Philippines peace deal with rebels a case study for Thailand

[webfact]

Philippines peace deal with rebels a case study for Thailand
By Digital Content



BANGKOK, March 29 – Thailand will study the recent peace deal between the Philippine government and the largest Muslim rebel group to determine if their methods can be applied to end the decade-old dispute with militants in the southern border provinces, a senior army officer said.

Col Banpot Poonpien, spokesman of the Internal Security Operation Command (ISOC), said the army chief has instructed relevant government agencies to conduct a comparative study on the insurgency situation between Thailand and the Philippines.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (<deleted>) signed a peace deal with the Philippines government in Manila on Thursday, ending 45 years of battle which have claimed the lives of 120,000 people.

The peace process in the Philippines started in 2001 and involved 43 rounds of talks over 13 years, after which a law was issued through the national legislative body.

Col Banpot said the Philippines success could serve as a guiding light for Thailand, adding that Thailand has entered only three rounds of dialogue with rebels in the country’s far South since the peace process was launched last year. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2014-03-29

[casindonet]

That will be the day

Sent from my GT-I9200 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[chainarong]

A totally different set of circumstances and cannot be countered as being relevant here, religion is not the issue here.

[tomross46]

A totally different set of circumstances and cannot be countered as being relevant here, religion is not the issue here.

You are correct, the problem here is not religion. Though many in the media want to make it look like that. The problem hare is the complete mistrust of the government.

[squarethecircle]

Wasn't the peace deal in the Phillippines a failure? As in significant parts of the south of Phillippines (Mandanao) are outside of government control and in the hands of "mujahideen". In fact I read the other day of an arms smuggling case that saw Ukrainian military weapons being smuggled by Filipino Muslim "rebels" to a California politician-turned-weapons-smuggler. Also I read

[Thaiready]

A totally different set of circumstances and cannot be countered as being relevant here, religion is not the issue here.

Religion is the issue..!!!

[Thaiready]

A totally different set of circumstances and cannot be countered as being relevant here, religion is not the issue here.

You are correct, the problem here is not religion. Though many in the media want to make it look like that. The problem hare is the complete mistrust of the government.

and why do they not trust the Government....because the Government are made up of non-beleviers....".its the muzzie way or no way"....Religion not the issue...you are incorrect it is everything to do with the issue.

[rreddin]

A totally different set of circumstances and cannot be countered as being relevant here, religion is not the issue here.

You are correct, the problem here is not religion. Though many in the media want to make it look like that. The problem hare is the complete mistrust of the government.

This from the OP tells us who is really running the show: "the army chief has instructed relevant government agencies to conduct a comparative study on the insurgency situation between Thailand and the Philippines.".

The problem in the former Sultanate of Patani, stems from it being annexed by Thailand in 1904. Prior to then, it was a protectorate and was largely autonomous. It is something along those lines that the so called insurgents want to return to.

The only solution that will lead to a lasting peace is a political solution and the army knows that. Such a solution is likely to require a change to the constitution to give the region greater autonomy. Changing the constitution is something the army opposes.

[squarethecircle]

"The only solution that will lead to a lasting peace is a political solution and the army knows that. Such a solution is likely to require a change to the constitution to give the region greater autonomy. Changing the constitution is something the army opposes."

Well clearly people should have the right to determine the own rule, but I don't see how it is possible to negotiate with the people behind the southern terrorism - same with the southern Filipino b--tards. If they were marching and making civil protest, it would be one thing. But what they've been doing lately (much not shown on ThaiVisa, just google "Pattani news" or "Yala news") is downright animalistic, pulling Thai couples on motorbikes over and executing them in front of kids, etc. Stopping it militarily seems mighty difficult (as in Afghanistan) but how can you negotiate with this?

Maybe ask Malaysia, who I really do not trust esp. after the MA disappearance - which coincidentally seems to have flown right over the southern border region and right by the Uighur "asylum seekers".

[ggt]

This is huge...PI has actually been battling these Muslim separatists for decades...hope the peace holds...local citizens could use a break in the violence...

[evadgib]

Related article from the British Ambassador to The Philippines who was the previous Ambassador to Thailand:

Sharing the peace dividend by Ambassador Asif Ahmad

Edited March 29, 2014 by evadgib

[bangon04]

"Col Banpot said the Philippines success could serve as a guiding light for Thailand,"

for just a moment there, it sounded like Thailand was ready to take advice from foreigners..... surely not.

[noitom]

The only real solution for the Thai south is to apply world class Thai negotiating skills for ten or twenty years. Everyone knows that Thais are expert, world class negotiators.

