AS a Burmese expatriate enjoying what freedom of speech and human rights exist in Hongkong, I was thrilled when the Nobel Peace laureates visited Thailand in February, having been denied visas by the Burmese military dictators, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). Their peace mission was to demand the restoration of democracy in Burma and the release of fellow laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from imprisonment after four years. They were rightly dubbed the ''Nobel Warriors'' facing up to the SLORC and its political bed-fellows. Thailand extracted all the political mileage out of the visit, not undeservedly. But in just two months the Thai political chameleon raised its ugly spots again in spearheading an attack on human rights advocates at the Asia-Pacific Conference on Human Rights. The SLORC which has been widely condemned as the most brutal and consistent violator of human rights was taken under the wings of the likes of China. In fact the SLORC even managed to fire off a salvo at its critics. It was reminiscent of a dog which barked back at others after scampering back into its compound. I totally disagree with the SLORC representative Win Mra's assertion that democracy means anarchy. He was just parroting the dictators' cliche of anarchy or totalitarianism. Burma 1988, Tiananmen 1989, East Timor 1991, Bangkok 1992! Same dictators, same regimes, same human rights abuses. Have those thousands died in vain? Just because the Asia-Pacific region is enjoying an economic boom, does not entitle us to spit in the face of nations that want to uphold the universality of human rights. After all, human rights are human rights, no matter who and where you are. Cultureor sovereignty, or the developmental state of a country, does not entitle any state to violate the rights of its citizens. Killing, torture and extra-judiciary executions are wrong for the cave dwellers as well as for those living in skyscrapers. ''A society that refuses to remember the past is doomed to repeat it.'' How can we Asians claim our rightful place in the international community while condoning massacres and blatant human rights abuses in our own backyards? Instead of closing ranks and seeking comfort in numbers, Asian-Pacific countries should face the problem head on, now that we do not have the colonialism punch-bag on which to heap all our ills. The emancipation of Asian countries should begin right at home. NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED
