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Gordon Brown visits a poor area of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta
In a BBC interview Mr Brown, who is in Indonesia as part of a tour of south-east Asian countries, added: "The old days when you could make secret decisions behind closed doors without necessarily having understanding among the populations are over."
The BBC economics correspondent says the Chancellor is seeking to persuade Asian governments that they must not only embrace reform with enthusiasm, but create open, accountable systems to ensure their people know why harsh measures are unavoidable.
Mr Brown's remarks come against a backdrop of growing unrest in Indonesia, where President Suharto is facing criticism for his reluctance to encourage more political and economic openness.
Reforms mean price rises - but why?
Riot police in the city of Medan have clashed with demonstrators protesting at food and fuel price rises, and demanding political reform.
Indonesia is struggling to implement a package of economic and financial reform in return for more than $40bn worth of assistance from the International Monetary Fund.
As part of the reforms, the Indonesian Government has had to remove subsidies from some basic products, leading to steep price rises but our correspondent says the population has not been told why reforms should take place.
Mr Brown is in the region to prepare for a meeting of finance ministers from the G7 group of developed nations this Friday.
The Asian financial crisis is expected to top the agenda, just as it did at their meeting in Washington only three weeks ago.
The ministers are worried by the threat to regional - and perhaps global - stability posed by events in Indonesia, in particular, despite the fact that the industrial world has remained remarkably immune to contagion by that crisis.