Solutions To The Southern Violence Are High On The Agenda Of Discussion

[Jai Dee]

Solutions to the Southern violence are high on the agenda of discussion between Thai and Malaysian leaders this Sunday

Thailand will make known to Malaysia her guideline in solving the violence in southern border provinces when Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont meets his Malaysian counterpart Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in Bangkok this coming Sunday (Feb 11).

Commenting on the upcoming visit of the Malaysian Prime Minister, Interior Minister Aree Wongaraya (อารีย์ วงศ์อารยะ) said General Surayud is well versed in the southern matter and will be able to recruit the Malaysian Prime Minister’s support to the southern solutions.

Touching on the Malaysian Foreign Minister’s approach for negotiations with Thailand on the latter’s plan to expand security walls along the common border, Mr. Aree welcomed the move, saying a ministerial level discussion on the impacts of wall expansion will be beneficial. He added the Ministry of Interior is waiting for a signal from the Thai Foreign Ministry which will coordinate with Malaysia for the talks.

The Interior Minister also commented on recent attacks on public utilities such as electricity poles by the southern insurgents. He believed the change of targets of attacks were not intentional but the attackers merely wanted the violence to continue, regardless of targets. He said southern authorities are now under full alert.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 07 Febuary 2007

[Jai Dee]

Anwar calls for democracy, Muslim support for Thai peace overtures

Speaking on 'The State of Democracy in South East Asia' here on Tuesday, former Malaysian deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim addressed a packed house at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand stating that even with a military-appointed government achieved by coup d'etat, Thailand exhibits greater essential democracy than his own country, and that of neighbouring Singapore.

Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's resounding victory in Thailand's April 2, 2006 general election represented the 'hijacking of democracy," Anwar said. Like other countries in the region, he said, Thailand has unresolved deep-seated issues regarding the rule of law.

Referring to the sale of Thailand's Shin Corp shares to Singapore-government related Temasek Holdings, Anwar said that so-called transparent laws allowed the sale to take place, but in fact the transaction was "modern banditry."

In his own country, he said, "the rule of law exists on as an academic study" and the laws and the judiciary essentially support those who are in power.

While his address was flavoured generously with a good-natured humour, it represented a matured and aged encounter with the legal system in his own country , where without warning he was removed from office, jailed and "stripped, assaulted, and beaten" by his country's police, on what he says were falsehoods, without substance or merit.

His treatment in police custody brought him close to death, he stated.

Anwar publicly thanked Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for helping make possible his earlier release from prison, which make it possible for him to serve in academic lectureships in Britain and the United States.

Nonetheless, Anwar chided Prime Minister Abdullah for Malaysia's lack of clear and firm call to all Muslims on both sides of the Thai-Malaysian border to respond positively to the sincere peacemaking approaches of

the Thai military, police and other security forces, as well as those of Buddhist monks, schoolteachers and other civilians.

The former Malay deputy premier said that "We know the military were involved" in many deaths and problems in Thailand's south, but he called on all parties to leave the past behind and to work for resolution of a bad situation.

"If you feel that Thaksin aggravated the situation in the South," Anwar stated, "why don't you give peace a chance."

Anwar said that the iron-fisted policies towards the south by the government of Thaksin Shinawatra, the Thai prime minister who was ousted in a coup last September, had badly destabilised the situation there.

Commending Thailand's Council for National Security-installed government of Gen. Surayud Chulanont for its sustained attempts at concilliation in the south, he said religious leaders and other civilians should take key roles, because the military are not trained and not equipped by personality and worldview to build societies.

Responding to repeated questions regarding the quality of life at the Thai-Malaysian border, Anwar said that as far as education and economic well-being were concerned, the communities on both sides of

the border had the lowest standards in their respective countries.

Source: TNA - 7 February 2007