This is why we've put up with Myanmar's insults and intransigence for so long.

Burma to pay Shin with Thai loans?

Published on Aug 24, 2004


Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday defended a plan to grant a Bt962 million soft loan to Burma that will be used to overhaul the country?s telecom sector, of which the Shinawatra family business empire is heavily involved.

Thaksin said Thailand had yet to approve Burma?s loan request, and the decision would be made by the Export and Import Bank (Exim Bank).

?They are not asking for free cash. They want to borrow money and pay it back,? Thaksin told reporters.

?The request came through an official channel and it is being considered according to proper principles. The project will also help solve poverty problems in Burma.?

But Thaksin sidestepped concerns that the proposed loan would be tainted by conflicts of interest, with his family?s business empire set to benefit.

The controversy erupted yesterday when the Matichon newspaper reported that the Ministry of Communications, Posts and Telegraphs Union of Burma had requested the soft loan to fund three telecom projects worth more than US$30 million (Bt1.2 trillion).

The projects, which centre on broadband satellite, nationwide transmissions and information and communications technology, require material supplied by Thailand?s telecom sector, of which the Shinawatra family empire is a key player.

Burma?s sole Internet service provider Bagan Cybertech is involved in the schemes.

It provides Internet access and a longdistance call service in Burma via the iPSTAR gateway and its equipment and the iPSTAR broadbandsatellite signal, which is owned by the Shinawatra family?s Shin Satellite Plc.

ShinSat yesterday released a press release defending itself.

The company said its was normal practice for countries to seek soft loans from Exim banks based in the same country as the equipment supplier to ensure a project?s success.

ShinSat said it had secured loans from Exim banks in the US and France to finance its iPSTAR broadband satellite, which was developed by US company Loral Space and Communications Ltd and will be launched by French firm Ariane Space.

Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Sihasak Phuangketkeow said the three Burmese projects had been proposed under the Bt4billion credit line that Thailand offered Burma to build basic infrastructure projects in order to develop its grassroots economy.

Thailand approved the credit line during Burmese Prime Minister Khin Nyunt visit to Bangkok in June under the condition that materials for the projects by purchased from Thailand.

Sihasak said only three projects had so far been approved, adding that Burma?s telecommunication structure needed drastic improvement.

He said the loan was not a ?blank check?, with all projects required to follow Exim Bank guidelines, which operated in accordance with ?universal practices?.

Earlier this year, leading US Congressman Senator Mitch McConnell blasted Thaksin, describing his support for Burma?s military government as ?odd behaviour given Thailand?s professed commitment to democracy and human rights?.

McConnell charged that Thaksin?s policy towards Burma might have been shaped by his family?s investment in the country.

He said Thaksin?s cosy relationship with Burma?s oppressive regime was questionable because it came amid an influx of ?narcotics, HIV/Aids and other undesirable exports pouring across Burma?s borders into Thailand?.

?Some suspect that the raison d?etre can be summed up in a single word: iPSTAR,? he said.

In time, Thaksin might become the last "patriot" standing, while the "traitors" take the country back from him.

Guest column: One man?s traitor is sometimes another man?s patriot

Published on Aug 24, 2004


If being a patriot means never criticising Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, I would rather be a traitor. Both of us have irreconcilable differences on what constitutes one?s ?love? of the country, and there?s nothing we can do but agree to disagree. That?s what democracy is all about, isn?t it?

If, to Thaksin, patriotism means blind faith in a leader, placing an individual above common guiding values like freedom of speech, checks and balances and human rights and calling efforts to protect these principles an act of treason, then so be it.

Although Thaksin does not hold democracy dearly, it doesn?t mean he should be exempted from the fruits of its merits. Therefore, he has the right to put forth his ideology that democracy is not so important. He has the right to think that absolute control is the best way to take the nation forward. And he can call anyone questioning him in whatever way and manner a rebel.

On Saturday, Thaksin decried the Nation Multimedia Group for what he deemed a biased report in the Krungthep Thurakij business newspaper regarding the Village Fund project.

The prime minister said he had never minded being ?hated? and attacked, but he suggested that those detesting and criticising him did not love this country.

Thaksin has the right to believe that he is Thailand. We also respect his right to believe that he does ?love? the nation. After all, just about anyone can say he or she is patriotic. Businessmen who rip off their compatriots by selling overpriced IT gadgets and charging ridiculous monthly fees can say they are patriotic. So can tax evaders, stock manipulators and those profiting from inside information about the national currency.

One can drink the most expensive wine in the world, buy vanloads of Louis Vuitton, wrap himself in a designer towel and think he is patriotic. One can mock the national airline and set up a rival company and say he is patriotic. Or one can siphon state money into his pocket and yet cry during the national anthem. Anyone may consider himself a patriot, whose demise will spell doom to his country.

We at The Nation happen to believe that Thailand is not Thaksin. We believe a nation is a congregation of people who share ultimate common principles and values and must do everything they can to protect them. Leaders come and go, but without an ideological binding, a country will unravel. We believe that patriotism is about sacrificing, not grossly enriching, oneself. And surely it?s not about attaching the country?s survival and future to any one particular man.

We choose to believe that a dictatorship likes to invoke nationalism to fulfil bad motives. Name one dictator, dead or alive, who is or was not obscenely rich despite proclaiming, ?I will die for my country.? Thaksin, whose assets have multiplied in value since becoming prime minister, has the right to think that patriotism can also spawn personal wealth. He has the right to think that he has succeeded as the nation?s leader, even though household incomes remain static, and a burden of debt threatens the common man. We have the right not to buy that.

Time will tell if the Village Fund programme is a success or a failure. ?Traitors? will have to continue doing their job of scrutinising it and other state policies.

If it is a success, then Thaksin will be proved right by on-time debt repayment and the mushrooming of fruitful small-scale businesses in the villages.

The same applies to other grass-roots programmes that drain budget resources, but please the majority of the rural people.

Time will tell if the ?patriots? led by Thaksin will suffer alongside other Thais if another financial crisis hit the country. He has used the ?good? economy to justify dramatic increases in his wealth, but when the rainy days come again, it will be interesting to see whose interests he will first seek to protect.

Only time will tell who is a patriot, and who is a traitor. Sometimes the line becomes blurred in the process, but ultimately the differing levels of sacrifice and selfishness, which define patriotism and treachery, will provide an answer.

Tulsathit Taptim

The Nation