fear that when the Thai people begin to rise up against their own continuing oppression that similar tactics could be used here. Time maybe for the world to shun and shame Thailand also, until it returns to democracy and shows the values the international community and common decency require. A very sad time for this countrys history. and an appalling decision to silence discussion of blatant genocide.

A firm understanding of Thai contemporary history as such applies to their relationship with Myanmar might shed a welcomed light. 

 

They've held these geopolitical positions for quite some time.

Myanmar is a mirror reflection of what is happening here and they have also had an "election"

And isn't Aung Sung Soo Chee a prime example of absolute power etc.

Thailand is basically Burma with electricity.

It seems that  the benefits of business and commerce relationship with their nighboures to the north and keeping the burmese junta happy is more important than the lives of the rohingya people, as one military regime protects the other, and the world is OK with it....

Edited September 12, 20187 yr by ezzra

Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar. All birds of a feather when it comes to human rights.

9 minutes ago, Darcula said:

Thailand is basically Burma with electricity.

And 7/11's

Nonsense post removed.

Burma is a small part of Myanmar before colonization


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3 hours ago, webfact said:

leading voice in Asean

ASEAN is doomed then.    A very scary thought that the clowns running this country are a leading voice in anything. 

ASEAN was always a fake photo opportunity for its politicians and junta! Thailand is now a fully fledged supporter of genocide neighbour


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58 minutes ago, happy chappie said:

And 7/11's

and fat chicks

7 minutes ago, yellowboat said:

ASEAN is doomed then.    A very scary thought that the clowns running this country are a leading voice in anything. 

There seems to be a steady increase in members of the public suffering from Coulrophobia (fear of clowns). This type of government clown in particular.

 

This is the only clown which will return happiness to the people - albeit it in the form of a 'happy meal'.

 

Thailand is right on this and it's really not the worlds business how the Burmese deal with yet another Islamic problem.

Edited September 13, 20187 yr by Orton Rd

10 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

Thailand is right on this and it's really not the worlds business how the Burmese deal with yet another Islamic problem.

And if it were your family and friends who were being treated this way, would it still be right for Thailand to stay out of Myamar's business. I don't think so.

Time for an invasion or two?

16 minutes ago, assayer said:

And if it were your family and friends who were being treated this way, would it still be right for Thailand to stay out of Myamar's business. I don't think so.

My friends and family do not include a troublesome migrant group belonging to a religion that does not integrate resulting in conflicts with the host population, so it does not apply. when even passive Buddhist cannot live with Muslims I know where the blame lies.

2 hours ago, Cadbury said:

Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar. All birds of a feather when it comes to human rights.

And Laos and Vietnam.

So pretty much most of SE Asia then.

4 hours ago, webfact said:

“We are not asking, we are ordering you to cancel the event,” Police Colonel Thawatkiat Jindakuansanong told the panel’s organisers.

 

4 hours ago, webfact said:

This was the sixth time police have shut down an FCCT event since the latest crop of junta generals seized power four years ago.

 

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Last month Thai authorities called off an event at a mosque in Pathum Thani commemorating the one-year anniversary of the massacre of the Rohingya. 

And there you have it.

Everything you need to know about Thailand 4.0

Where the FCCT are classed as "the enemy".

And anyone wearing a black t shirt with a red & white small flag in the top front corner....

1 hour ago, yellowboat said:

ASEAN is doomed then.    A very scary thought that the clowns running this country are a leading voice in anything. 

ASEAN doomed as long as Thailand takes the chair. Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore have strong condemnation of the genocide and asked for strong action by UN. Malaysia went as far as calling out that fake Aung  San Suu Kyi for her silence in not condemning her government. 

4 hours ago, webfact said:

The intervention was callous and short-sighted, inflicting more damage to Thailand’s erstwhile but rapidly diminishing reputation as beacon of free expression in Southeast Asia. 

That reputation has long since gone. 

1 hour ago, Orton Rd said:

Thailand is right on this and it's really not the worlds business how the Burmese deal with yet another Islamic problem.

The Burmese state is engaged in genocide, based on ethnicity.

 

That is everyone’s business. 

48 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

My friends and family do not include a troublesome migrant group belonging to a religion that does not integrate resulting in conflicts with the host population, so it does not apply. when even passive Buddhist cannot live with Muslims I know where the blame lies.

I hardly think Burmas Buddhist monks are either passive or peace loving

 

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/may/12/only-takes-one-terrorist-buddhist-monk-reviles-myanmar-muslims-rohingya-refugees-ashin-wirathu

 

Generals know Generals as friends. They probably don't want it going farther than that for connection of associated reasons.

36 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

ASEAN doomed as long as Thailand takes the chair. Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore have strong condemnation of the genocide and asked for strong action by UN. Malaysia went as far as calling out that fake Aung  San Suu Kyi for her silence in not condemning her government. 

Thailand is on the road to self marginalization.   Malaysia with its new government and the return of Anwar, will probably be the beacon of hope in the region.  Thailand will just be movie fodder for political and other tawdriness, unless fairness is embraced. 

1 hour ago, Orton Rd said:

My friends and family do not include a troublesome migrant group belonging to a religion that does not integrate resulting in conflicts with the host population, so it does not apply. when even passive Buddhist cannot live with Muslims I know where the blame lies.

So those who have been slaughtered, raped, lost everything, have had to flee their country and forced to become refugees all deserve and got what's been coming to them?

 

You're either a complete turd or just having a bad morning. 

9 minutes ago, yellowboat said:

Thailand is on the road to self marginalization.   Malaysia with its new government and the return of Anwar, will probably be the beacon of hope in the region.  Thailand will just be movie fodder for political and other tawdriness, unless fairness is embraced. 

Thailand will be on that road of self marginalization if the election is rigged to allow the regime to be the next government and dumb and dumber become prime minister and deputy. Then Indo-China will be one big happy family of military governments and ties will be warm and fuzzy.

Well D'oh, what do you expect from a couple of countries ran by military usurpers? Bosom buddies.