Thailand angers Malaysia in push for peace in troubled South

[webfact]

Thailand angers Malaysia in push for peace in troubled South

Sources say Bangkok marginalized Kuala Lumpur in back-channel talks with rebels

MARWAAN MACAN-MARKAR, Asia regional correspondent

 

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, left, flagged his interest in Thailand's ethnic conflict soon after returning to office in 2018. (Nikkei Montage/ Reuters) 

 

BANGKOK -- Thailand's peace offensive to end a 16-year ethnic conflict in three southern provinces has soured diplomatic ties with Malaysia, which borders the area.

 

Sources told the Nikkei Asian Review that Bangkok's security establishment has been scrambling to contain further diplomatic fallout before the next round of negotiations in Kuala Lumpur in early March. "The Thais are trying to pacify the Malaysians by offering to share some credit for the recent breakthrough in the peace process," said a Bangkok insider with intimate knowledge of the talks.

 

This frosty relations between the two Southeast Asian neighbors followed groundbreaking back-channel talks in Berlin late last year between the Thai security establishment and Barisan Revolusi Nasional, the largest rebel group in the region.

 

Full story: https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Thailand-angers-Malaysia-in-push-for-peace-in-troubled-South

 

-- NIKKEI ASIAN REVIEW 2020-02-21

[harada]

Give it back to Malaysia, all sorted.

[bangkokfrog]

I can't help but wonder if the trouble in the South suits the government's purpose as it legitimizes the existence of and enormous expenditure on an army which in modern times has never really gone to war and been humiliated in the few  combat engagements it has participated in. Are they really trying hard to find peace or is it all for show?

[RichardColeman]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

share some credit for the recent breakthrough in the peace process

I must have been asleep for longer than i thought

[Puchaiyank]

Scratching head here.  How can peace in Southern Thailand cause Malaysia an heartburn?  

 

Asians...can find the darkest cloud on a sunny day!

[Yadon Toploy]

Songkhla is Thailand's oil and gas hub so the Thais are not going anywhere.

[Moonlover]

3 hours ago, harada said:

Give it back to Malaysia, all sorted.

The region never was part of Malaysia. (or Malaya) It was an independent Sultanate which was subjugated by Thailand long before Malaya came into existence.

 

Neither are the rebels seeking (re)integration. They want their independent state back.

[Krataiboy]

6 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

Scratching head here.  How can peace in Southern Thailand cause Malaysia an heartburn?  

 

Asians...can find the darkest cloud on a sunny day!

Isn't "peace offensive" an oxymoron?

[ParkerN]

As I recall, Uncle Too said he would resolve this problem within 12 months of seizing power.

 

Do I recall correctly?

 

 

 

[ParkerN]

7 hours ago, bangkokfrog said:

I can't help but wonder if the trouble in the South suits the government's purpose as it legitimizes the existence of and enormous expenditure on an army which in modern times has never really gone to war and been humiliated in the few  combat engagements it has participated in. Are they really trying hard to find peace or is it all for show?

Yes. All for show - to maintain the upward cash flow.

[scorecard]

7 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

Scratching head here.  How can peace in Southern Thailand cause Malaysia an heartburn?  

 

Asians...can find the darkest cloud on a sunny day!

 There is a reason why they are upset, read the link.

[simple1]

7 hours ago, Moonlover said:

The region never was part of Malaysia. (or Malaya) It was an independent Sultanate which was subjugated by Thailand long before Malaya came into existence.

 

Neither are the rebels seeking (re)integration. They want their independent state back.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Siamese_Treaty_of_1909

[Thongkorn]

11 hours ago, harada said:

Give it back to Malaysia, all sorted.

The People in the Middle dont want to Be Malaysian Or Thai , thats the problem they want to rule themselves.

Both Countries Thailand and Malaysia put there two penneth in.

[Moonlover]

16 hours ago, simple1 said:

23 hours ago, Moonlover said:

The region never was part of Malaysia. (or Malaya) It was an independent Sultanate which was subjugated by Thailand long before Malaya came into existence.

 

Neither are the rebels seeking (re)integration. They want their independent state back.

 

16 hours ago, simple1 said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Siamese_Treaty_of_1909

Are you agreeing with my post or trying to debunk it? Neither is clear from this Wiki article.

 

[simple1]

8 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

 

Are you agreeing with my post or trying to debunk it? Neither is clear from this Wiki article.

 

I agree the Southern rebels are trying to gain an independent nation, but will not happen as forbidden under the current Constitution and the military oath. Maybe in the future some form of autonomy, but IMO not while the military is the real power in Thailand.

 

Some more detail on the 1909 treaty, IMO wasn't as straight forward as you suggest.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Malaya#Northern_Malay_states_and_S

[Yadon Toploy]

6 minutes ago, simple1 said:

I agree the Southern rebels are trying to gain an independent nation, but will not happen as forbidden under the current Constitution and the military oath. Maybe in the future some form of autonomy, but IMO not while the military is the real power in Thailand.

 

Some more detail on the 1909 treaty, IMO wasn't as straight forward as you suggest.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Malaya#Northern_Malay_states_and_S

They'll never have any sort of autonomy for the reason I stated earlier.

[Moonlover]

3 minutes ago, simple1 said:

I agree the Southern rebels are trying to gain an independent nation, but will not happen as forbidden under the current Constitution and the military oath. Maybe in the future some form of autonomy, but IMO not while the military is the real power in Thailand.

 

Some more detail on the 1909 treaty, IMO wasn't as straight forward as you suggest.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Malaya#Northern_Malay_states_and_S

I do know that there was some border manipulation between The British and the Thais when the Malayan state was established and even before then, but that had no bearing on what was then the 'Sultanate of Pattani'. This also from a Wiki article:

 

'The former Sultanate of Pattani, which included the southern Thai provinces of Pattani (Patani), Yala (Jala), Narathiwat (Menara)—also known as the three Southern Border Provinces (SBP)[52]—as well as neighbouring parts of Songkhla Province (Singgora), and the northeastern part of Malaysia (Kelantan), was conquered by the Kingdom of Siam in 1785 and, except for Kelantan, has been governed by Thailand ever since'.

 

Malaya, as a nation, did not come into existence until 1946. So going back to where I came in on this one, there can be no 'handing back to Malaysia' as was suggested.

 

But like you say, not quite as simplistic as some people seem to think.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Thailand_insurgency

 

 

[simple1]

22 minutes ago, Yadon Toploy said:

They'll never have any sort of autonomy for the reason I stated earlier.

Maybe, but everything is negotiable. From my interpretation more to to do with the military oath - One Nation...