VZCZCXRO4582
RR RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHCHI #0091/01 1830655
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 020655Z JUL 09
FM AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1085
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 1167

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHIANG MAI 000091 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR PHU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM TH BM RP MY SN
SUBJECT: ASEAN MPS HEADLINE ASSK BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION 
 
REF: 07 CHIANG MAI 165 (THAI CIVIL SOCIETY) 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000091  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Sensitive but unclassified; please handle accordingly. 
 
------------------------------- 
Summary and Comment 
------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  (U) Four members of the ASEAN Inter Parliamentary Myanmar 
Caucus (AIPMC) called for tougher action against Burma by 
Thailand and other ASEAN nations at a June 19 event jointly 
hosted by Chiang Mai University to mark Aung San Suu Kyi's 64th 
birthday.  Atypically for Burma events here, a large proportion 
of the crowd was Thai, and many Thai press turned up. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Comment: There are very few ethnically Thai civil 
society groups working on Burma issues.  The high turn-out at 
this event may, however, be a sign that Thais -- particularly 
younger ones -- are beginning to care more about Burma.  The 
auditorium was packed, mostly with college student-aged 
individuals -- standing room only.  The number of Thais in 
attendance at this event was proportionally much higher than in 
the past, when Burmese formed the bulk of attendees.  Burmese 
accounted for the majority of the audience at an event held in 
2007, just after the Saffron Revolution (Reftel).  End Summary 
and Comment. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
Burma: Is Thai Civil Society Beginning to Care? 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶3.  (SBU) On June 19, Pol/Econ staff attended an event to mark 
Aung San Suu Kyi's 64th birthday held at Chiang Mai University. 
It was sponsored by the University's Regional Center for Social 
Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD) and the Center for 
Ethnic Studies and Development (CESD) in conjunction with the 
AIPMC.  Previous Burma events at Chiang Mai University have been 
hosted by the CDCE (Community Development and Civic Empowerment) 
Program, which exclusively targets Burmese for capacity building 
and training, and is relatively new.  The RCSD and CESD on the 
other hand are well-established at the University.  Furthermore, 
RCSD President and well-respected Thai professor Chayan 
Vaddhanaphuti opened the forum, and participated until its 
conclusion.  To our knowledge, this is the first time Dr. Chayan 
has lent his name to an event specifically focused on Burma. 
 
¶4.  (U) The invitation to the event stated that its purpose was 
to "bridge a gap of understanding among Thai public and academic 
communities regarding Burmese situations and its people."  (SIC) 
 It went on to say "The issues of democracy and ethnic 
struggles, transborder investment and its impacts in relation to 
Thailand, including internally displaced people (IDP) will be 
highlighted in the forum."  (SIC) 
 
¶5.  (U) In his opening remarks, Dr. Chayan emphasized the impact 
the situation in Burma has on the region, and that Thais should 
care about what transpires there -- right in Thailand's 
backyard.  AIPMC President Kraisak Choonhavan (a Thai) led off 
the presentations by MPs, followed by Loretta Ann P. Rosales 
from the Philippines, M. Kulasegaran of Malaysia, and 
Singaporean MP Charles Chong. 
 
---------------------------------- 
MP's: ASEAN Must Do More 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) Former Senator and current Democrat Party List MP 
Kraisak, who has a long history of anti-SPDC rhetoric, told the 
150-strong crowd, which was made up mostly of Thais, that Burma 
was ASEAN's "worst problem."  If Burma continued to ignore ASEAN 
statements calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, ASEAN 
would have to reconsider Burma's membership, he said.  He 
pointed to the doubling in the number of political prisoners 
since 2007 and the fact that most Burmese have not even seen the 
text of the 2007 constitution as evidence of the Burmese 
regime's on-going human rights violations. 
 
¶7.  (U) Kraisak also pointed out the applicability of the ASEAN 
Charter to the situation in Burma, particularly sections one and 
two dealing with land, habitat, human security and public 
health.  Kraisak claimed that Burma's failure to comply with the 
Charter is what prompted Thai PM Abhisit to "condemn" the 
situation there and call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi. 
Thais, he said, should be "embarrassed" by the situation in 
Burma, pointing to the Burmese IDPs driven into Thailand by 
fighting on the border and by the planned construction of dams 
and gas pipelines in Burma funded by UNOCAL (now Chevron). 
(Note: The dams, if built, will provide electricity to Thailand, 
even though severe power shortages still persist in Burma.) 
 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000091  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶8.  (U) Kraisak also stated that the international community 
should make use of judicial bodies like the International 
Criminal Court to act against Burmese Senior General Than Shwe. 
The important thing, he opined, is that the international 
community consider Than Shwe a war criminal like Sudanese 
President Bashir. 
 
¶9.  (U) Filipino MP Loretta Rosales focused her remarks on the 
role of educational institutions in raising awareness of Burma. 
She spoke passionately of an upcoming appearance she would make 
at the University of the Philippines in Manila, emphasizing that 
she would convey the important contributions Thai students were 
making in this regard based on her experience in Chiang Mai. 
 
¶10. (U) Kulasegaran discussed his role in forming a caucus of 
Malaysian MPs on Burma, and pressuring the GOM to take a more 
proactive stance.  He also criticized the GOM's investments in 
Burma saying, "It's all about dollars and cents at the end of 
the day for governments such as Malaysia ,who invest with a 
military that uses the money to repress and harm its leaders 
like Aung San Suu Kyi and its citizens and not help them at 
all."  ASEAN, he said, needed to introduce sanctions against 
Burma or suspend it; ASEAN's only success so far has been 
convincing Burma not to assume the chairmanship in 2004. 
 
¶11. (U) Singaporean MP Charles Chong recapped the history of 
Burma's relations with ASEAN, noting that ASEAN allowed Burma to 
join in 1997 with the expectation that Burma's membership would 
give ASEAN a measure of influence over the situation there. 
However, both ASEAN's constructive engagement and western 
sanctions have failed, he argued.  While asserting that the UN 
Security Council was the only mechanism that could effectively 
bring change to Burma, Chong demonstrated an understanding of 
the difficulties involved, pointing to the vetoes cast by Russia 
and China when the Council voted on a resolution in 2007. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------- 
The Regime's World View According to One Exile 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) A  Burmese journalist in exile also addressed the 
gathering, asserting that the Burmese regime divides the world 
into two groups - enemies and friends.  The generals, he said, 
see the Burmese people as subjects of their "empire."  Anyone 
who opposes their will is viewed by the generals as an enemy, he 
argued.  Right now, democracy and federalism are the regime's 
two enemies, he asserted, making any supporter of these concepts 
an enemy by association.  He argued that Aung San Suu Kyi 
represents democracy, and the ethnic groups represent 
federalism, which is why both are still oppressed. 
MORROW