May , 1999
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| May , 1999 | atimes.com | |
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| Southeast Asia Banning of labor meet blots Bangkok's record By Boonthan Sakanond BANGKOK - The Thai government's ban on aninternational meeting in Bangkok to discuss forced labor in Burmahas drawn flak from activists - and is hurting the candidacy of Thai Deputy Prime Minister Supachai Panitchpakdi for the post of secretary-seneral of the World Trade Organization. The banned meeting, ''Democracy for Burma,'' was organized by theInternational Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), whichhad scheduled it for the third week of May. More than 130participants from 20 countries were expected to attend it. The ICFTU says there are more than 800,000 men, women andchildren who are used as forced labor by the Burmese militaryto carry out unpaid and often dangerous work. ''It is a sad reflection on the so-called sovereignty ofThailand that they have bowed to the military junta in Burma inthis instance and to the widely publicized deplorable human rightsrecord of that country,'' said a statement from ICFTU general-secretary Takashi Izumi. The trade union body also said the Thai government's move castdoubt on the credibility of Thailand's efforts to win theleadership of the WTO. Already, Thailand's lack of protection of domestic laborrights has been cited by the U.S. as one of the reasons forrejecting Supachai as a candidate for the top WTO post. The Thai government lamely defended its decision by saying thatthe ICFTU meeting would have been unfair because the Burmesegovernment was not invited to defend itself at the meeting. ''We don't have any problem with the meeting, but it should bemore properly balanced,'' Don Pramudwinai, foreign ministryspokesman, told the Thai media after the controversy broke. He pointed to the ICFTU's invitation to Sein Win, head of theBurmese opposition's government-in-exile, as a reason why themeeting could have hurt Thailand's ties with Burma. The ICFTU conference would have come on the heels of a meetingof Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) labor ministersin Rangoon. Analysts say that Thailand, while promoting its image as a openand free society for commercial purposes, is still pursuing aforeign policy steeped in the ways of its own dictatorial past. Others say that while the Thai government - and particularlyForeign Minister Surin Pistuwan - are known supporters of democraticmovements in the region, there are some sections of thebureaucracy that do not like the shift in policy. ''As Thailand is reaching out and using its burgeoningdemocracy and openness to attract foreign assistance andinvestment, and of course sympathy, certain quarters in the Thaibureaucracy view the growing freedom in the country as a directthreat to them,'' said an editorial in the Bangkok dailyThe Nation. In the past year, Surin has raised eyebrows within theconservative ASEAN by calling for greater openness and democracywithin member countries. He has also made remarks critical ofBurma's poor human rights situation. But despite such pro-democracy overtures by some of itsofficials, Thailand's record of supporting democratic movements inthe region gets low marks. When Suharto was still in power in Indonesia, for example, the Thai government banned Nobel Peace Prize winner Jose Ramos Horta from attending a conference on EastTimorese independence in Bangkok for fear of upsetting theJakarta government. In the past, Thai governments have also discouraged trips toThailand by the Dalai Lama because of China's opposition to thespiritual leader of the Tibetan community in exile. ''Thailand's foreign policy motto is simply to keep allpowerful and threatening governments in the region happy,irrespective of the principles, or lack of principles, involved,''says an Asian diplomat in Bangkok. In the case of Burma, Thailand has, for a variety of reasons,maintained close political and diplomatic links with the militaryregime despite its widely condemned record of rights abuses. In the past five years, Thai conglomerates have invested in thehotels, road, transport and forestry industries in Burma, takingadvantage of Rangoon's economic liberalization programme. Another factor underlying Thailand's deference to Rangoon hasbeen its worries over possible conflicts with the Burmese militaryover territorial disputes along the 1,700-kilometer border shared by thetwo countries. But human rights activists point out that probably the mostbasic reason is simply the lack of genuine respect for democraticprinciples and values within Thailand itself. They say this is especially true in the case of labor rights.The Chuan Leekpai government, despite its otherwise goodcredentials, has not restored the trade union rights of stateenterprise employees, which were taken away during a military coupin 1991. The Thai government is also accused of turning a blind eye toexploitation by Thai companies of migrant laborers from Burma, whowork at half the stipulated minimum wages and often inappalling conditions. ''We have a new constitution that protects the individual'sfreedom of expression and assembly and the authorities have touphold those rights,'' said The Nation's editorial. It arguedthat by banning the ICFTU meeting, the Chuan government hasultimately violated the rights of Thais to assemble freely. (Inter Press Service) | |||||||||
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