Abhisit, Mahathir Offer Ideas On Bringing Peace Back To South

[webfact]

Abhisit, Mahathir offer ideas on bringing peace back to South

THE NATION

HAT YAI: -- The former prime ministers of Thailand and Malaysia, Abhisit Vejjajiva and Dr Mahathir Mohamad, met yesterday to speak about their vision of peace for the South of Thailand, which is predominantly Muslim and has been hit by insurgent attacks since 2004.

Speaking at the "Patani Peace Process in Asean Context" seminar at Prince of Songkla University's Hat Yai campus, Abhisit said the three key elements for restoring peace in the region were development, justice and local participation. He explained that all stakeholders should have space to voice their ideas that might differ from the state.

Violence in the deep South is unique because nobody is claiming responsibility for the attacks that take place almost on a daily basis, he said. The insurgents have not issued a manifesto to say exactly what they want, he said, adding that it would take time to restore peace because each side needed to build trust and confidence to discuss the issues.

Abhisit said the root causes of the problems were differences and diversity, which could not be eliminated but people could find ways of living with them peacefully. He admitted that though there was no instant formula to end the conflict in the deep South, countering violence with violence would never help.

The region was relatively peaceful before 2000, but things changed when the government of the day decided to enforce more power in the region, he explained. Abhisit said that using military means, as employed by previous governments, would never solve problems and that the authorities should instead employ political measures.

The Patani peace process was launched by a group of academics and activists in an effort to find ways of solving the nine-year-long conflict. They believe that the root cause of the conflict, which has killed thousands since 2004, lies in ethnicity, history and religion.

Central to the peace process, they said, was to open and expand a common space for dialogue for "insiders" so they can analyse and propose a road map for peace under the new context of the Asean community.

Mahathir, meanwhile, told the forum that the insurgency in the South was a domestic problem that Asean could not interfere in. However, he said, Asean members could engage in the issue if they had the express consent of Thailand. He said Malaysia, in particular, had not intervened and never would, though it could cooperate by providing intelligence information and advice on resolving the problem peacefully.

The veteran politician went on to say that it was not wise for any country to be involved in another country's internal affairs.

Meanwhile, violence in the South continued yesterday as two separate drive-by shootings in Pattani's Kapho and Panare districts killed one and injured another. Marapee Banapanae, 45, was shot dead while walking home from a teashop in Kapho district, while Ibrahim Hae, 47, was injured by a shooting while returning home from a mosque in Panare district.

-- The Nation 2012-09-08

[asiawatcher]

Words, more expensive seminars, and religion being the root cause. Wasted day if you ask me and of course, no solution. And more wasted words by the recalcitrant Mahathir who is a left wing radical Muslim. Of course he said Malaysia won't get involved in internal problems. It's a foothold Muslims have in Thailand and Malaysia relishes the possibility of expanding that.

[geriatrickid]

Mahathir is an evil, evil man. He has engaged in racist rhetoric and when he was in power denied basic civil rights to a large portion of his nation. Ask an an ethnic Indian or Chinese what their lives were like under this horrible hateful man. And thre is Abhisit being linked to the man. What was Mr. Abhisit thinking? Another example of poor political judgement. Mr. Abhisit impairs his standing by allowing himself to be associated with Mahathir. No civilised person of any integrity should go anywhere near Mahithir.

[preahko]

bring peace to the South...hmm, how about starting by GIVING THEM BACK THEIR LAND? and when you're done with that, Central Thai COLONIALISTS, give back the North to the Lanna people...and Isan to the Lao and Khmer people...hmm, what will you have left? the sinking swamp called Bang Kok? hmm, yeah...

[chainarong]

Mahathir didn't do anything for 25 years when in power , so whats changed, just pissin into the wind, wasting your time with that crowd, hate is pretty hard to over come, maybe you could seem to be doing something, when doing nothing , so the feel good factor kicks in.

[OzMick]

Mahathir being recalcitrant again?

[chainarong]

Words, more expensive seminars, and religion being the root cause. Wasted day if you ask me and of course, no solution. And more wasted words by the recalcitrant Mahathir who is a left wing radical Muslim. Of course he said Malaysia won't get involved in internal problems. It's a foothold Muslims have in Thailand and Malaysia relishes the possibility of expanding that.

It was annexed to Thailand (Siam) about thousand years back, by the sultan in Malaysia, lost a card game or something , probably pissed.

[drdoom6996]

Mahathir is an evil, evil man. He has engaged in racist rhetoric and when he was in power denied basic civil rights to a large portion of his nation. Ask an an ethnic Indian or Chinese what their lives were like under this horrible hateful man. And thre is Abhisit being linked to the man. What was Mr. Abhisit thinking? Another example of poor political judgement. Mr. Abhisit impairs his standing by allowing himself to be associated with Mahathir. No civilised person of any integrity should go anywhere near Mahithir.

