By following the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' recommendations at this juncture, the Surayud government is approaching Burma as if it has been kept in a time warp. Since the coup, the ministry has urged the government to stick to the past policy on Burma to maintain continuity and the country's creditability in Asean and the international community. The ministry's die-hard supporters believe that this policy will eventually allow Thailand to rejuvenate the Bangkok Process, which began in earnest in 2003, as a way to engage Burma, with Thailand as a facilitator. But the process has flopped, as many regional players find the host has conflicts of interest and is not an honest broker.

During the interim period of the Surayud government, it seems that Thailand will assist Burma to weather the storm in the UN Security Council by derailing the debates. The world body's assertive attitude toward Burma since the middle of last year has been attributed in part to the lack of solidarity among Asean members. And so it might seem the Foreign Ministry could try and push Asean members into once again uniting behind the pariah state.

In other words, the Foreign Ministry would like to turn back the clock to pre-December 1997, when Asean leaders acted and talked as if they were a pack of wolves in response to Western criticism of Burma's planned admission as an Asean member.

Asean was forced to take sides by backing Burma without reservation. Asean's solidarity was pitched against the West. Failure to admit Burma at that crucial time would have been construed as weakness - the triumph of Western values over the Asean way. To resort to the same strategy now smacks of wishful thinking.

Almost 10 years have elapsed and the ministry wants to restore this position and forge a common Asean stand on Burma - to fight the Security Council, in other words, which means essentially taking a stand against the West. The Bush administration has succeeded in pushing the Burma issue onto the Security Council's agenda, with the assistance of the majority of the Council's members. Since last December there have been three briefings by Ibrahim Gambari, the UN under-secretary for political affairs. In the future, the US is expected to submit a resolution on Burmese drug trafficking and internal displaced persons. This would reduce the threat caused by Burma to international peace and security. But there was nothing about sanctions, although that kind of punishment might certainly come in the near future.

Last week the General Assembly Committee of the UN passed a resolution criticising Burma's worsening human rights record. The resolution specifically said that the junta refused to investigate widespread abuses such as summary executions, torture, forced labour, sexual violence and the recruitment of child soldiers. Burma has recruited an estimated 50,000 child soldiers, one of the biggest armies of children in the world. Ludicrously, as the isolation of Burma at the UN increases, Thailand, with its own post-coup problems, has the audacity to come out on behalf of Burma. Worse still, this comes at a time when most Asean members have shunned the country.

Over the past two years Asean politicians and coalition groups on Burma have been active in pushing the Burma issue on to national agendas. Former Asean supporters of Burma's membership in 1997 such as Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia have now become very critical of Rangoon's intransigence.

The current Thai policy on Burma must be its last hurrah if it remains unchanged. Government House and the Foreign Ministry have said very little about what transpired during the one-day trip to Burma made last week by Prime Minister Surayud. If the above recommendations were raised and pledged to Burma, it will have disastrous consequences on Thailand's diplomatic reputation.

During the past five years, the Thaksin government was the biggest supporter of the Burmese regime. Asean's growing intolerance of Burma's stubbornness forced Burma to relinquish its role of host to the 2005 Asean ministerial meeting. The Thaksin government then hardened its policy towards Burma - from an earlier reluctance to back the UN Council's debate to a willingness to abstain from the debate and resolution. The latter was due to the ministry's lobbying effort for the UN secretary-general's job, which was eventually won by South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon. Now it seems Thailand is returning to square one on its Burmese policy again.

It is hard to understand why the ministry is so adamant in defending Burma at all costs, even though it is now under the Surayud government. The reasons why the ministry has walked its cats backwards could be unfinished business deals or other concessions which involve Thai authorities and businessmen (from the previous government). These people do not want to abandon the pro-Burmese policy and their concessions. The other reason could be that the new Foreign Ministry team are trying to maintain the status quo. It will be a huge failure if the ministry treats the one year it has in office to re-affirm the old rotten policies towards Burma rather than address new challenges at the UN.

Kavi Chongkittavorn