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Published on March 22, 2008

Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said during his visit to Washington DC earlier this week that Thailand's image had improved with an elected government and that it was now being recognised as "handsome without acne", a far cry from its image under former prime minister Surayud Chulanont.

He said US leaders had welcomed him and congratulated him on Thailand's return to the democratic process. During his visit, many leading personalities, including US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and a former secretary of state were eager to "koh-phob" (meet him), he said.

It would be an understatement to call his self-indulgence pretentious.

Before we are carried away by Noppadon's sugar-coated and self-indulgent words, let us be clear that neither he nor Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej is responsible for Thailand being such an object of attention in Washington these days.

After all, Thailand is one of the US's oldest allies in the region. However, in the past three years Thai-US relations have been rocky.

Plagued by a myriad political uncertainties and animosity over trade negotiations and intellectual-property rights, ties between the two countries have been left unattended. Read the US State Department's annual human-rights report, and you'll find a recap of human-rights violations in the Muslim-majority South, as well as the Thaksin administration's controversial drug war that claimed nearly 3,000 lives, a campaign that nearly brought bilateral ties to their knees. Thaksin's re-election in 2006 and the coup that followed did much to strain the once dynamic diplomatic ties between the two countries.

It was delightful then to see Samak and US ambassador Eric John plant trees together at Chatuchak Park on Thursday to symbolically mark the 175th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the two countries.

However, in coming months it is highly likely that Bangkok will clash with the US and the EU, as well as other supporters of democratisation in Burma, if it persists in its support of the Burmese regime. The international community was surprised when Samak praised the regime and said that the Burmese people were doing well. Such white lies will come back to haunt him and Thailand. Samak also lied about the October 6, 1976 massacre, but it will be harder for him to get away scot-free when commenting on issues with which the world community is so familiar, like the plight of the Burmese.

In the months and years to come, extrajudicial killings related to the drug war, human-rights violations in the South and intellectual-property rights are sure to become bones of contention. Noppadon will then find out that an administration with a nice face but without proper governance is unable to escape scrutiny from abroad. It is imperative that both countries move quickly to strengthen bilateral relations. As a major non-Nato ally, Thailand has to show its intention to live up to its close security ties with the US.

The Thai military, which has ties with the US going back to the start of the Cold War, has recently started to diversify its defence ties, including , arms procurement and other defence-related activities.

The latest procurements from the Ukraine and Sweden are just two examples; defence ties with China, Russia and other major powers have advanced at the expense of Thai-US relations.

As Asean chair, Thailand has an important role to play in leading the grouping into the 21st century. The US would like to see Thailand leading Asean. When US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill was in Bangkok, he said that as a founding member of Asean and its chair, Thailand must lead the grouping. At the same time, the Asean Charter will give a much-needed legal personality to the grouping, which has been slow in decision-making and responding to crises and democratic development.

Whatever Thailand does or says either regionally or internationally over the next 20 months will have an impact on the country and the image of Asean as a whole. With the expected ratification of the Asean Charter by year's end, Thailand, as its current chair, is fortunate to have the opportunity to be the first country to implement the new charter. As a result, Bangkok will have to host an additional series of high-level meetings next year. Eventually closer Thai-US relations will also lead to stronger Asean-US ties.

The Nation