Thailand: Commentary - Will Prime Minister Surayud's sympathy for Burmes) minorities stand in way of closer Thai-Burma relations?

(From Thai Press Reports)

Section: Commentary - Bangkok Post - Surayud is respected by ethnic minorities in Myanmar (Burma) because he is known to sympathise with their plight, but he is also no friend of the military junta, the Bangkok Post reports.

Thailand is now ruled by a military junta, which has handpicked the country's interim prime minister. Does that mean Thailand and Burma are on an equal footing? I hope not.

If the two countries embark on a race for political reform, democratisation and the drafting of a new constitution, Thailand will certainly cross the finish line first. Burma's military leaders, who took power in the bloody coup of 1988, are just marking time. That's for sure.

The good news is that, unlike in former times, the two juntas are not ready to embrace each other. Maybe they never will. …