[Yunla]

They would probably be better off looking at the specific situation in Thailand, than looking elsewhere f.ex the Philippines. It is sort of evasive to ignore the wishes of the people directly involved, while busying yourself looking at other examples instead. The South problem is solvable in the sense it could be solved, but also unsolvable because the solution is unappealing to the people who could bring about that solution. So just from a logic viewpoint, it can not be solved until new people arrive or the old people change their priorities. I would say the fact that people have been dying in huge numbers due to this problem, is reason enough to implement the solution that the majority of people directly involved are demanding, and as a matter of urgency.

[Skywalker69]

The PTP Government has been to occupied in trying to bring Thaksin back no time for the South.

[poweratradio]

That will be the day

Sent from my GT-I9200 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

HA HA HA IS THE PHILIPPINE PEACE DEAL STILL HOLDING????? HA HA HA LETS LOOK AT IN A YEAR OKAY?

[simple1]

When Yingluck came to power she did propose negotiations for some form of autonomy for the deep South provinces, perhaps along the lines of self-governance currently in place for Bangkok and Pattaya. The military rejected Yingluck's proposal for talks based upon the ideology; 'Nation, King & Religion'. Unless the military can agree in principal to a form of regional self-governance there is no chance that a mutually agreed road map to peace, as is the case for the Philippines, can progress.

One of the reasons that the currently agreed peace plan in the Southern Philippines took so long to finalise is when successive Philippine governments came to power, they overturned agreed peace plans. As in Southern Thailand there are a number of insurgents groups in Southern Philippines, the largest of which has signed up to the road map to peace, the lesser groups could possibly still carry on with armed insurgency activities causing destabilisation to the peace plan for the region. If a road map to peace came to fruition in the deep South, the same challenge will be on how to deal with the killings by the Juwae in the deep South who appear to operate outside of the political process.

http://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/the-upcoming-peace-talks-in-southern-thailands-insurgency

Edited March 29, 2014 by simple1

[impulse]

A totally different set of circumstances and cannot be countered as being relevant here, religion is not the issue here.

Religion is the issue..!!!

No. Religion is being used as a tool of the entrenched powers to set "us" against "them".

It's not about religion. It's about feeding rights at the tough.

Much the same as shirt color is being used in the BKK struggle, skin tone has been used for millenia, and family name has been used again and again in Euro history.

When you boil it all down, the common theme is wealth and power and how to get it and how to hold onto it. Has very little to do with religion.

Edited March 29, 2014 by impulse

[sae57]

A totally different set of circumstances and cannot be countered as being relevant here, religion is not the issue here.

I don't think the Ph. issue is about religion either. It's more ethnic-linguistic nationalistic. Like the Thai south (with northern malaysia) the south of the Philippines-Mindanao-became a part of the Ph nation-state as a result of European colonialism. The sultanate of Patani was, as I understand it, happy to be a vassal kingdom to the kingdom of Siam, and they are still loyal to the Thai king--it's the Thai state and forced assimilation they object to. But also--years of neglect lead to continuing poverty (go to the border & look accross the river to Malaysia: night & day, grass houses vs. brick & morter--ethnically identical population) and the growth of criminal/patronage networks (drugs, human trafficing etc.). Much of the violence, given that no one takes responsibility, no demands are made, I suspect, has to do with power struggles among the criminal organizations and between them and state power. Religion is peripheral.

--S

[Thaiready]

A totally different set of circumstances and cannot be countered as being relevant here, religion is not the issue here.

Religion is the issue..!!!

No. Religion is being used as a tool of the entrenched powers to set "us" against "them".

It's not about religion. It's about feeding rights at the tough.

Much the same as shirt color is being used in the BKK struggle, skin tone has been used for millenia, and family name has been used again and again in Euro history.

When you boil it all down, the common theme is wealth and power and how to get it and how to hold onto it. Has very little to do with religion.

I say again..." It has EVERYTHING to do with this so-called Religion...

[Jimjim]

The main issue here is sovereignty. A large percentage of them do not feel part of Thailand for many reasons, and those provinces have not always been a part of Thailand. Do some research. Read your history. Religion is part of the issue as that's one reason the culture is different than most of Thailand. But their language and core culture is also different, and we aren't talking Arabic. People want to lump it with other radical religious fundamentalist conflicts all over the world so they can simplify it in their minds and shout "Muslims bad! Bad! Bad! Bad!", but it's just not the same issue. There are several historical factors at play here, specific to the history of the Malay Peninsula, not solely differences in religion.