Since Burma first initiated its political and economic reforms, businesses with an eye to profits and governments with a regional political strategy in mind have been gushing in their praise of Burma’s President Thein Sein.

Problems elsewhere in the country were ignored and the President’s word that his government was doing its best was enough to placate critics of his country’s never ending internal conflicts.

But the ongoing violence in Rakhine state pitting Buddhists against Muslims and Thein Sein’s rejection of outside mediation from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other interested groups is getting beyond the pale.