Asean Should Bide Its Time on Burma Getting Key Role

He feared that with the conflict in Thai politics being so severe, Thai firms would sneak into Burma and destroy pristine coastline at Dawei by building "another Rayong hell", and that the Yingluck government would

support both the Dawei project and Burma getting leadership of Asean, partly because the PM's brother Thaksin and PTT, the state oil and gas conglomerate, both loved doing business with the generals.

Jack Dunford, executive director of TBBC, the non-government group which has provided food and essential services to refugees in the border camps for 27 years, said in a statement last week: "A determined and sustained effort to resolve ethnic conflict in Burma is essential to avoid another generation of violence and abuse. And "the urgency of finding a solution to conflict in Burma has never been greater".

Given the gravity of the situation, Asean should hold its horses and demand more results before allowing Naypyidaw the honour of leading Southeast Asia's regional entity. Acts of real substance are needed.

This editorial was firstly published in The Nation of Thailand on Nov.6, 2011.