REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE: A Thai-Burmese communique?

[Thiha]

The Nation, 4th May 2001

Opinion

RE:REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE: A Thai-Burmese communique?

Aside from the importance of Prime Minister Thaksin's visit to Burma
and the future of Thai-Burma relations, which in the long run, are
more important than (say) Thai-U.S. relations or Burma-China
relations, I wonder if the reading public in Thailand is aware of the
irony in the Prime Minister's name: Thakin Shinawrahta. Thaksin
(or Taksin) of course, as all Thais know, is the monarch who reunified
Thailand after the Burmese sack of Ayuthia in the mid 18th century
while Shin Nawrahta ("Lord Nawrahta or Anawyahta) was the Burmese king
who unified Burma under the Pagan Dynasty in the 11th century. That
the names of two of the most important unifiers of Thailand and Burma
reside in the Prime Minister's name should be considered auspicious
(if you're an optimist), and if not, at least rather unique. My hope
is that it's a harbinger of things to come, and foretells the unity of
Thai-Burma regional policies and interests.

Michael Aung-Thwin
Professor, Asian Studies
University of Hawaii at Manoa

-Michael Aung-Thwin