Thai-Burmese diplomatic relations came under the public spotlight recently when two retired diplomats – Poksak Nilubol, former Thai ambassador to Burma, and Surapong Jayanama, former director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s East Asia Department – came together at an event organised by the Thailand Research Fund.
The function was organised last week to launch Poksak’s book, “Understanding Burma”, an analysis of Thailand’s troubling diplomatic ties with the junta during his years there, as well as a dose of personal recollections of the people he met, including rebel leaders along the troubled common border.
The book is part of a larger study sponsored by the research fund.
Poksak admitted for the first time that he was against the idea of granting Burma Asean membership unless the regime demonstrated progress towards democratisation. He had rejected the argument that the junta would move that much closer to China if the regional grouping did not permit the military regime to join its family.
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