Thailand "needs 10 Years" To Bring Peace To South

[george]

Thailand "needs 10 years" to bring peace to south

PATTANI: -- Thailand may need at least 10 years to bring full peace to the mainly Muslim south, where nearly 300 people have been killed in a burst of violence since January, Defence Minister Chetta Thanajaro said on Friday.

The government plans to sink $300 million over the next three years into social and economic development in Thailand's three southernmost provinces, where 80 percent of the people are ethnic Malay Muslims.

But Chetta said the problems, which date back centuries, were so deeply rooted they would take a decade or longer to resolve.

"If we really want to see a sustainable solution and a very stable region, I would say it would take at least 10 years," Chetta told Reuters in the provincial town of Pattani.

"Even that may be too quick," he added.

Pattani witnessed the worst of the violence on April 28, when troops and police shot dead 32 suspected militants holed up in an historic mosque after they attacked a police station.

In all, security forces killed 106 people in 11 incidents on the same day across the three provinces, where the ethnic Malay majority feel remote from the Buddhist administration 1,100 km (700 miles) away to the north in Bangkok.

The violence erupted without warning on January 4 when gunmen stormed an army camp and killed four soldiers before making off with about 400 assault rifles.

Almost daily attacks since then have targeted police, government officials, schools, teachers and even three Buddhist monks. Much of the area is under martial law, with 10,000 police and soldiers manning roadblocks and security posts.

Chetta and other government ministers said they are at a loss to pinpoint the precise roots or motives of the violence, citing a complex mix of history, corruption, crime, drugs, religion and separatism that racked the region in the 1970s and 1980s.

They say, however, the instigators appear to have used a network of unregulated Islamic schools funded by Saudi and other Middle Eastern money as recruiting grounds for embittered Muslim youths. Chetta put their number at several hundred.

SECRET RITES

He said the little intelligence available suggested secret initiation ceremonies involving oaths of blind allegiance sworn on the Koran used to brainwash recruits, although there was no evidence of links to al Qaeda or its Southeast Asian affiliate, Jemaah Islamiah.

"We want to know what's in their minds," he said.

In an attempt to win hearts and minds, Chetta toured the area this week with Thailand's Islamic spiritual leader, 90-year-old Sawas Sumalyasak.

One influential Muslim scholar they met, Ismail Lutfi, welcomed the government's approach and said trouble had been brewing for years.

"All these problems have piled up into a great big rubbish heap and some ill-willed people have come along and lit a fire under it which is getting more severe," he said.

Lutfi, a Saudi-educated traditionalist, is rector of the Yala Islamic College, which was built with funds from the Islamic Development Bank and has 1,300 students.

The government had no right to criticise foreign funding of Islamic institutions given that it had neglected its own Muslim population until now, he said.

"Foreign funding eased tension and resentment among the locals. The government should have been grateful to the Islamic countries that support us," he said.

He dismissed a suggestion from Interior Minister Bhokin Bhalakual that rock music, soap operas and movies would win over Muslim youths by replacing fanaticism with fun.

"Such entertainment is not in accordance with Islamic culture here and I don't think the Islamic leadership here would agree to that," Lutfi said. "The government would do better to give them an education and job training."

--Reuters 2004-07-23

[ASIC]

He dismissed a suggestion from Interior Minister Bhokin Bhalakual that rock music, soap operas and movies would win over Muslim youths by replacing fanaticism with fun.

With suggestions like that from our beloved government, no wonder they need 10 years to solve the situation.

ASIC

[stumonster]

Defence Minister Chetta Thanajaro

its good to know the thai cabinet is has some that can evalute problems. this bloke sounds like he is being realistic in his assessment of the issues.

the people of the south should hope he is not removed in a reshuffle.

[DeDanan]

The government plans to sink $300 million over the next three years into social and economic development in Thailand's three southernmost provinces, where 80 percent of the people are ethnic Malay Muslims.

If History does tell us anything, then investing money will not bring about peace.

The “troubles” in the north of Ireland would have been solved years ago if throwing money at the problem worked!

What started in Ireland as small riots escalated into 30 years of armed conflict, during this time the UK government was not able to bring peace to the region, whether it tried using force or investing money.

a suggestion from Interior Minister Bhokin Bhalakual that rock music, soap operas and movies would win over Muslim youths by replacing fanaticism with fun.

I understand very little of the Muslim belief, but I think this quote indicates others have a lot to learn. Solutions start with dialogue and true understanding of the other sides point of view, then there has to be a willingness on both sides to work to find a solution.

That is to say that the Thai government can not impose a solution unless the people in the region are willing to accept it.

For a different solution we have the example of Tiananmen Square in 1989, a lot of Bad Karma!

Have a Happy...

DeDanan.

(In the above I have tried not to offend any side of the UK/Irish divide, in making reference to the North of Ireland and do not wish to debate this subject with anyone. I make reference to it only to point out that I don’t think investment alone will solve the problem.)

