But despite the economic incentives for Thailand and the Shinawatras to improve relations with Burma, the second major area of mutual interest between the two countries, their shared border, has been a source of tension for generations and remains so today.

There is a long history of Burmese incursions into Thailand—first by Burmese kings looking to expand their empire (Burma’s invasion of Thailand’s former capital Ayutthaya is still taught in Thai classrooms), but more recently by Burmese ethnic minority insurgents operating in the border jungles, Burmese migrant workers looking for jobs and higher pay and Burmese refugees and exiles in search of a safe haven.

Over two million Burmese live and work in Thailand, which proves to be both a benefit and a detriment for both countries. Most believe the migrant workers are a necessary ingredient to the Thai economy because they are willing to perform menial tasks for low pay that many Thais are unwilling to take on. This has also helped reduce the number of people living in poverty inside Burma during the long period of extreme economic mismanagement by the previous Burmese regime. But many of the workers leave struggling families behind in Burma and are undocumented, exploited and still impoverished in Thailand.

In addition, tens of thousands of refugees from Burmese conflict zones have fled to the Thai side of the border and now live in refugee camps. This has led to both a strain on the Thai government and tension between the two countries. In the past, the Burmese regime accused Thailand of harboring dissidents and rebels to stage attacks on Burma, and in return the Thais accused Burma of flooding its kingdom with speed pills and heroine.

When Burma and Thai relations reached its low ebb in the early 2000s, serious border skirmishes broke out and the two countries engaged in a war of both words and rockets.

While both countries fired mortars into the other’s border towns and military encampments, the Burmese junta published several articles openly attacking prominent figures in Thailand. It added further fuel to the fire by introducing a new history textbook for fourth graders that portrays Burma’s neighbors to the east as servile and lazy, and the Thais returned the favor by routinely discriminating against and looking down on Burmese migrant workers inside Thailand.

History is history—no one can go back in time and heal all the wounds. But with a transition taking place in Burma, this may be the best time in recent memory for the two countries to improve political as well as economic relations.

One positive gesture was the reopening of the Thai-Burmese Friendship Bridge between Mae Sot, Thailand and Myawaddy, Burma during the Thai King’s birthday. The Thais are also preparing to build a hospital for migrant workers in Mae Sot, and Burmese banks can now be opened in Thailand so that Burmese migrants who are legally in the country can send money back home instead of going through illegal channels.

In addition, Yingluck’s meeting with Suu Kyi may have been short on substance, but it was still a symbolically important acknowledgement of the Burmese people’s desire for democracy. The Thai prime minister said that she backed both Burma’s democracy movement and Suu Kyi’s decision to compete in the coming by-elections.

However, Yingluck’s own government official admitted that the energy deals were her first priority on the trip, and this was evidenced by the fact that she did not take the opportunity to make any public calls for the release of political prisoners or the cessation of human rights abuses in Burma.

One final area of mutual interest between Thailand and Burma is the desire of both countries to benefit from China’s investment resources, purchasing power and billion-strong market while at the same time remaining as independent as possible from Chinese influence. Thailand has done a much better job of achieving this balance, and if the current Burmese administration wants to emerge from China’s shadow it will most likely seek to deepen cooperation with neighbors such as Thailand, as well as with the West.

In any event, it appears that self-interest will drive Thailand and Burma towards better relations for the foreseeable future, even though the leaders of both countries may remain suspicious and disrespectful of their counterparts. They say that politics makes strange bedfellows. In the case of Burma and Thailand, the quest for power and profits does the same.