By now, everyone has seen the images of thousands of monks peacefully protesting and the bloody crackdown on the pro-democracy activists that followed the sangha’s peaceful march. Images of protesters being beaten and arrested were smuggled out of Burma for the world to see. Monks were reportedly beaten and tortured and many were sent away by the ruling military junta. The world reacted with outrage when Burma’s Senior General Than Shwe unleashed his brutal crackdown on the peaceful protesters and monks. Not since the Buddhist monk, Thich Quang Duc, calmly set himself on fire with gasoline as a protest against the authoritarian Diem regime have we seen such iconic images of peaceful monk protest.

As the protest grew, it was reported that Gen. Shwe’s family fled to Vientiane, Laos for a “visit”. Laos as a destination makes a lot of sense for military dictators and their family. After all, Laos is a neighboring authoritarian regime and, as a member of the authoritarian club, grants reciprocity for its members seeking refuge until things cool down back in their own country. That Laos is the backwater of Southeast Asia, is little known compared to its neighbors and is less accessible makes for a perfect getaway for dictators and their family who yearn to be incognito and desperately need time away from pesky protesters.

Burma’s junta is a member of another club that allows it to act with impunity—Burma is a member of ASEAN. Since Burma joined ASEAN in 1997, Burma has done nothing but embarrass the trading bloc and perhaps made some ASEAN members silently regret that Burma is even a member of ASEAN. That economic engagement with Burma—through ASEAN—has done little to open up Burma or change its undemocratic ways reopens the debate of whether economic sanctions against the regime would work better. Because the ASEAN way holds its principle of noninterference as gospel and there’s little political will by its trading members, the suppression by the junta will not likely stop—not through ASEAN anyway.