Suddenly, hope for the South from an unlikely source: Thai editorial

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EDITORIAL
Suddenly, hope for the South from an unlikely source
The Nation

The junta should grab this opportunity to do something decisive and constructive for the conflict-ridden provinces

BANGKOK: -- Hardly a day goes by without a fresh act of violence in Thailand's deep South, but residents there know the crisis has always been held hostage by national politics.

Despite all the lip service paid to the conflict in this historically contested region, no government has shown serious commitment to seeking sustainable peace there. Each has realised that real efforts toward peace would be costly and yet bring no votes from the rest of the country, which is by and large indifferent to the plight of the Malays of the three southernmost provinces.

Thus, successive governments have relied on bureaucratic means to push through a "holding" policy - handouts to win locals' hearts and minds and cash pay-outs to the families of those mistakenly killed by government troops. Meanwhile, the root of the conflict - the Malays' disputed place in the context of the Thai state - remains untouched.

What is needed is a commitment to examine ways and means by which the two sides can coexist peacefully. Yes, there have been peace talks with armed groups in the past, but there is little evidence that any administration was serious about making concessions.

In 2005, at the start of this current wave of insurgency-related conflict, then-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra gave the green light for his top military and National Security Council chiefs to conduct a series of secret meetings with a group of separatist leaders in Langkawi, Malaysia. The initiative was half-baked, pushed through without much preparation by each side or the facilitators.

The same could be said of all the other so-called peace initiatives initiated by Bangkok since the current wave of Malay Muslim separatist insurgents resurfaced in early 2001 and went into full swing in January 2004.

Needless to say, none of these initiatives produced any meaningful outcome or recommendations for the state, buried as they were beneath the colour-coded politic crises that brought the country to its knees and have now resulted in the ousting of the Yingluck Shinawatra government.

When Yingluck came to power, she removed the old team of bureaucrats assigned to the secret peace process. One thing her government did right for the South was to publicly announce that it was entering into peace talks with separatist movements to seek a political solution to the conflict.

While the whole world welcomed the announcement, the actions that followed did nothing to suggest that her government was serious about the process.

Under the facilitator, Malaysia, a motley crew of self-proclaimed Barisan Revolusi Nasional leaders was put together. BRN, the longstanding separatist group boasting the best working relations with the insurgent militia, didn't "buy" the scheme and neither did the militia. The effort sputtered to an ignoble end.

Since the February 28, 2012, announcement of peace talks, hardly a day has gone by without a fresh incident of insurgency-related violence in the South. An end to this conflict is nowhere in sight.

The junta, within days of ousting Yingluck from power, confirmed its faith in the same officials she'd placed in charge of the deep South and quickly put together their team. Government sources say they have low hopes for the new team, which is essentially just new wine in a recycled bottle.

What has been missing so far from the peace initiatives is continuity. Each power shift in Bangkok sees the southern team booted out and replaced with fresh faces.

The generals who seized power last week don't have to worry about opposition in Parliament. They should grab this opportunity and find the political courage to do something decisive and constructive for the deep South, something to show that they truly care about the people of this historically contested region.


-- The Nation 2014-05-30

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[The stuttering parrot]

Several avenues have been tried and yet all have failed.

The people that they hope to deal with are extremists and hardcore and do not reflect the beliefs of the Muslim faith.

There is no negotiating or compromising with these lunatics as they are fanatics who think nothing of killing and maiming innocent men women children and even fellow Muslims .

Only joint bipartisan action by both Thailand and Malaysia will rid the south of this scum.

But getting Malaysia on board has proved difficult in the past,

[cdmtdm]

the disputed area is no longer the issue, its now about revenge from both sides .... more than 5000 lives lost, shame on previous Thai Govts and the armed forces ....if not contained soon it will spread all the way to Krabi ....

[Piichai]

Several avenues have been tried and yet all have failed.

The people that they hope to deal with are extremists and hardcore and do not reflect the beliefs of the Muslim faith.

There is no negotiating or compromising with these lunatics as they are fanatics who think nothing of killing and maiming innocent men women children and even fellow Muslims .

Only joint bipartisan action by both Thailand and Malaysia will rid the south of this scum.

But getting Malaysia on board has proved difficult in the past,

Hmmm... Sounds a lot like the problem the country is currently having with the Reds.

[chainarong]

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Several avenues have been tried and yet all have failed.

The people that they hope to deal with are extremists and hardcore and do not reflect the beliefs of the Muslim faith.

There is no negotiating or compromising with these lunatics as they are fanatics who think nothing of killing and maiming innocent men women children and even fellow Muslims .