Mahathir was the Politician most looked up to by Thaksin. Thaksin said this in an interview when he was PM. EVIL, absolutely!

[sunshine51]

Mahathir is an evil, evil man. He has engaged in racist rhetoric and when he was in power denied basic civil rights to a large portion of his nation. Ask an an ethnic Indian or Chinese what their lives were like under this horrible hateful man. And thre is Abhisit being linked to the man. What was Mr. Abhisit thinking? Another example of poor political judgement. Mr. Abhisit impairs his standing by allowing himself to be associated with Mahathir. No civilised person of any integrity should go anywhere near Mahithir.

100% true and correct geriatrickid....and there's/here's a lil bit more...

Mahathir also pretty much removed the judiciary being seperate from the government.

He also invoked the Internal Security Act more than any other Malaysian Prime Minister.

He also pocketed funds from oil companies.

He was also known as Mr. 10% in relation to his corruptness.

He also did a lotta other nasty things to Malaysia such as turn his

once best hand picked man Anuar Ibrahim,his successor, into a scapegoat and prisoner

and because Anuar went against Mahathir's moves during the 1997 Asian Financial

Crisis...eventually had Anuar locked away for sodomy...a serious offence in that

country.

He also said he was going to retire from politics when he stepped down from office

...hah!

Mahathir also detested the West's influence in Asia.

Plus...last here but not the least...he arranged massive loans from other nations to

prop up Malaysia without those countries seemingly ever having received repayments.

There's much, much more...go dig it up for yourselves TV members...if you're

interested that is.

[whybother]

bring peace to the South...hmm, how about starting by GIVING THEM BACK THEIR LAND? and when you're done with that, Central Thai COLONIALISTS, give back the North to the Lanna people...and Isan to the Lao and Khmer people...hmm, what will you have left? the sinking swamp called Bang Kok? hmm, yeah...

Give it back to who? It was never Malaysia's. Maybe it should be given back to the Khmer's.

[chuang]

Mahathir is an evil, evil man. He has engaged in racist rhetoric and when he was in power denied basic civil rights to a large portion of his nation. Ask an an ethnic Indian or Chinese what their lives were like under this horrible hateful man. And thre is Abhisit being linked to the man. What was Mr. Abhisit thinking? Another example of poor political judgement. Mr. Abhisit impairs his standing by allowing himself to be associated with Mahathir. No civilised person of any integrity should go anywhere near Mahithir.

I concur concur concur concur....

[chuang]

Abhisit was a PM...what progress had he made in the south....now he start accusing the others..what a low-life..

[sunshine51]

bring peace to the South...hmm, how about starting by GIVING THEM BACK THEIR LAND? and when you're done with that, Central Thai COLONIALISTS, give back the North to the Lanna people...and Isan to the Lao and Khmer people...hmm, what will you have left? the sinking swamp called Bang Kok? hmm, yeah...

Give it back to who? It was never Malaysia's. Maybe it should be given back to the Khmer's.

Very Good observation whybother....dam_n good in fact.

LOS may be a bit angry if things are returned to rightful

owners...see enclosed map!

Here's 3 links to give others a quick history lesson....

http://en.wikipedia....ki/Khmer_Empire

http://en.wikipedia....iki/Haripunjaya

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champa

The map is also from the Wiki page on the Khmer Kingdom of AD 900.

[whybother]

bring peace to the South...hmm, how about starting by GIVING THEM BACK THEIR LAND? and when you're done with that, Central Thai COLONIALISTS, give back the North to the Lanna people...and Isan to the Lao and Khmer people...hmm, what will you have left? the sinking swamp called Bang Kok? hmm, yeah...

Give it back to who? It was never Malaysia's. Maybe it should be given back to the Khmer's.

Very Good observation whybother....dam_n good in fact.

LOS may be a bit angry if things are returned to rightful

owners...see enclosed map!

Here's 3 links to give others a quick history lesson....

http://en.wikipedia....ki/Khmer_Empire

http://en.wikipedia....iki/Haripunjaya

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champa

The map is also from the Wiki page on the Khmer Kingdom of AD 900.

Maybe they could give it back to the people before the Khmers. Where would you like to stop?

[Bagwan]

Words, more expensive seminars, and religion being the root cause. Wasted day if you ask me and of course, no solution. And more wasted words by the recalcitrant Mahathir who is a left wing radical Muslim. Of course he said Malaysia won't get involved in internal problems. It's a foothold Muslims have in Thailand and Malaysia relishes the possibility of expanding that.

It was annexed to Thailand (Siam) about thousand years back, by the sultan in Malaysia, lost a card game or something , probably pissed.

History is not your best subject, is it?

