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Thai-Myanmar-ASEAN Relations: The Politics of Face and Grace

Thai-Myanmar and Thai-ASEAN relations have undergone significant changes recently. Whereas ASEAN was generally keen in the late 1980s and 1990s not to isolate Burma/Myanmar diplomatically, there has been an increasing chorus of voices in ASEAN opposing a continuation of the political status quo there. In particular, there have been calls for the release of NLD detainees, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and the start of a meaningful attempt at domestic political reconciliation. Notwithstanding such criticisms from within ASEAN and beyond, the SPDC government is unlikely to acquiesce and change its ways as a result of such criticisms. There are simply no incentives for it to do so. If anything, external criticism is likely to lead to a more xenophobic foreign policy. To stave off criticism, the compromise solution between ASEAN and Myanmar has been for the latter to turn over the chairmanship of ASEAN to the Philippines in 2006. This face-saving gesture has allowed all parties concerned to uphold the ASEAN principle of noninterference in members' domestic affairs while responding to international criticism.