Perspectives
by Lia Sciortino
Perspectives
China’s PR Problem Rears Its Head
Johanna Son
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CHIANG MAI, Dec 11 (TerraViva/IPS Asia-Pacific) - Powerful neighbour. A rising power. Old friend. Big, secretive investor. Big boy of the region.
These were some of the terms participants at a talk-show format discussion at the Mekong Media Forum used when asked to share the images of China they get from the media.
Reading Media
Johanna Son
BANGKOK -- Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia. What images might these words conjure up in the minds of international consumers of news? Perhaps war, maybe the Khmer Rouge. Or they might say, ‘Oh, it’s that those countries that had that war some time ago. . . they’re near one another, and they’re all the same’.
China: Benign Bully of the Mekong?
Johanna Son
SYDNEY, Oct 3 (IPS Asia-Pacific) – Over the last decade or so, China’s deft use of soft power has seen South-east Asian neighbours’ view of it change from a looming threat to a largely friendly, if still imposing, giant to the north.
From Market Back to Battlefield?
BANGKOK, Oct 7 – A short article by Agence France Presse on the front page of Thailand’s English-language daily ‘The Nation’ (Oct 4) reported that Cambodian and Thai troops stationed to guard the contested border around the Preah Vihear temple exchanged gunfire, wounding at least three soldiers. 
This escalation follows tension that has been building up since the
Amidst revived mutual suspicion and mistrust, nationalist sentiment has been running high over the past four months, leading neutral observers to fear that if not controlled, passions could easily be further inflamed.
There is a precedent in 2004, when comments by a Thai actress about Angkor Wat --another, and more important, Cambodian temple -- as reported in Cambodian media, led to mass riots in Phnom Penh against the Thai embassy and businesses and the warning of retaliation by the Thai government.
Thus far, bilateral discussions to resolve the Preah Vihear dispute have been slow. Instead, the two countries’ governments have opted to beef up their troops along the disputed territory.
BEYOND ARCHAEOLOGICAL PRIDE
That the dispute has more to do with domestic politics that exploit nationalist feelings, rather than with archaeological matters, has been pointed out by concerned experts such as architect Sumet Jumsai and South-east Asian historian Charnvit Kasetsiri.
In Thailand, Preah Vihear became an effective rallying point for opponents of the government of former Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and its alleged “backer”, ex- PM Thaksin Shinawatra. In Cambodia, Thailand’s opposition to the UNESCO’s listing has served to warm up crowds in favour of the government party in the lead-up to the July national elections.
The impact of this temple row, however, transcends the political sphere. In a Jul. 24 interview with ‘The Nation’, Charnvit Kasetsiri observed that the dispute could cause a “reversal of the development wheel which turned the (Indochina) battlefield into a marketplace”, thus undermining the fundamentals of regional integration. Here, he was referring to the vision first articulated by former Thai Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan in the late 1980s, after the end of the Vietnam War and the withdrawal of Vietnamese army forces from Cambodia. In the absence of an external threat, Thai foreign policy towards the former Indochinese countries was to be devoted to pursuing economic interests instead of being centred on national security concerns. As the argument went, with Thailand as catalyst, the region could be transformed into an integrated market and find stability in joint economic development.
Successive government administrations have followed this strategic direction, increasingly promoting regional market expansion under the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) Economic Cooperation Programme launched in 1992. The most clear, and recent, manifestation of this vision is embedded in the Ayeyawady - Chao Phraya - Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) spearheaded in 2003 by Thaksin Shinawatra in order to collaborate with Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and since 2004 also with Vietnam. The ACMECS repeats the GMS model of sub-regional development through market liberalisation and integration, but with a greater role for Thailand as the source of direct investment and development assistance for poorer areas across its borders, and the non-inclusion of China --Thailand's main competitor in the sub-region-- in the grouping.
AT WHAT COST?
