Burma’s
President Thein Sein and Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra
pictured outside Thailand’s Government House on Monday (Photo: Simon
Roughneen)
BANGKOK—In his first visit to next-door neighbor Thailand as
president, Thein Sein on Monday signed three Memoranda of Understanding
(MoUs) aimed at tightening the growing economic links between the two
countries.
The MoUs focus on the Dawei [Tavoy] deep-sea port on Burma’s
southwest coast, on development cooperation in Burma, and on joint
energy sector projects.
In a brief press conference earlier on Monday at Thailand’s
Government House, the Burmese president thanked Thai Prime Minister
Yingluck Shinawatra for her country’s “ongoing support for political and
economic reforms.”
Questions were not permitted at the press conference, during which
the Thai premier did most of the talking and which centered around
economic issues. Yingluck thanked Thein Sein for his “reaffirmed
commitment to Dawei,” the multi-billion-dollar port and special economic
zone which is being developed by Thai conglomerate Italian-Thai
Development (ITD) but about which doubts have emerged in recent months,
amid concerns that ITD is struggling to raise the backing and finance
needed to make the project happen.
Burmese officials have publicly questioned the viability of Dawei,
with other port and economic zone projects under development inside the
country at Kyaukpyu in the Bay of Bengal near the Shwe Gas pipeline, and
at Thilawa outside Rangoon, while India is backing a new port and jetty
at Sittwe in conflict-ridden Arakan State.
“Both sides agreed to build connectivity between Dawei and Laem
Chabang,” said Yingluck, referring to the port 100 km southeast of
Bangkok that Thein Sein visited on Sunday, and which will be linked to
Dawei by road, according to current plans.
During his visit to Laem Chabang on Sunday, Thein Sein was briefed by
Thailand’s Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board
on the port and on possible benefits of the Dawei- Laem Chabang link.
Thailand is Burma’s second-largest trade partner after China, with a
reported trade volume of US $4.5 billion for the fiscal year 2011-2012.
The Thai prime minister proposed opening three additional border
crossings between the two countries, one near Chiang Mai, one near Mae
Hong Song and one near Kanchanaburi, though no mention was made of the
140,000 or so Burmese refugees living in camps on the Thai side of the
2,300-kilometer (1,300-mile) border, amid cutbacks by Western donors
which could prompt some of the refugees to return to Burma prematurely
to areas that are heavily mined.
The Thai government, however, pledged to “take care of the Myanmar
labour in Thailand in a just manner and according to Thai law,”
according to Yingluck. There are 2-3 million Burmese migrant workers in
Thailand, most of whom work in low-paid menial jobs in sectors such as
fishing and construction.
Trafficking of Burmese labor is common, however, and recent years
have seen frequent revelations alleging slavery and mistreatment of
Burmese at the hands of Thai employers and Burmese traffickers.
Meanwhile, 92 Thais who were arrested in Kawthaung in Burma on July 4
will appear before a Burmese court on July 27. The issue was not raised
at the press conference but according to Thai officials, Yingluck was
set to discuss the fate of the 92 separately with Thein Sein.
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