COMMENTARY

Nationalist card is a dangerous one to play

Atiya Achakulwisut

It's getting personal, isn't it? And it's likely the National Stadium will be filled to bursting with patriotic Thais _ football fans or not _ this Sunday, when the second leg of the Asean Championship final between Thailand and Singapore is played. Win or lose, nationalism will run high... too high, probably, considering the situation.

The tension on the pitch mimics that at the national level. Whether the interim government of Surayud Chulanont and the Council for National Security realise it or not, the nationalist card is a dangerous one to play.

With its four-month performance falling on an unimpressive side, there are reasons for concern whether the twin governing bodies are up to such a high-stakes game.

The Foreign Ministry and military junta recently fired a back-to-back salvo at the island republic of Singapore.

The opening shot was the cancelling of a civil servants meeting and the revocation of an invitation to Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo to attend the meeting, after a diplomatic row which was sparked by former PM Thaksin using the city-state as a base to launch an attack on the ruling junta via interviews with the media.

It was followed closely by the CNS' airing of a suspicion that their mobile phones and those of members of the Assets Scrutiny Committee _ which is investigating corruption cases against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his cronies _ may have been tapped by Shin Corp, which is now owned by Singapore's Temasek Holdings.

While it is likely that both countries' foreign ministries will have the foresight to put an end to the diplomatic row and mend any rift the spat has caused as swiftly as possible, to ensure that relations remain smooth and productive, the sense of antagonism, once ignited, may not die down as instantly or as easily.

That dozens of protesters have gathered in front of the Singapore Embassy in Bangkok and raised placards on which were written ''Get out'' or ''Devil'' or worse is a case in point.

This is not to mention the emergence of sensational articles in a few newspapers and irresponsible chats by radio talk-show hosts who have jumped on the Singapore-bashing bandwagon, without conscience that they may be instigating unnecessary hatred against our country's neighbours.

Such an approach has caused many regrettable tragedies.

In case one has forgotten: the torching of the Thai Embassy and business premises in Phnom Penh in January 2003 was triggered by nothing but false newspaper reports that a Thai actress had insulted Cambodia by saying the country's famed Angkor temples belonged to Thailand.

In times of internal strife, the making of an outside enemy may be a foolproof tactic that serves the expedient purpose of rallying public support, even unifying people who are otherwise divided.

But take that into the modern context, where peoples are increasingly linked together by a globalised economy and advanced technology in communications _ when it is difficult to define what constitutes ''Singapore'' and its influence, while it is so easy for people with vested interests to manipulate the highly flammable nationalistic sentiment for their own hidden agenda _ and one might see that making an enemy out of our own neighbour (with whom we share many and profound interests both in terms of commerce and regional security), no longer looks very smart.

The latest sign that the diplomatic tension is getting out of hand is that security must be beefed up in preparation for Sunday's match, in which the Thai squad will have to fight hard to come back after its hotly-debated 2-1 defeat on Wednesday.

There is reasonable fear that charged-up fans may clash. And that's why 150 riot police will be a part of the final, too.

Would it be a sight that strengthens the ''caring and sharing'' spirit of countries in the same region, as declared at the latest Asean meeting?

One can only wonder.

Atiya Achakulwisut is Editorial Pages Editor, Bangkok Post.

Bangkok Post
Friday February 02, 2007