Thaksin begins bridge-building visit to Myanmar

The Thai PM's visit is designed to patch up deteriorating relations with Myanmar

By John Raedler
CNN Bangkok Bureau Chief

BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra arrived in the Myanmar capital Yangon Tuesday, hoping to make a start in patching up the two countries' tattered relations.

Tensions between the Southeast Asian neighbors have been flaring all year largely as a result of military skirmishing along part of their long-contentious border.

But independent analysts in the Thai capital have told CNN they doubt Thaksin can achieve much in less than 24 hours on the ground in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.

"Antagonism, distrust, warfare … have riddled the Thai-Burma relationship for centuries," said a western academic in Bangkok.

"It's unlikely that that history will be changed much in one visit by one prime minister for one day," he added, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The most recent deterioration in relations started early this year when fighting between two ethnic minorities along the border dragged the Myanmar and Thai armies into direct, albeit brief, conflict.

Propaganda war

Since then there have been a spate of accusations by both Thailand and Myanmar, with each claiming the other's military has fired into its territory, killing and injuring civilians.

This in turn has led to an ever-escalating propaganda war between the two sides.

The war of words reached a high point recently with Thailand taking deep umbrage at what it saw as slights against its royal family in Myanmar's state-controlled news media.

The other longtime irritant in the relationship is drugs.

Thailand claims it is swamped by illegal narcotics -- historically heroin, more recently methamphetamines -- flooding out of Myanmar's side of the "Golden Triangle", the infamous drug-producing area in the mountains where Myanmar, Thailand and Laos meet.

Thailand accuses Myanmar's military government of being involved in this drug trafficking, profiting from it or at least turning a blind eye to it.

Yangon denies this accusation, a stance supported by the U.N. Drug Control Office which repeated to CNN its insistence that it does not believe Myanmar's military government is involved in the drug trade.

'Indispensable enemies'

Myanmar's generals wonder aloud how Thailand can be awash in drugs without some of its politicians, military and police being involved in the illegal narcotics business.

These two issues -- border tensions and drugs -- are expected to top Thaksin's agenda when he meets with leaders of the State Peace and Development Council, as the ruling generals in Myanmar calls themselves.

Both issues are thorny, deeply rooted and verge on insoluble.

"These are issues both sides can pretty much only manage, rather than solve," the western scholar told CNN.

He pointed to what he called "the indispensable enemies syndrome" in international relations meaning countries need enemies to help keep them united.

"Thailand and Burma are each other's 'indispensable enemy,'" he said.