What makes it attractive is that as a policy it can be understood both literally and metaphorically, and is equally compelling as a vision either way.

One of the problems Bangladesh has always had -- along with all other post-colonial nations -- is that we have been grudgingly focused on the West as a model for our development, and this focus has proved a distraction in a number of ways.

In the first place, the differences between our society and those of the West in terms of state of development as well as cultural identity are extremely pronounced, and thus make the West an unrealistic model on which to base ourselves.

More importantly, with our colonial history, there is something psychologically unappealing about looking towards the West, against whose domination we struggled so hard for so long, as a model for the future and the direction we wish to go.

This unease we have had with respect to the West is one thing that has made modernization so problematic, as we have tried hard to advance and develop without turning ourselves into pale (or rather, dark) carbon copies of our erstwhile rulers.

Set against this historical backdrop, looking East for lessons in development makes a great deal of sense.

In the first place, there are far greater cultural and societal similarities between Bangladesh and the Asean nations, and in the second place, they have had to overcome many of the developmental difficulties that we are struggling with today, all of which makes them a more realistic model to look towards for ideas of how to develop.

And, of course, looking East comes with none of the psychic baggage that looking West entails.

In fact, I do not think that it would be too much of an overstatement of third world solidarity to state that Bangladeshis are in some small way quite proud of the advances made by our neighbours to the East, and consider them very worthy of emulation.

I have been in Thailand for the past few days as part of a delegation of journalists invited by the Thai Foreign Ministry to educate us a little about their country, in the hope that this kind of initiative will further strengthen ties between our two countries.

It has been an eye-opening and gratifying experience in more ways than one.

To start with, I cannot help but be impressed by the state of development of the country, and furthermore it has been a pleasure to see first hand the interest that the Thais have in better relations between our two countries.

To be sure, they are interested in strengthening ties in their own self-interest.

They are keen to expand exports to Bangladesh, and feel that Chiang Mai, in particular, can serve as a regional hub for a trans-national area, that includes Chittagong, for things such as medical services and graduate study, to which end there are now three flights a week between the two cities.

But beyond this, the desire to play a part in the advancement and development of Bangladesh that I have seen evidence of since I got here strikes me as pretty genuine (if for no other reason than it is in everyone's interest that everyone in the region advances and develops).

So, what have I learned on my trip to Thailand that has so far encompassed Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, the Golden Triangle area bordering Laos and Myanmar, and Bangkok, in terms of lessons for our development?

The first thing that I have noticed is that the idea we have of attributing our lack of development to our poor command of the English language (compared to, say, India) is something of a red herring. The English of even very senior Thai officials can be quite spotty, and no language other than Thai is spoken widely or well by the majority of the common people, with no apparent detriment to their development as a nation as far as I can see.

The difference between their level of development and ours is nothing to do with their command over the language of international commerce, but it may well have plenty to do with the fact that their literacy rate is in the nineties, and that they have placed such a great emphasis on quality and accessible education for all.

Our problem is not that we don't speak English better, but the fact that, frankly, we don't speak Bangla that well either, and that our system of education is dilapidated and out of date.

In short, one can graduate from high school and even university in Bangladesh without learning much of use, and if we wish to do something to advance ourselves, it is this problem to which we need to apply ourselves, more than the question of levels of aptitude in English (although in the absence of any initiative to improve our academic curricula, a good grasp of English is probably the most useful tool one could have in one's educational arsenal).

The fact is that to this day we do not emphasize or reward creativity or critical thinking in education, and the result is a work-force that, even when educated, has not been trained to be sufficiently competitive in the modern world.

The other pronounced difference between Bangladesh and Thailand is the difference in the planning and vision that has been demonstrated by successive governments in the two countries.

Simply put, the Thai governments have demonstrated far greater aptitude for forward thinking than any of the governments we in Bangladesh have had the misfortune to labour under, and the consequence is the difference in the states of development in the two countries.

Of course, Thailand has been benefited by the fact that it was able to side-step the West's colonial embrace, and that it has barely more than half the population of Bangladesh in three times the space, but the point remains the same.

The question now is how can looking East help us get to where we want to go?

Expanded trade and the availability of Chiang Mai as a regional hub that can benefit the people of Chittagong is fine as far as it goes.

But the real benefit to Bangladesh from better relations with Thailand lies in letting Thailand further into the country.ÊThis means more Thai direct investment and availing ourselves of their superior technological and managerial expertise when it comes to developing infrastructure.

And this applies to not just Thailand. It applies to our other regional neighbours such as Malaysia and South Korea and China, and yes, India, too.

Looking East cannot be a substitute for a coherent India policy on the part of the Bangladesh government.

Indeed, there can be little doubt that one reason that China and the Asean countries are so keen to expand ties to Bangladesh is that we lie on the road to India and in many ways are the gateway to South Asia.

Our future lies in the fact that we are fortuitously located more or less at the cross-roads of South Asia, South-East Asia, and southern China.

If this was a reality that our government recognized and was willing to act upon, I would be more impressed with its Look East policy.Ê But for now, I fear that the government only half understands the true magnitude of what could and should be the basis for a regional foreign policy that would put Bangladesh squarely in our rightful place at the centre of Asia -- both literally and metaphorically-- and be of tremendous long-term advantage to the nation.

Zafar Sobhan is Assistant Editor of The Daily Star.