In view of these aspirations, can Thailand afford to see economic transactions disrupted by border conflict? Thai media have insinuated that the government failed to oppose the UNESCO listing of Preah Vihear in exchange for advantageous business concessions benefiting former Prime Minister Thaksin and his cronies. Clearly though, Thai interests are more diversified and involve a larger set of parties and sectors. Thailand has traditionally been one of the t
op 10 investors in Cambodia and, with China, one of the two leading investors from the GMS. Many large Thai companies have invested in Cambodia, including PTT, ThaiBev, Mitr Pol, CP, SCG and Imperial Group, taking advantage of Cambodia's ample manpower and raw materials. Having considerable and immoveable assets already in place in Cambodia, these large Thai companies would hard put to withdraw from the country. Smaller Thai entrepreneurs, however, have temporarily closed or are considering closing their businesses because they are worried about negative feelings toward Thais among the Cambodian population. The campaign against Thai goods and currency, which started in the wake of the Preah Vihear dispute, has already affected commercial relations. Thai exports to Cambodia have declined since July, halting the growth in trade that had been occurring in the first half of 2008.
Besides affecting the flow of goods, the border quarrel has also affected the interlinked movement of people. On one hand, the volume of Thai tourism to Cambodia, usually among the largest streams, has declined and has had an impact on the many Thai hotels and restaurants that dot the tourism industry in Cambodia. On the other hand, cross-border migration to Thailand has become more constrained. Since the dispute, migrants with daily border passes encounter increased difficulties at immigration checkpoints. The Cambodian government has asked Cambodian migrants to return home rather than face increased hostility and discrimination in Thailand. Even if unrecognised by the Thai public, Cambodian labour is essential to Thailand's construction, agricultural and, especially fisheries, sectors.
Most visibly, the local economy in Si Sa Ket province, the Thai province bordering the Preah Vihear temple, has been upset. Border communities have seen their trade and tourism revenues drop to almost zero. Before the border was closed, about one thousand tourists a day would travel to Si Sa Ket to visit the temple from the more accessible Thai side, but now this is no longer possible. According to media reports, restaurants and hotels are empty and food vendors and petty traders are exposed to poverty now that their source of livelihood has dried out.
Concerned about the economic ramifications of the Preah Vihear controversy, Narongchai Akrasanee, executive chairman of the Export-Import Bank of Thailand, told the other major English-language daily ‘Bangkok Post’ in July: "We should separate the dispute about Preah Vihear temple from business. Cooperation between Thailand and Cambodia could generate a huge benefit for both sides." Still, as things stand now and in view of the current level of market integration, it seems unrealistic to assume that the two can be kept apart. Thailand, Cambodia and their peoples are going to incur economic costs for as long the conflict persists. And, if solutions are not found, Preah Vihear may soon start to exact more dramatic costs in human lives as well.
* * *
Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the organisations she is or has been associated with.
* * *
*Rosalia Sciortino, better known as Lia, is a cultural anthropologist and development sociologist by training, who is currently working in Thailand as Associate Professor at the Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, and Visiting Professor at the Masters in International Development Studies at Chulalongkorn University. Before that, she was Regional Director of the Rockefeller Foundation Office for Southeast Asia in Bangkok, overseeing grant-making activities in the Greater Mekong Sub-region. She also worked with the Ford Foundation in Indonesia and the Philippines, and has published widely on development issues. A native of Italy, she has lived in Asia for nearly two decades.
Photos:
1/Khmer troops at Preah Vihear (L Delux)
2/Photo credit: NorodomSihanouk.info
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Mekong ICT Camp 2010
The Mekong ICT Camp (http://mekongict.org), a biannual training workshop on information, communication, and technologies for citizen media, community health, and civil society practitioners in Mekong subregion, is accepting applications until Mar. 31, 2010. Participants are welcome from the Mekong countries, including Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.
COMING SOON: 'TALKING GENDER IN THE MEKONG MEDIA'
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BANGKOK - Do media organisations in the Mekong Region think that gender sensitivity, including giving voices to women, is part of doing better stories? How do they define it within the context of their societies and how do they report on different genders and sexuality? Do they include the use of gender-friendly language in their stylebooks and training programmes? How much is using a gender lens a news habit?
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