Time to stop the pot blaming the kettle (Article)

No.01 - 6/2007
4 June 2007
Thai-Burma Relations
 
Time to stop the pot blaming the kettle
 
Today, the first textbook on Thai-Burma relations for fourth graders in Burma, a mere 12-page history supplement, is six years old.
 
It was followed later by a 74-page text for middle schools and a 163-page enlarged version for high schools.
 
The timing of the publication was significant. It was just almost 4 months after Thai and Burmese troops exchanged fire over the seizure of the Pangnoon border base of the Thai Army between Chiangrai and Monghsat (which was not mentioned in the book) on 9 February 2001 and over the possession of Hill 'O' that stands between Maesai and Tachilek on 11 February 2001 (which was mentioned in the book).
 
It was unflatteringly titled Myanmar-Yodaya Relations. The author explains: "Ayuddhya (Thailand's former capital) means Unconquerable. It later derived into Yodaya after the Burmese called it Yuddhya (Conquerable) to suppress its stars."
 
The Thais, according to the text, love beauty treatments and entertainments. "They possess meager self-reliance and very little interest in hard work. Due to close relations with the West, their upper class people adore western culture and model themselves after it."
 
According to Thai historian Phraya Damrong Rachanupharb's Thai Rob Phama (literally Thais fight Burmese, but translated as Our Wars with the Burmese) the first war with Burma in 1548 was the result of palace intrigues in Ayuddhya that had weakened the kingdom and prompted the Burmese king Tabinshwehti (1531-1551) to take advantage of it. Junta text however argues that it started with the Thai invasion of Tavoy, a Burmese possession.
 
The book also rejects Thai claim of the slaying of Pegu's Uparaj by King Naresuan the Great (1590-1605) during the duel on elephant-back "He was killed by a Yodaya sniper," insists the book.
 
Gen Chartichai Choonhavan, the late prime minister who had worked hard to improve relations with Burma with his famous 1991 slogan, From battlefield to marketplace, was not much in Burma's hall of fame either. It was aimed at Thailand becoming "a regional superpower," concludes the text.
 
The book also outlines Thailand's unneighborly deeds: Teaching of Hate Burma history, support for anti-junta movements, unilateral accusations over the drug issue and improper attitude with regards to the border trade. "Yodayas have consistently worked to weaken and destroy Myanmar," the book says in its conclusion. "They are implementing Maha Yodaya Wada (Pan Thai-ism) under various names and patterns."
 
The textbook, in its foreword, maintains that the teaching of the subject is not intended to flare up hatred against Thailand. However, as nothing positive about the kingdom is being mentioned, the reader can only conclude that while the book may not aimed at stirring up hatred, there is nothing else to suggest it is not attempting to brainwash its students to despise its eastern neighbor.