US President George W Bush has increased pressure on Burma’s unyielding regime by imposing fresh sanctions on businesspeople, including former drug warlords.

In the new move, the Department of Treasury applied financial sanctions against Steven Law (aka Tun Myint Naing), his wife Cecilia Ng and Lo Hsing Han, Burma’s once powerful Golden Triangle drug kingpin.

Steven Law and Lo Hsing Han are founders of the Asia World Company and are alleged to have made a fortune from illicit drug dealings in Burma.

Asia World Co Ltd was founded by Lo Hsing Han in 1992 and operated by managing director Steven Law. The company has provided critical support to the regime and has received numerous lucrative concessions, including the construction of ports, highways and government facilities, according to the US Treasury Department.

The Asia World Company was also involved in the construction of Burma’s new capital, Naypyidaw, in central Burma, and secured the contract to build Snr-Gen Than Shwe’s house there.

The latest sanctions are in addition to those imposed on 33 individuals and 11 entities previously designated by the Bush administration. Bush also announced that as many as 898 Burmese officials and their family members are now subject to visa restrictions.

It is important that businesspeople and regime cronies such as Steven Law and Tay Za, who was hit by sanctions in October, should pay for their selfish support of Burma’s corrupt government.

However, they have no direct business interests in the US, and, anyway, have no shortage of friends throughout the Asian region.

Since they are barred from entering the US, they are comfortable, like the generals in Naypyidaw, to live in Burma and have the opportunity to visit those countries where they have strong business dealings and financial connections, such as Singapore, India, China, Russia, South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia.

For that reason, Bush has called for concerted international pressure on Burma, especially from the country’s neighbors.

Knowing that Burma’s neighbors, mainly China, India and Thailand, continue to play a pivotal role in preserving the oppressive regime in Burma, Bush said in his statement: “We encourage Burma’s neighbors and other stakeholders in Southeast Asia to impress upon the regime the need to release all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi; to end military offensives and human rights abuses against ethnic minorities; and to begin a genuine transition to democracy in response to the demonstrated aspirations of all the peoples of Burma.”

But many in the region may not be listening to Bush.

On Monday, for instance, a stunning statement came Thailand’s newly appointed Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama. Noppadon, formerly deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s personal lawyer, said: “In the past, we had constructive engagement and flexible engagement, but they never took us anywhere.” Up until this point, we couldn’t disagree with him.

But then the minister added: “Now, we will adopt another approach: neighbor engagement…we will talk to them in a friendly manner on subjects that they are comfortable with.”

And what are those “comfortable” subject matters likely to be? Our educated guess would be: timber trade, fishing rights in Burmese waters, gas from Burma and golf.

Shocking to hear from a newly democratically elected government? Not really. Over the past 20 years, such nonsensical statements from Burma’s neighbors only reinforced and encouraged the generals in power to stay as long as they want, while betraying the monks and the people of Burma, many of whom have given their lives in the peaceful struggle against the regime.

Unless and until the regime’s allies and opportunistic neighbors move to punish Tay Za, Tun Myint Naing and other regime cronies, we don’t see any positive change coming out of Burma. We think that although the Bush administration takes the moral high ground in punishing the regime and its cronies, it also needs to engage and talk to its allies in the region on how to bring about change in Burma.