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Published on January 21, 2008

Your lead story quoted "sources close to Samak" suggesting that the new government would likely dissolve within a year.

Most musical pieces are written in a key, know as the "tonic". As the piece develops, ambiguous chords and melodies are employed by the composer to build up tension. At this point the listener feels a compellingly anxious desire to return to the base key. In local parlance, the "tonic" refers to amnesty.

So yet again business is being asked to grudgingly sit on the sidelines listening to the music being played out until the time is ripe for the piece to "resolve" to the tonic, when Samak seeks parliamentary approval for the amnesty bill to be passed and tensions relax.

And while the hare considers its political options, the tortoise, in the guise of Vietnam, invokes Zeno's paradox and shuffles halfway closer to economic parity.

James Groveway

Bangkok

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Public stands by while Thailand slides into abyss

These days I'm convinced that the Kingdom of Thailand doesn't know how to do itself any favours. Amid the well-publicised events in the deep South, tourist murders and gun-toting cops, we have the Thaksin pantomime being acted out scene by scene.

This charade cannot possibly come to any good, yet the Thai people seem to be happy to allow it to flow along and gain momentum into an inevitable disaster. Thailand needs to quickly get tuned into reality to prevent itself from slipping further into the abyss.

A Warner

Bangkok

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No hope for Burmese junta in next US elections

The United Nations Security Council issued a statement requesting that UN Envoy Ibrahim Gambari be permitted to visit Burma again in January instead of the later date in April preferred by the military junta. The generals are running out the clock on Laura Bush, hoping that the next US administration will change its Burma policy. The most likely Democratic candidate for president is Hillary Clinton. If she becomes the US president, the policy on Burma will not change because Madeleine Albright will most likely become secretary of state again.

If John McCain wins the Republican nomination and becomes the next president, Burma policy may include the military option. McCain's likely candidate for vice-president is Senator Joseph Lieberman, who recently advocated using the US military for covert operations in Burma.

But change may come to Burma before the US presidential elections in November. Than Shwe's photo was published in Mizzima last week surrounded by four bodyguards with sub-machine guns while he was visiting a Buddhist pagoda. The monks don't have any weapons. His threat is from the Burmese army.

The last Burmese general I saw closely guarded by bodyguards with sub-machine guns was Khin Nyunt. He was toppled in a military coup a few months later.

Myint Thein

Senior Adviser to the Burmese Resistance

Dallas, Texas

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SPDC's treatment of minorities its main failure

Re: "Generals manufacture Burmeseness", Opinion, January 8.

Dr Pavin Chachavalpongpun's explanation of how past and present Burmese leaders have failed miserably in the nation-building process is an acceptable one. But the core of the problem remains the military's lack of understanding on how a harmonious national identity could be forged. This is further fuelled by its racial and military supremacy policies, treating all non-Burmese ethnic groups as colonial possessions of the Burmese centre.

The views of successive Burmese governments, including the present regime, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), concerning national identity has never been clear.

It is advisable to look into historical facts that show Burma has never been a monolithic political entity in any sense of the word.

The country we all know as Burma is a country made up of at least three countries, namely: Burma proper, the Karenni State and the Shan States. The Shan and the Karenni joined Burma in their struggle for self-determination from the British and jointly attained independence on January 4, 1948.

However, in 1962 the Burmese military sized state power in a coup and declared the union constitution abolished. In doing so, the Burmese terminated the only legal bond between them and other ethnic nationalities. The declaration of the suspension of the constitution was in effect a self-denunciation that Burma had overnight become an aggressor nation instead of partner. Thus, in a legal-constitutional sense, the Union of Burma ceased to exist.

Meanwhile, the Burmese military regime has changed the name of Burma to Myanmar. Its aim is to create a national identity for every ethnic group residing within the boundary of the so-called Union of Myanmar. But since the name Myanmar has always been identified with the lowlands, the SPDC's efforts are only doomed to fail in trying to establish a common national identity among ethnic nationals. On top of that, this national identity was not chosen with the consent of the ethnic groups, but coercively thrust down their throats by the hated Burmese military dictatorship.

The point this writer is trying to make here is that the successive Burmese governments' nation-building process has totally shattered and failed to take root after all these years. The armed resistance of almost all the ethnic groups is a stark reminder and living evidence of this failure. The ceasefire deals, which have been arranged with some of the resistance armies, are also not a solution. They have, as noted by Bertil Lintner, simply frozen the ethnic conflict for the time being. They have failed to solve the underlying political problems and grievances.

The hard reality is that the denial of the right to self-determination is at the crux of all the problems encompassing Burma today. All along, the Burmese military has been implementing its own version of nation-building without tolerance to the notion of "unity in diversity". Its win-or-lose conflict-resolution strategy has not produced positive results during the last five decades and it won't in the future. It is astonishing that the ruling military clique has not even considered approaching this conflict from a win-win perspective.

The rebuilding of the shattered union will need a political dialogue where comprehensive issues will be addressed and discussed in a sincere and open manner by all ethnic groups on an equal footing. Only then will we have a fighting chance of ever establishing a national identity in a true sense, embraced by all ethnic groups.

Khurtaikornkhaw

Bangkok

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