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Former US Envoy to Thailand Hopeful for Compromise in Conflct, But Sees
Challenges Ahead

   Ira Mellman | Washington 13 May 2010
   Former  U.S.  Ambassador  to  Thailand William Itoh says he is hopeful
   that  some  kind  of  compromise  might  be  reached between Red Shirt
   protestors  and  the Thai government, but he says great challenges lie
   ahead
   âIâve  always  been  branded  an optimist about Thailand being able to
   deal  with  these kinds of issues, but I would have to say personally,
   this is a very challenging time for all of us who wish Thailand well,â
   he said.
   In  an inverview with VOA, Itoh said calling the confrontation between
   the  protestors  and  the government a "class struggle" was one way of
   looking at it, explaining the economic divides in Thailand.
   âThere  is  a  widening  gap,  I  think, between the people in Bangkok
   particularly  and  people  in  the  poorest  part  of  Thailand in the
   populous part of the northeast,â he said.
   Itoch  was  the U.S. ambassador to Thailand from 1996 through 1999. He
   now  is  faculty  advisor  to the University of North Carolina's Field
   Research Seminar on Foreign Policy in Washington, D.C.
   In  speaking  about  the  connection between the protestors and exiled
   Thai   Prime  Minister  Thaksin  Shinawatra,  Itoh  said  Thaksin  has
   undermined his own case by moving to Cambodia.
   âI  wouldnât  want to speculate but it seems to me that thereâs a fair
   and  a  clear  connection  between  the  former Prime Minister and his
   followers,â he said.
   Ambassador Itoh said the United States and other nations must be "very
   careful"  when it came to intervention, saying the US must not be seen
   to be intervening. He said ultimately, this is a Thailand problem that
   must be resolved by the Thai people.
   âI  think  ultimately people recognize that this is a Thailand problem
   that needs to be resolved by the Thais themselves.â

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