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Burma's Prime Minister General Thein Sein arrived in Thailand on Tuesday for a three-day trip aimed at improving bilateral ties between the two countries. This is Thein Sein's first visit to Thailand since he was appointed prime minister in October 2007. As the third most powerful person of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), one of the world's most condemned regimes, Thein Sein's aim is to strengthen Burma's bilateral ties with Thailand and enhance his regime's international standing.

Thein Sein oversees a number of issues on his plate at the moment. Besides leading the drafting of the Constitution, dubbed a sham process, he also oversees the day-to-day operation of the SPDC in his capacity as secretary.

As expected, Burma's human rights and other sticky issues will not be on the table during his meeting with PM Samak Sundaravej.

Samak and his government have more or less endorsed Burma's half-baked democratisation process that literally guarantees a permanent place for the military in the country's politics. Ironically, Samak is dead against the Thai Army securing a place in Thailand's politics through the Constitution but was quick to endorse the Burmese junta's version that spelled out in plain language that the military will remain a permanent part of Burma's political system.  Upon his return from Burma, Samak told reporters that the Burmese generals are "good Buddhists" who like to meditate and that they like to go to the temple regularly. He also said the country "lives in peace".

No one knows what Samak was on but surely he should have known that it wasn't that long ago that the regime was gunning down Buddhist monks and laymen for carrying out a peaceful demonstration. Up until today, reports on monks being dragged from their temples in the middle of the night and never to be seen again continue to surface.

Just as pathetic was Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama, who had the audacity to boast publicly how Thein Sein had thanked him personally for his "Neighbour Engagement" policy - another empty phrase. It was supposed to describe Thailand's foreign policy. Moreover, one wondered how Thailand's foreign minister could ever see merit in the praises from the second most powerful man in a regime strongly despised by the world community. Idiotic would be an understatement.

As expected, counter-narcotics action is on the agenda for discussion. Thein Sein is probably the most knowledgeable person on earth on this topic. Look at the kind of men he has been courting - Wei Hsueh-kang and Bao Yu-xiang, both have been indicted by Thai and US Federal courts for drug trafficking.

But while both Samak and Noppadon welcomed Thein Sein with open arms, the track record of this battle-hardened general showed that he doesn't think highly of Thailand.

While serving as the commander of the Triangle Command, Thein Sein never shied away from a fight with the Thai Army. Unlike the Thai generals, Thein Sein spoke softly and carried a big stick - and was never afraid to clobber his Thai counterparts with it.

There were times when he would permit hot pursuit and small skirmishes along the border between his Wa and Karen proxies and the Thai Army to escalate into cross-border shelling. Thein Sein has never thought highly of successive Thai governments and the Thai Armed Forces. To him, Thailand is a source of instability for his Burma.

Historically, at least in the post colonial period, Thai-Burmese relations have been largely shaped by mistrust, disputes, overlapping claims, cross-border insurgency and narcotics. Much of these problems are related. The solution lies in a political settlement that is acceptable to all parties - from the insurgents who depend on drug money to feed their troops to the SPDC who see a normal state as one that is free of armed groups.

It is no coincidence that a pro-Rangoon group is automatically a threat to Thailand, while an anti-Rangoon army is automatically a friend of Thailand. That's the way it is and that's the way it will be until all the warring parties can agree on an adequate settlement.

Thailand has a stake in the outcome. Naturally, it wants to see its proxies get the best out of any deal. But in the meantime, the Shan and the Karen rebels are convenient friends to have. But somehow it has always been the Thai political leaders who end up kissing up to the Burmese. The Burmese generals, it seems, are always one step ahead of them. Are they that smarter? Or perhaps it is a realisation among Thai political leaders that they are here today and gone tomorrow, thus, all they need to do is to turn the page, close the chapter and make some money for their friends and cronies.

It is a bit naive, however, considering the fact that these historical problems continue to hover over their successive heads.