So I am working on this project where Burma, Thailand and Malaysia undergo rapid economic transformation and become tiger economies. The divergences mostly happen after 1948. All your help would be appreciated ^^.
For Burma, I'm thinking of perhaps not assassinating Aung San. He was the face of Burma, and he could've prevented much of the ethnic conflict. Perhaps instead of the Panglong Agreement, the nation could've been made completely federalised. This could've made the conflict in the southern states like Kayin not as bad as it was irl. Ne win would not have been promoted to Lieutenant General, and Smith Dun (Smith was a Karen, his unreasonable termination did accelerate tensions between the Karen and Bamars) would've retained his position. To prevent military coups from taking place, we can implement some policies such as issuing ethnically heterogenous army regiments, establishing a military ombudsman post, and perhaps sending parts of the army to UN peacekeeping missions (once the insurgencies end) so that it doesn't take an interest in politics. Following that we could possibly see some early socialist reforms such as land distribution, the formation of cooperatives, provision of free food and healthcare to the poor, and some educational reforms, followed by a slow process of liberalisation once domestic industry prospers. Perhaps turn the country into some sort of South Korea, since Burma was actually better off than South Korea in the 1950s. For the Rohingyas, much of the conflict was due to Islamophobia and ethnic nationalism in Burma. To prevent the Rohingya exodus, perhaps we could prevent Burma from being declared as a Buddhist nation, and possibly create an inter-ethnic forum, to encourage dialogue between the different ethnic groups. Since Burma did have a communist insurgency until the 1980s (which was supported by China), there's a high chance it would've become slightly pro-US. If it did join the war in Vietnam against the communists, the US would probably provide aid for Burma to leech off from. With a US-Thai taskforce, a joint program against the CPB could be launched. Also, since Ne Win doesn't come to power, there wasn't an exodus of Indian and Chinese businessmen.
I'm not quite sure about Malaysia and Thailand though. Both of these nations were considered emerging tiger economies until the Asian Financial crisis hit. Perhaps we could somehow prevent that? I'm not sure how though.
For Burma, I'm thinking of perhaps not assassinating Aung San. He was the face of Burma, and he could've prevented much of the ethnic conflict. Perhaps instead of the Panglong Agreement, the nation could've been made completely federalised. This could've made the conflict in the southern states like Kayin not as bad as it was irl. Ne win would not have been promoted to Lieutenant General, and Smith Dun (Smith was a Karen, his unreasonable termination did accelerate tensions between the Karen and Bamars) would've retained his position. To prevent military coups from taking place, we can implement some policies such as issuing ethnically heterogenous army regiments, establishing a military ombudsman post, and perhaps sending parts of the army to UN peacekeeping missions (once the insurgencies end) so that it doesn't take an interest in politics. Following that we could possibly see some early socialist reforms such as land distribution, the formation of cooperatives, provision of free food and healthcare to the poor, and some educational reforms, followed by a slow process of liberalisation once domestic industry prospers. Perhaps turn the country into some sort of South Korea, since Burma was actually better off than South Korea in the 1950s. For the Rohingyas, much of the conflict was due to Islamophobia and ethnic nationalism in Burma. To prevent the Rohingya exodus, perhaps we could prevent Burma from being declared as a Buddhist nation, and possibly create an inter-ethnic forum, to encourage dialogue between the different ethnic groups. Since Burma did have a communist insurgency until the 1980s (which was supported by China), there's a high chance it would've become slightly pro-US. If it did join the war in Vietnam against the communists, the US would probably provide aid for Burma to leech off from. With a US-Thai taskforce, a joint program against the CPB could be launched. Also, since Ne Win doesn't come to power, there wasn't an exodus of Indian and Chinese businessmen.
I'm not quite sure about Malaysia and Thailand though. Both of these nations were considered emerging tiger economies until the Asian Financial crisis hit. Perhaps we could somehow prevent that? I'm not sure how though.
