Thailand: Big Brother Is BackLaos' relations with Thailand are of a different kind
than those with the other neighbors. The links with Vietnam and China are based on a
conception of a political or ideological brotherhood. Ethnically and in many other ways,
Thailand is a real brother but with a different ideology. For a long time Thailand was the
US-sponsored guardian of the 'free and democratic' world in continental Southeast Asia and
an enemy of the communist movements in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Nonetheless, Laos and
Thailand remained closely related through their common cultural and religious heritage.
The Lao and Thai languages are so close that they are mutually comprehensible for most
educated people. Both groups are Theravada Buddhists sharing, the same religious tradition
and cosmology. Indeed, until the 20th century the population in northeastern Siam was no
less 'Lao' than the people living in what is now Laos. The differences are greater if you
take the Thai and Lao together and compare them with the various ethnic minorities living
in Laos. Accordingly, Lao perceptions of life and the world are much closer to the modem
Thai culture than to the communist veneer that links it to Confucian China and Vietnam.
When someone from Thailand meets a Lao, he almost instinctively refers to himself
as elder brother (phii) in the same way that a Bangkok citizen would do when
meeting someone from Thailand's own periphery (the Lao listener will understand phii even
though the corresponding term in Lao is ai). Cultural proximity is not, however,
always a guarantee for friendship. Just as the United States and Britain (or Denmark and
Norway) are divided by a common language - with differences so minor that only the small
but crucial nuances are misunderstood - Laos and Thailand are divided by a common culture.
The Thai way of doing business is often brash and corrupt. The Vietnamese and Chinese
presume less and thus offend less.
Thailand and Laos are of course closely related
geographically. For topographical reasons, Thailand provides a much more convenient
transit route than Vietnam for goods to and from Laos. When the Lao PDR was established in
1975, Bangkok could easily damage the Laotian economy by stopping Lao trade through its
territory. Well aware of this problem, the 4th Party Congress in 1986 gave high priority
to improving, relations with Thailand. But the conflicts continued and culminated, in late
1987 and early 1988, in a bloody battle over a disputed border area where Thai logging
companies were operating.
This battle turned out to be the blowout that
ended the drawn out hostility. The year 1989 marked a dramatic improvement in the
relationship between the two countries. The diminished Vietnamese presence paved the way
for a greater role for Thailand. The new Thai Prime Minister at the time, Chatichai
Choonhavan, expressed a vision 'to turn Indochina from a battlefield into a marketplace'.
Since then, strong ties have been rebuilt and the common cosmology of the two countries
has been brought forward to cement the relationship. During a visit to Thailand shortly
before his death in 1992, Kaysone made the following wish:
Should we only uphold the spirit of
close fraternity and neighborliness, refrain from being partial and prejudiced against one
another, and together adhere to Buddhist ethics and the five principles of peaceful
coexistence, it is believed that we can settle each and every problem that arises to
disrupt Lao-Thai relations (FBISEAS-94-068: 42).
The new era of friendship has been blessed by
several visits to Laos by members of the Thai royal family, culminating in the visit of
the King in connection with the opening of the Friendship Bridge over the Mekong in April
1994.
Today, Thailand constitutes the cornerstone of
Laos' foreign economic relations. Thailand is the most important trading partner and in
1993 accounted for more than one third of all foreign investment. Thai capital looms large
in banking and manufacture. According to a diplomat in Vientiane, the regulations for
foreign banks are so demanding that ‘only the Thai can find a way around them’.
The Bangcak Petroleum Company has taken over one
third of the petrol stations in Vientiane. The Laos Beer Company, the country's only beer
producer, was established in 1993 as a joint venture between the Laotian Government and
Loxley Plc of Thailand. Thai capital also has a strong influence in the telecommunications
sector. In 1993, a USD 63 million contract was signed between the Laotian government and
Thailand's Shinawatra Computer and Communications Ltd. for the construction and
improvement of public radio and television broadcasting services. In 1994, Thai companies
signed joint-venture contracts for two industrial parks. To illustrate the success of Thai
business in Laos, the embassies of other countries in Vientiane have started to advise
their own nationals to find a Thai business partner before investing in Laos.
Thailand's new role is of course problematic for
Laotian leaders. The penetration of Thai capital may virtually transform Laos, in economic
and cultural terms, into a Thai province. The Lao watch Thai television and are
disregarding their own. The Thai electricity company, EGAT, has a monopoly position in
buying Lao hydroelectric power. The Thai domination of lowland Laos has got to a point
where responsible circles in Bangkok are issuing warnings to their own nationals against
arrogance and short-sighted exploitation: 'We don't want to be resented the same way in
Laos that we used to resent the Japanese', they say.
Well aware of the importance of Laos' natural
resources for Thailand, the leaders in Vientiane have used Bangkok's economic hunger to
demand the curbing of anti-Vientiane movements in Thailand. Armed Hmong forces still exist
although most refugees have now been repatriated. The unsettled border dispute is also a
matter of concern but this is now being handled at the negotiation table. There is a
strong urge on both sides to successfully demarcate the border, but the fact that this has
not yet been done remains a cause of concern; Laos has now settled all border issues with
the other neighboring states.
The Lao have ample historical evidence to
support resentment of the Thai. In 1827, Vientiane was sacked by Siamese forces and the
Lao principalities were for long periods under Siamese suzerainty. In 1893, Siam signed a
treaty with France whereby the Lao on the right bank of the Mekong became subjects of Siam
while those on the left bank became French colonial subjects. In 1941, parts of Laos were
annexed by Thailand after a short Franco-Thai war but Thai ambitions to fully annex Laos
were frustrated by lack of Japanese support. More recently, from
1964 to 1973, Royal Thai Air bases were placed
at the disposal of the US Air Force for its bombing campaign in Laos and of the Central
Intelligence Agency for its support of Guerrilla groups in Laos, most notably the base at
Udon.
Today's Laotians are in danger of being invaded
by their big brothers in a new way, through trade, investments and the media. It is not
the regime that is colonized but its people. The attractions of modem Thai society are
propagated in Laos through television, radio and video. There is a growing Thai-ification
in the cultural sphere. An observer in Vientiane made the following comment to us:
When the King of Thailand visited
Laos two years ago, it was the first time in thirty years that he went abroad. I wonder if
he felt he was abroad, or if perhaps he reentered a lost province.
The political leaders of Laos have few means to
resist the Thai penetration but some of the elders give voice to their concern about
decadent cultural influences and aggressive exploitative investors. Phoumi Vongvichit,
however, the main advocate of such concerns, died in 1994.
The Thai government and King have become
increasingly aware of the need to improve Thailand's image. One measure has been the
creation of the Thai-Lao Association. It has a non-official status but is led by Asa
Sarasin, the former Foreign Minister of Thailand who still has a strong position in
government circles. One of his main tasks is to teach Thai businessmen how to behave
respectfully towards the Lao.
Source: © The Quest for Balance in a Changing
Laos by Soren Ivarsson
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