[Bagwan]

Would appointing Muslim Governors of the southern provinces help? How about following the US pattern where individul states have a degree of autonomy? Just thinking, but not too deeply maybe.

[Fozfromoz]

Mahathir being recalcitrant again?

I didn't like Keating much, but agreed 100% with him on that one.

[h90]

Mahathir is an evil, evil man. He has engaged in racist rhetoric and when he was in power denied basic civil rights to a large portion of his nation. Ask an an ethnic Indian or Chinese what their lives were like under this horrible hateful man. And thre is Abhisit being linked to the man. What was Mr. Abhisit thinking? Another example of poor political judgement. Mr. Abhisit impairs his standing by allowing himself to be associated with Mahathir. No civilised person of any integrity should go anywhere near Mahithir.

Seems you don't know much about Malaysia.....These racist laws, allows the majority to catch up with Chinese. It is already a problem that most business owner in Thailand are Chinese. But in Thailand they mix.

In Malaysia the Chinese don't mix because they don't want to be Muslims. With these laws, most probably we would have seen Chinese holding the rest almost like slaves and than an uprising where the Malays kill all the Chinese.

Instead Mahithir decided to have some racist laws and a heavy hand, and the country prospers well, with remarkable low corruption.

[asiawatcher]

Mahathir being recalcitrant again?

Keating got it right by accusing him whilst in power but got his hands slapped when Mahathir flexed his diplomatic muscles - he has no such power now. As to low corruption in Malaysia - think again - ask any Dato, Datuk et al. They pay for the title (about 30,000 RM is common) and that gives them the right to accept tea money. Having lived there for a number of years the common thread in business is seeing a hand being held out at just about every turn.

[simple1]

Words, more expensive seminars, and religion being the root cause. Wasted day if you ask me and of course, no solution. And more wasted words by the recalcitrant Mahathir who is a left wing radical Muslim. Of course he said Malaysia won't get involved in internal problems. It's a foothold Muslims have in Thailand and Malaysia relishes the possibility of expanding that.

It was annexed to Thailand (Siam) about thousand years back, by the sultan in Malaysia, lost a card game or something , probably pissed.

FYI...

Founded in 1390, Patani was a former Malay sultanate that historically encompassed the modern day provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and parts of Songkhla. Between 1767 and 1902 the Sultanate of Patani exercised full independence. In 1902, Thailand annexed Patani and moved for full scale incorporation in 1909.

[hellodolly]

O good God here we go again with what Abhist did or didn't do again.

Having that out of the way I will go back and read the article and posts. I trust the PT and red shirt lovers will not disappoint me.

Well done guys only one poster still living in 2010. Way to go guys.

[hellodolly]

bring peace to the South...hmm, how about starting by GIVING THEM BACK THEIR LAND? and when you're done with that, Central Thai COLONIALISTS, give back the North to the Lanna people...and Isan to the Lao and Khmer people...hmm, what will you have left? the sinking swamp called Bang Kok? hmm, yeah...

Give it back to who? It was never Malaysia's. Maybe it should be given back to the Khmer's.

Very Good observation whybother....dam_n good in fact.

LOS may be a bit angry if things are returned to rightful

owners...see enclosed map!

Here's 3 links to give others a quick history lesson....

http://en.wikipedia....ki/Khmer_Empire

http://en.wikipedia....iki/Haripunjaya

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champa

The map is also from the Wiki page on the Khmer Kingdom of AD 900.

Great stuff.

I see where those three provinces were always a part of one kingdom or another.

It still comes down to a religious issue. They are predominantly Islam and the state religion of Thailand is Buddhism.

The next province north of them is predominantly Buddhism NohnKong Si Tahmaret (sorry about the spelling) and they seem to be able to get along with out road side bombs drive by shootings bombs in hotels armed raids on soldiers and al the other things the south seems to need.

[FarangTalk]

It's a foothold Muslims have in Thailand and Malaysia relishes the possibility of expanding that.

The area is Malay and Thailand has a claim of sovereignty over it. It is not traditionally part of old Siam. It has a different culture, language and religion.

Thailand annexed Patani and moved for full scale incorporation in 1909.

The Malay Sultanates were under British influence and control and Britain agreed to allow Thailand to annex 5 states in the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909.

It could have been worse as the Thais were made to relinquish their claims of sovereignty over further Malay states by the Brits.

[FarangTalk]

the state religion of Thailand is Buddhism.

Incorrect.

Thailand has no official state religion.

[DocN]

I always cringe when I read or hear that "ex this and that, said so and so"...before you were an EX- minister...what exactly did you do to solve the problem?

[simple1]

@hellodolly Re post #22 I suspect you already know this info, but for those do don't, it's fairly straight forward to understand - the Buddhists are not seeking autonomy from the Thai central government, whereas the Thia Muslims in the Deep South provinces are seeking some form of self governance. Apparently the issue is to identify the leaders with whom to commence a political dialogue and agree actions for resolution of grievances. I find it difficult to believe that Thai intelligence agencies don't know who the leaders are to commence a political initiative.

