Understanding and sincerity 'lacking' in South

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SPECIAL REPORT
Understanding and sincerity 'lacking' in South
Pakorn Puengnetr
The Nation

Nearly 6,000 killed as bloody insurgency reaches its 10-year anniversary today

BANGKOK: -- Seven governments and six prime ministers over the past decade have failed to restore peace in the mainly Muslim far South as they lacked understanding, unity and sincerity in resolving the region's problems, academics and a commander said yesterday.

The nature of violence in the deep South over the past 10 years was mixed, as it was driven by ideological and non-ideological fighters, said Charan Maruleem, a political

scientist at Thammasat University.

Those who have an ideological outlook are not purely religious warriors but supporters of mostly Malayu ethnic movements, with some flavour of Islam, he said.

Thai authorities in Bangkok have struggled to contain violence in the deep South since early 2004 when a group of gunmen stole war-grade weapons from a military camp in Narathiwat.

A spate of violence orchestrated by faceless Muslim separatists and local mafia has claimed close to 5,000 lives so far.

Covert and well-publicised talks between Thai authorities and people claiming to represent the juwae fighters linked to the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) umbrella have failed to help end the violence.

"People at the table [for recent talks] do not represent or have any direct command to the juwae," Charan said.

"Violence has never ended since the truce was signed [with Thai authorities] last February.

"Thai authorities also have no flexibility in the talks. What is the point of talking if you don't want to give anything?" he said.

The talks relied too much on one organisation and one person, he said, adding that there are too many peace brokers in the South.

Surachart Bamrungsuk of Chualongkorn University's political science faculty said talks between Thai authorities and the BRN in Malaysia last year were not real peace negotiations. It was just an open dialogue for public relations purposes, he said.

"The new government after the February 2 election should have a clear strategy to solve the problem in the deep South," he said.

Former Fourth Army Region commander Samrej Srirai said the country had spent more than Bt200 billion over the past decade but achieved nothing to end the violence.

Having 50,000-60,000 troops in the deep South to contain the insurgency was too many, he said.

"I think we should consider reducing the number of troops. I don't know why we have to use a large number of troops.

"We have many people but don't know what will happen, or sometimes we know but don't understand why, and that is the problem."

-- The Nation 2014-01-04

[moe666]

Since the people of the deep south are not Thai-Thai, why worry about them. But will not give them any autonomy.

[noitom]

"Sincerity" is not a characteristics of Thais. The Fourth Army commander states we have people don't know what will happen - 60,000 boots on the ground in the Thai south has achieved nothing.

[AryanicAristocrat]

What do u expect? The South is ruled by the imcompetent Democrats who are now trying to make Bangkok into a messy place full of violence just like the Southern Provinces they govern.

[Tatsujin]

What do u expect? The South is ruled by the imcompetent Democrats who are now trying to make Bangkok into a messy place full of violence just like the Southern Provinces they govern.

I'm confused, I thought that Thaksin/PTP have been the Govt in charge for most of the last 15 years . . . surely they are the ones that "rule" Thailand including the South and are therefore responsible for NOT sorting the problems of the "south" out at all.

[davetrout]

What do u expect? The South is ruled by the imcompetent Democrats who are now trying to make Bangkok into a messy place full of violence just like the Southern Provinces they govern.

I'm confused, I thought that Thaksin/PTP have been the Govt in charge for most of the last 15 years . . . surely they are the ones that "rule" Thailand including the South and are therefore responsible for NOT sorting the problems of the "south" out at all.

man the whole place is confusing. l just stay in sisaket out of trouble and peaceful

[rreddin]

"Sincerity" is not a characteristics of Thais. The Fourth Army commander states we have people don't know what will happen - 60,000 boots on the ground in the Thai south has achieved nothing.

In truth, the rest of the country is barely aware of the problems in the South and are not interested either. The attrocities perpetrated by the "insurgents" barely get a mention in the Thai news media. Lest you forget, this problem is not 10 years old. It started way back when Thaialnd annexed the Sultanate of Pattini. 1904, I think.

The experience of resolving a similarly apparently intractable problem in Northern Ireland took decades and required a great deal of goodwill on both sides as well as the involvement of neutral parties. The solution will be political not military.

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

"Understanding and sincerity 'lacking' in South"

I would say it's lacking in every province of this beautiful land.

[FangFerang]

Maybe the title should have been "Understanding and Sincerity Lacking in Thai Politicians"

[bitcoinbob]

6000 is a massive number of killed how many wounded? this is THAINESS in action. no end in sight, my fear is the day the fighters realize they have won and the thai's are still talking then they will bring there fight to the rest of the country.

[Mosha]

What do u expect? The South is ruled by the imcompetent Democrats who are now trying to make Bangkok into a messy place full of violence just like the Southern Provinces they govern.

I'm confused, I thought that Thaksin/PTP have been the Govt in charge for most of the last 15 years . . . surely they are the ones that "rule" Thailand including the South and are therefore responsible for NOT sorting the problems of the "south" out at all.

Wasn't it something Thaksin changed in the local government down there that kicked it all off?

[FangFerang]

Are the Democrats really so strong in the south? It is anyone's guess. Every EC office that either was shut down or resigned was confronted by a few hundred protestors, but the article states that there are 60,000 troops in the south. Even with a lack of police deployed, how could the EC be shut down with such protection available? In Bangkok, they deployed 20 military units, and that is a whopping less than one percent fraction of the military personnel in the south.

In the southern Philippine islands that are predominantly Muslim, somehow, in some consistent fluke, Catholic MPs are always elected....I find all this unsolved situation in the south to be rather curious in a very similar vein, and seriously wonder how many MPs are Muslim.

All the articles I found talked about the strength of Muslim leaders at the tambon level. I attempted to find a list of Thai MPs by religious affiliation, but failed in my research.

If anyone has more information that can be verified, I am all ears. I seek information, not opinion.

At first blush, I wonder what is really going on down there...

"Curiouser and curiouser" said Alice.....

Edited January 4, 2014 by FangFerang

[Ulic]

Give them autonomy, put locals in charge. Make people from the south responsible

for the peace and safety of the south.

[cbluck58]

Living in the South , this problem is of far more importance to myself and most of my friends and family than the posturing and hot air being blustered around Bangkok at the moment .

Whilst Suthep spouts his bullshit and causes chaos, and he who cannot be named tries to manipulate government from afar, people are dying down here - not just insurgents and soldiers but teachers, health workers and policemen - whoever wins the battle of bullshit in the next couple of months needs to attend to this problem .

PLEASE GET SOME PERSPECTIVE WHATEVER COLOUR SHIRT YOU WEAR.

[cbluck58]

Give them autonomy, put locals in charge. Make people from the south responsible

for the peace and safety of the south. width=32 alt=coffee1.gif pagespeed_url_hash=2220208811>

Nonsense...

[cbluck58]

Since the people of the deep south are not Thai-Thai, why worry about them. But will not give them any autonomy.

<deleted>

[theslime]

Give them autonomy, put locals in charge. Make people from the south responsible

for the peace and safety of the south. width=32 alt=coffee1.gif pagespeed_url_hash=2220208811>

Nonsense...

Can you give a clearer picture, of what you think should happen cbluck58, as nonsense doesn,t seem to cut it.

[Somtamnication]

Understanding and sincerity is not part of this culture. The "face" issue trumps sincerity and understanding.

Having grown up in South America, the one thing I miss the most is humbleness. You can forget getting that here!!

[Thai at Heart]

Whoever finally came to this conclusion deserves a gold star for perception.