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Published on March 8, 2008

No foreigner with any common sense is going to invest in a country that still runs on feudal values where influential and wealthy people can do as they please with impunity.

While the airport performance of Thaksin was worthy of an Oscar nomination, it should not whitewash the fact that he is facing accusations of serious criminal behaviour whilst serving as prime minister. If once again he manipulates the system, or the charges against him fail to reach a conclusion, Thailand will be even more of a laughing stock than it is now.

Thaksin in many respects simply mirrors what is wrong with the whole Thai system of government. Rampant vote-buying, cronyism, bid-rigging and price-ramping on all government projects ensure huge amounts of public funds end up in private pockets.

Until the whole Thai population is sufficiently educated enough to see that they have a choice, this feudal patronage system will continue to ensure that the masses stay poor and powerless whilst the politicians plunder.

I have recently heard a number of overseas Thais refer to Thailand as "Thaksinland". This shows how much they think he has corrupted everything. As the system currently stands, there is no hope of change.

Andrew Lynn

Australia

Open letter to Ibrahim Gambari, envoy to Burma

Excellency, we are writing to you on the eve of your visit to Burma to share with you our utmost concern following the announcement by the military government in February that a constitutional referendum will be held in May, to be followed by elections in 2010. On February 19 the junta announced that the draft text of the Constitution had been completed, but it has not been made public yet.

The International Federation for Human Rights considers this move as mere window-dressing to appease the international community and to actually perpetuate the military dictatorship.

The junta, ignoring the results of 1990's election, has pursued since 1993 a National Convention in charge of drafting a new Constitution for the country. Any criticism against the drafting process was considered a criminal offence.

The National League for Democracy (NLD) has been excluded from participation and the process has been unanimously criticised as undemocratic, non-participative and opaque. After the National Convention ended its work, a body composed of 54 members selected by the junta, the Constitution Drafting Commission, was appointed to finalise the draft.

According to Supreme Court chief justice and chairman of the Constitution Drafting Commission, Aung Toe, the draft was drawn up with the objective of ensuring a leading role in politics for the military; this means that the military will maintain a strong influence in any future civilian government.

Another clause reportedly bars candidates married to foreigners from standing for election, which de facto excludes Aung San Suu Kyi from the electoral process.

The mere fact that the draft was finalised behind closed doors by persons appointed by the junta deprives the resulting draft of any credibility.

A constitution can only be the fruit of an open and participatory process, inclusive of opposition political parties - and in particular the main one, the NLD - as well as representatives of ethnic minorities. Such a process must entail the possibility of an informed public debate on issues that are crucial for the future of Burma.

The current extremely repressive climate and the persistence of serious, continued and systematic human rights violations in the country are definitely obstacles to such a genuine process.

The recent arrest, on February 15, of two journalists, Thet Zin and Sein Win Aung of Myanmar Nation magazine at their office in Rangoon, demonstrates once more the total denial of freedom of expression in Burma. As recently as February 5, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, stated that "political and human rights activists continue to be arrested, detained and sentenced to prison terms under the security laws".

We hope that your forthcoming visit to Burma will contribute to induce the Burmese government to create the conditions for dialogue and reconciliation by putting an immediate end to the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi and by releasing all political prisoners.

We also hope that it will foster a genuine process of national reconciliation and democratisation through a meaningful and time-bound dialogue between the military government, the national League for Democracy (NLD) and ethnic representatives.

Souhayr Belhassen

Bangkok

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