[johna]

Mahathir is an evil, evil man. He has engaged in racist rhetoric and when he was in power denied basic civil rights to a large portion of his nation. Ask an an ethnic Indian or Chinese what their lives were like under this horrible hateful man. And thre is Abhisit being linked to the man. What was Mr. Abhisit thinking? Another example of poor political judgement. Mr. Abhisit impairs his standing by allowing himself to be associated with Mahathir. No civilised person of any integrity should go anywhere near Mahithir.

Would those racist policy's you refer to be Malaysia's Bumiputera policy designed to lift up ethnic Malays to the same socio economic level of the Chinese immigrant population, something like Americas affirmative action.

Or would your dislike for Mahathir stem from his his support for the Palestinian people.

[h90]

Mahathir is an evil, evil man. He has engaged in racist rhetoric and when he was in power denied basic civil rights to a large portion of his nation. Ask an an ethnic Indian or Chinese what their lives were like under this horrible hateful man. And thre is Abhisit being linked to the man. What was Mr. Abhisit thinking? Another example of poor political judgement. Mr. Abhisit impairs his standing by allowing himself to be associated with Mahathir. No civilised person of any integrity should go anywhere near Mahithir.

100% true and correct geriatrickid....and there's/here's a lil bit more...

Mahathir also pretty much removed the judiciary being seperate from the government.

He also invoked the Internal Security Act more than any other Malaysian Prime Minister.

He also pocketed funds from oil companies.

He was also known as Mr. 10% in relation to his corruptness.

He also did a lotta other nasty things to Malaysia such as turn his

once best hand picked man Anuar Ibrahim,his successor, into a scapegoat and prisoner

and because Anuar went against Mahathir's moves during the 1997 Asian Financial

Crisis...eventually had Anuar locked away for sodomy...a serious offence in that

country.

He also said he was going to retire from politics when he stepped down from office

...hah!

Mahathir also detested the West's influence in Asia.

Plus...last here but not the least...he arranged massive loans from other nations to

prop up Malaysia without those countries seemingly ever having received repayments.

There's much, much more...go dig it up for yourselves TV members...if you're

interested that is.

with 10% he would be the cleanest Thai politician since ever.

[h90]

Mahathir is an evil, evil man. He has engaged in racist rhetoric and when he was in power denied basic civil rights to a large portion of his nation. Ask an an ethnic Indian or Chinese what their lives were like under this horrible hateful man. And thre is Abhisit being linked to the man. What was Mr. Abhisit thinking? Another example of poor political judgement. Mr. Abhisit impairs his standing by allowing himself to be associated with Mahathir. No civilised person of any integrity should go anywhere near Mahithir.

Would those racist policy's you refer to be Malaysia's Bumiputera policy designed to lift up ethnic Malays to the same socio economic level of the Chinese immigrant population, something like Americas affirmative action.

Or would your dislike for Mahathir stem from his his support for the Palestinian people.

yes most probably he dislike his foreign politics....

[OzMick]

Mahathir is an evil, evil man. He has engaged in racist rhetoric and when he was in power denied basic civil rights to a large portion of his nation. Ask an an ethnic Indian or Chinese what their lives were like under this horrible hateful man. And thre is Abhisit being linked to the man. What was Mr. Abhisit thinking? Another example of poor political judgement. Mr. Abhisit impairs his standing by allowing himself to be associated with Mahathir. No civilised person of any integrity should go anywhere near Mahithir.

Seems you don't know much about Malaysia.....These racist laws, allows the majority to catch up with Chinese. It is already a problem that most business owner in Thailand are Chinese. But in Thailand they mix.

In Malaysia the Chinese don't mix because they don't want to be Muslims. With these laws, most probably we would have seen Chinese holding the rest almost like slaves and than an uprising where the Malays kill all the Chinese.

Instead Mahithir decided to have some racist laws and a heavy hand, and the country prospers well, with remarkable low corruption.

"......... the Chinese don't mix because they don't want to be Muslims."

And the muslims don't mix because the Muslim Council refuses to allow them to marry non-mulims or to abandon their religion. There was one case of a muslim infant girl adopted by Chinese and allowed to change her religion - several years after she died.

Blaming non-integration on any race when another religion forbids it is a bit naive.

There is a long running case of a muslim woman who wishes to marry outside the faith. Malaysia refuses to allow a person with an ID card designated "muslim" to marry another muslim, to have her religion deleted from her ID, or to change her faith.

In other cases, Borneo "hill people" are encouraged to adopt islam, and then are threatened with death (from hard-liners) when they stray from the tenets.