In the latest sanctions directed at the economic assets of Burma’s junta, the United States has targeted former drug kingpin Lo Hsing-Han and his family.

Lo’s corporation Asia World Co. Ltd., now under the operational command of his son Steven Law, whom U.S. President Bush labels a “regime crony,” is known to construct highways, ports and other government infrastructure throughout Burma.

“As one element of our policy to promote a genuine democratic transition, the US maintains targeted sanctions that focus on the assets of regime members and their cronies who grow rich while Burma’s people suffer under their misrule,” according to a White House statement released yesterday.

It’s widely held that the Burmese regime assisted in transforming Lo’s former drug empire into a robust corporation during the 1990s, in an attempt to appear to be combating narcotics while shoring up its own internal security.

Law’s wife, Singaporean native Cecilia Ng, and ten companies based in the Lion City are also listed as coming under the fire of the U.S. Treasury Department, the arm of the government responsible for leveraging the economic sanctions, which freeze assets and prohibit American companies to engage in business ventures with those listed.

This most recent ratcheting up of pressure on the junta’s economic interests also takes further aim at Burmese tycoon Tay Za, who has already had several of his business interests targeted by the Bush Administration. Now his Aureum Palace Hotels and Resorts along with Myanmar Treasure Resorts are additionally subject to financial constraints.

Only days after U.N. Special Envoy to Burma Ibrahim Gambari voiced his belief that ASEAN has a crucial role to play in Burma, President Bush on Monday echoed identical sentiments.

“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,” Bush put forth in his address.

However the region remains ambiguous and divided over the use of sanctions as a tool to foment reform and reconciliation inside Burma.

Though certain countries within ASEAN have expressed frustration at the pace of reform in Burma, notably the Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore, there also remains a distinct trend to respect the right of governments to unilaterally deal with internal affairs, and hesitancy to fully support sanctions.

While Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos have consistently opposed sanctions against Burma and its generals, Singapore, Burma’s third largest trading partner for fiscal year 2006-07 after Thailand and China, has publicly questioned the efficacy of relying on a campaign of sanctions.

Following the Saffron Revolution, Singapore’s Foreign Minister George Yeo remarked that sanctions against the regime would likely be ineffective and could lead to a contradictory result from that which is intended by further dividing Burmese society. Singapore is also unsupportive of the latest measures.

Thailand, meanwhile, remains reluctant to shift from a position of advocating dialogue over sanctions, as the country continues to benefit from natural gas imports and looks to gain from hydro-electric power projects in Burma.

The White House says that nearly 900 persons are now subject to visa restrictions as a result of their affiliation with the Burmese junta, largely on the heels of the violent crackdown of last year’s Saffron Revolution which is estimated to have taken the lives of at least dozens of protesters and led to thousands of arbitrary arrests.