[francois]

hi'

it sounds like an anouncement of the will of toxin to stay in power for at least

10 more years

poor Thai people ...

francois

ps; no plan to solve muslim's problem has never work anywhere in this low world

sad to say ... but, cut a branch, never leave a tree without growing stronger

[eyespan]

I live in the south and everyday we wake up to statistics in Yala, Patani and Narathiwat. Killing people everyday is not the way to solve problems.

They are waging war because they know that negotiations will get them nowhere with what they want.

They want a different set of laws, different educational system, different administrative system. In short, they want their own country.

Very difficult requests for any government to grant overnight and not suffer any consequences.

[sonthaya]

10 years won't be enough when you are dealing with Muslim fanatics, I have been living 30 years in muslim countries in the Middle East, and unless you kill them all you will never have peace, I'm talking about the fanatics the rest is nice and peaceful people.

[DeDanan]

... and unless you kill them all you will never have peace, I'm talking about the fanatics ...

Hi,

Where in the world has “kill them” worked with Muslims?

???

DeDanan

[Wie]

Is 'ten years' the life expectancy of the terrorists in the south?

Does this mean daily killings that continue about ten years from now?

what's actually the solution for this problem? Or does this solution present itself in ten years from now when a different cabinet will rule the kingdom? That would be convenient, wouldn't it?

Poor people in the south....nothing to expect from Takhsin but daily deaths in the local news....

[Nam Kao]

Thailand "needs 10 Neutron Bombs" to bring peace to south

[john b good]

They acknowledge that the problem has existed for hundreds of years and now they say thay they need 10 years (perhaps a bit more) to resolve the issues.

One of the reasons that Thailand achieves so little is that they come up with unrealistic targets to be sought in unrealistic time frames.

In short, it's nothing short of a joke (to all apart from the victims and their families)

[Richard W]

Thailand "needs 10 Neutron Bombs" to bring peace to south

Unless they could do that secretly, Thailand would need air superiority. Remember Kosovo. Malaysia has 18 MiG-29's, and are trying to buy more.

[ASIC]

If history has taught us one thing, is that you cannot win with guns, or money or a huge fence, turture, kidnapping the torture victims lawyer, or whatever that had recently taken place. Someone from the Thai government has to really try to sit down and understand these people.

ASIC

[eyespan]

If history has taught us one thing, is that you cannot win with guns, or money or a huge fence, turture, kidnapping the torture victims lawyer, or whatever that had recently taken place. Someone from the Thai government has to really try to sit down and understand these people.

Not if the people involved in all the violence are just a small minority of deviants.

The Islam and muslim friends I know of are peaceful. Seeking to appease God very much in the same way as buddhists and christians, surrounding themselves with goodness and following set rules against stealing, cheating, adultery, murder etc.

The way that the violence is going on, they are not interested to talk. They are just interested in stirring <deleted>. Not acting like muslims at all but doing everything in the name of religion.

Didn't they start off by sacking the army camp for weapons? What for? To sell to their equally miscreant brothers in Aceh. By the way, the 300+++ weapons were already recovered, found on the way to Aceh on a fishing trawler.

For the money, for power or for god? you decide. Me...... I've already decided.

[stumonster]

I think it is widely understood that the violence is produced from minority who is not really interested in peaceful solutions.

but until the majority of muslims in the south denounce the ones that use violent means and let them know that it is not acceptable, this minority will continue to use force in the name of all muslims.

if these government ministers touring the south really listen to the leaders of the majority and institute reforms that allow the people of the south to have an improved quality of life, changes in their outlook toward government officals will change. not overnight, but over a length of time if they can be sure they trust what is being done.

i wonder How many promises made by the government back in 1980 have been fulfilled?

and the government minister who believes exposure to the movies and soap operas will settle things down.....unbelievable

[eyespan]

I think it is widely understood that the violence is produced from minority who is not really interested in peaceful solutions.

but until the majority of muslims in the south denounce the ones that use violent means and let them know that it is not acceptable, this minority will continue to use force in the name of all muslims.

I understand your POV. It does take very happy people to foster a peaceful and strong community spirit.

But the view that the <deleted> stirrers are freedom fighters are just too far fetched. They are just murderers and common criminals, nothing more.

I really pity the administrators though. Dear leader just keeps the heads rolling while doing close to nothing. Meanwhile, everybody else down the line gets a chance to be blamed except the top.

Its gonna take more than Mr Toxin himself coming down to give a 30baht haircut to a muslim boy to solve the problems.

[igotworms]

A 10 year solution for a thousand year conflict. Sounds about right.

Perhaps, Toxin may reinstate the megaphone policy of years past, spreading Central propoganda through Muslim Village loudspeakers (still an effective form of advertising these days).

Thai governments have continually denied these provinces the recogintion they deserve. When your culture, language, and personal freedoms are at risk, resentment and violence will surely follow.

An independent mediator is needed for this situation. But I doubt both sides will be organized and willing enough to seek out a lasting solution.

[Dickie]

Islam's big problem is its holy book exhorting muslims to kill unbelievers and before anyone says it doesn't, it bloody well does! If you believe the koran is the fount of all islamic wisdom then, as a muslim, you must believe that all infidels should be converted or killed.