AP
Posted: 2008-02-07 20:31:04
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) – Thailand’s newly elected government says it will maintain a policy of noninterference in military-ruled Myanmar, and that democracy and human rights are domestic issues.
Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said Thailand will work within the framework of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations but “will have to respect Myanmar’s sovereignty.”
Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962, and its ruling junta is widely criticized for human rights abuses and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.
Myanmar’s crisis attracted world attention last September when Buddhist monks led anti-government protests, the biggest in two decades. The government detained thousands and killed at least 31 people, according to a U.N. investigator, whose tally was twice the toll acknowledged by the junta.
“We are not a headmaster who can tell Myanmar to do this or that,” Noppadon said Thursday in his first press conference since becoming foreign minister. “The development of democracy and protection of human rights are Myanmar’s internal affairs.”
Noppadon said that Thailand’s new government will continue to work alongside its neighbors in ASEAN but will focus on the issues that directly affect Thailand, such as drug trafficking, bilateral trade and illegal immigrants.
“If working through an ASEAN framework can help Myanmar’s democracy flourish, we will do it,” he said.
ASEAN allowed Myanmar to join a decade ago, hoping that membership would inspire change in the country.
Following September’s crackdown, Western countries tightened sanctions against Myanmar’s military government, but ASEAN countries have done little to step up pressure.
During its November summit in Singapore, the group failed to come up with any action to push for democratic reform in Myanmar.
Thailand – Myanmar’s No. 2 trading partner and a major importer of its natural gas – and other ASEAN countries have been reluctant to consider sanctions against Myanmar.
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02/07/08 20:11 EST