SOUTH CRISIS

Govt offers an olive branch to militants

The Nation

Military ordnance personnel inspect motorcycles parked in front of a hospital in Pattani, as a precaution against bomb attacks. It follows a spate of attacks by insurgents in response to a marine ambush in Narathiwat last week, when 16 insurgents were killed

Replacing Emergency Decree with ISA seen as step toward peace in deep South

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BANGKOK: -- The government yesterday offered an olive branch to Muslim militants in the far South - despite a spate of insurgent attacks on the weekend, saying it plans to replace enforcement of the Emergency Decree with the more lenient Internal Security Act (ISA).

National Security Council Secretary-General Lt General Pharadorn Phatthanathabutr and Fourth Army Area Commander Lt General Udomchai Thammasarorat said enforcement of the ISA would allow insurgents to enter a plea bargaining scheme under Article 21 of the internal security law.

The measure, they said, would eventually lead to peace in the deep South. The two spoke to reporters after security agencies held a meeting with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra at the Government House to discuss the situation in the strife-torn southern border provinces.

The meeting was held before Yingluck's visit to Malaysia next Thursday. The meeting followed insurgents' stepped-up attacks, which were seen as retaliation for the killing of 16 insurgents last Wednesday morning (Feb 13). The insurgents were killed while on their way to attack a marine base in Narathiwat.

Despite stepped-up attacks on the weekend, the Army chief and national police chief assured the prime minister the situation was under control, Pharadorn said.

Pharadorn said the meeting agreed to enforce the ISA instead of the Emergency Decree on Public Administration in a State of Emergency (2005), which was enforced in the three southern border provinces.

Pharadorn said the meeting was told the ISA enforcement would focus on the use of Article 21 to allow insurgents to enter the plea bargaining scheme in line with the government's policy to tackle the southern violence through peaceful means.

He said the prime minister supported the plan to apply Article 21 of the ISA.

In October, the plea bargaining scheme under Article 21 was enforced successfully for the first time after a provincial court in Songkhla freed two convicted insurgents after six months of re-education.

Pharadorn said during Yingluck's visit to Malaysia, he would make preparations for the prime minister to talk with the neighbouring country on security cooperation regarding the three southern border provinces and the issue of dual citizenship of Malay-speaking residents in the provinces.

When asked if enforcement of the ISA would run against the current situation, given insurgents have stepped up attacks, Pharadorn replied: "The situation seemed [like increased violence] - but when we considered the attacks closely, the situation was not so [extreme]. The attacks in Pattani over the weekend involved the use of firebombs to intimidate people into not cooperating with the authorities."

Pharadorn said the insurgents resorted to intimidation because more local residents were cooperating with authorities.

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung proposed the imposing of a curfew to deal with the stepped-up attacks but Cabinet agreed with the NSC's proposal to cancel the curfew plan, which had been dropped after a similar meeting last week.

"The government's measure is clear. We focus on the peaceful way [of seeking a solution]. We open a venue for them to come and hold talks," Pharadorn said, adding that some 90 insurgents had already surrendered and might be allowed to enter the bargaining scheme.

Udomchai explained that talks would be unofficial, as the government could not hold official negotiations with insurgents. He said the government was using all legal moves and human rights measures to try to improve the situation. Enforcement of Article 21 would allow the insurgents to be pardoned in line with the human rights measures, while the insurgents were continuing to use violence. Local residents would become fed up with the insurgents and turn to cooperate with the authorities.

"Now, we have an advantage in the psychological warfare. In the past, the insurgents had an advantage but we have been solving problems for a long time with sincerity and determination, and have earned an upper hand," Udomchai said.

-- The Nation 2013-02-19

For those who need background on the conflict. A decent monograph.

http://www.lowyinstitute.org/files/pubfiles/Liow_and_Pathan,_Confronting_ghosts_web.pdf

Idiots pure and simple. Thai water buffalo would have more acumen than these buffons.

Thia military leaders , what a crock of sh@t

The measure, they said, would eventually lead to peace in the deep South.

Despite stepped-up attacks on the weekend, the Army chief and national police chief assured the prime minister the situation was under control, Pharadorn said.

In the past, the insurgents had an advantage but we have been solving problems for a long time with sincerity and determination, and have earned an upper hand," Udomchai said.

I don't know when these guys will be relegated to inactive posts but it looks like their brains have already taken up occupation.

The military has a great nostalgia for strategies that worked against communist insurgents under Prem in the late 70s and early 80s. A lot of the "communists" that fought the army then did it out of necessity. They were students who found that they were on the military dictatorship's proscribed list for being student activists or suspected acitivists and had to flee into the mountains and forests, rather then face torture, imprisonment and /or death at the hands of the state or its legalised vigilantes and lynch mobs. Most were not ideological communists and found living and fighting under the strict command of the Hanoi trained Communist Pary of Thailand very unpleasant and disillusioning. Of course, they jumped at the chance of amnesty when it came up. Likewise many young men from farming backgrounds who had joined the communists had also become disillusioned and those who crossed the border frequently to communist controlled Laos could see that conditions were much worse for peasants there, not to mention racial discrimination and attrocities against hill tribe peoples by the communist government, and wondered what they were fighting for.

In the South they are fighting something different and the strategies of the 70s and 80s are not going to work against a population that has its own religion, culture and language and feels it has been living under Thai military occupation for the last century. The fact that Thai government personnel are never punished for the few attrocities that ever hit the media doesn't help much. These attrocities can only be the tip of the iceberg.

There is no peace in islam, they will not accept to live under western based law system. If govt. gives them more concessions, they will not stop until they get fully autonomy and sharia law for Muslims living in Thailand.

There is no peace in islam, they will not accept to live under western based law system. If govt. gives them more concessions, they will not stop until they get fully autonomy and sharia law for Muslims living in Thailand.

That will not stop them they will then seek to impose it on all citizens. Religious freedom is not a part of there belief. The only religious freedom they recognize is your freedom to be a Muslim.

No military training needed.

I just threw that in tongue in cheek.

The military has a great nostalgia for strategies that worked against communist insurgents under Prem in the late 70s and early 80s. A lot of the "communists" that fought the army then did it out of necessity. They were students who found that they were on the military dictatorship's proscribed list for being student activists or suspected acitivists and had to flee into the mountains and forests, rather then face torture, imprisonment and /or death at the hands of the state or its legalised vigilantes and lynch mobs. Most were not ideological communists and found living and fighting under the strict command of the Hanoi trained Communist Pary of Thailand very unpleasant and disillusioning. Of course, they jumped at the chance of amnesty when it came up. Likewise many young men from farming backgrounds who had joined the communists had also become disillusioned and those who crossed the border frequently to communist controlled Laos could see that conditions were much worse for peasants there, not to mention racial discrimination and attrocities against hill tribe peoples by the communist government, and wondered what they were fighting for.

In the South they are fighting something different and the strategies of the 70s and 80s are not going to work against a population that has its own religion, culture and language and feels it has been living under Thai military occupation for the last century. The fact that Thai government personnel are never punished for the few attrocities that ever hit the media doesn't help much. These attrocities can only be the tip of the iceberg.

The Thai army 50 years behind the times? Are you surprised?

I don't think the government has quite grasped the problem yet.