Only joint bipartisan action by both Thailand and Malaysia will rid the south of this scum.

But getting Malaysia on board has proved difficult in the past,

Malaysia has proved to be totally incompetent and in the past(Ten years back ) helped the terrorists by turning a blind eye to the Indo based terrorist group to cross the boarder to show the Thai terrorists how to make bombs , their signature on their bomb making is similar to the Indo's .

[american12bthai]

doesnt chlerm have a trained force to go help ?

[Piichai]

doesnt chlerm have a trained force to go help ?

Good idea! Send in the elite paratroopers!!

[noitom]

The Thai south is tragic.

[Echo Tango]

This is a great opportunity to crush the insurgency once and for all! Unfortunately, the military is busy chasing-down red shirts and stuff while the Fanatic-Muslim-Extremist blow up hospitals and shops. Since the military is in charge they can do whatever they want without interference from politicians. It's time for the "Scorched Earth" game plan! Giddy-up!

[Chao Lao Beach]

Tragic, and the rest of the world just ignores the issue as well.

[Zooheekock]

For the time being we will have a zero tolerance policy towards:

- Abusive behaviour towards others.

- Rumour mongering, speculation, or other inflammatory posts.

- Political lobbying or propaganda of any kind.

- Abusing the report system.

Sounds a lot like the problem the country is currently having with the Reds.

That sounds a lot like it falls foul of three of the four criteria but, hey, it follows the party line so let's leave it there.

[rebelplatoon]

The constant denial that it has to do with religion and teritorial claims does not help in this conflict.

Besides that a lot of the violence has got absolutely nothing to do with seperatist views but are either blunt robberies as well as calculated attacks on adversaries. This under the guise of the a forementioned. Easy to attack people when there is a lot of strife going on and settle old disputes.

[Thailand]

Several avenues have been tried and yet all have failed.

The people that they hope to deal with are extremists and hardcore and do not reflect the beliefs of the Muslim faith.

There is no negotiating or compromising with these lunatics as they are fanatics who think nothing of killing and maiming innocent men women children and even fellow Muslims .

Only joint bipartisan action by both Thailand and Malaysia will rid the south of this scum.

But getting Malaysia on board has proved difficult in the past,

Hmmm... Sounds a lot like the problem the country is currently having with the Reds.

Seriously?

[Doc46]

Ummm what's the reds got to do with this?

Unfortunately due to being hamstrung by restrictions placed on here by the moderators I feel anyone on here that has different views or are anti coup are not permitted to air their views while pro coup are allowed free reign to carry on goading and trying to provoke.

But do carry on!

Do as We say,, not as we do

[hansnl]

Seen the religious overtones and untertones of this conflict and referring to other such like conflicts in the world, each having one religion in common, I think whatever you do, even giving autonomy, will not stop the religion mentioned earlier to go on, simply because that religion wants world hegonomy.

And of course let us not forget the invaluable help offered by Malays, and Arabs Iranians on a holiday to the to that poor co-religionists in fighting those infidels from up north!

Saya toetoep!

[Frank James]

This is a great opportunity to crush the insurgency once and for all! Unfortunately, the military is busy chasing-down red shirts and stuff while the Fanatic-Muslim-Extremist blow up hospitals and shops. Since the military is in charge they can do whatever they want without interference from politicians. It's time for the "Scorched Earth" game plan! Giddy-up!

Giddy Up Indeed! How about you volunteer to run one of the Scorched Earth teams, Kramer?

[impulse]

This is a great opportunity to crush the insurgency once and for all!

As an alternative to scorched earth, may I suggest that this is an opportunity to actually address long festering issues, without worrying about losing votes, or which wealthy and powerful families will take exception to having their ill gotten plantation(s) confiscated and redistributed to the folks that were there first- for many generations?

[northernjohn]

Several avenues have been tried and yet all have failed.

The people that they hope to deal with are extremists and hardcore and do not reflect the beliefs of the Muslim faith.

There is no negotiating or compromising with these lunatics as they are fanatics who think nothing of killing and maiming innocent men women children and even fellow Muslims .

Only joint bipartisan action by both Thailand and Malaysia will rid the south of this scum.

But getting Malaysia on board has proved difficult in the past,

Hmmm... Sounds a lot like the problem the country is currently having with the Reds.

Yes but the big difference is that people are more willing to deal with the reds. Dealing with the south has never been priority. Just some thing to fill newspaper spaces. It is a problem rooted deep in religion. Muhammad said that when two books in Koran the newest one is correct. Apparently the newest one says kill the infidels.

The idea of the people in the south as being Malaysians is ridicules. They are Thai with a different religion and culture like many other places in ?Thailand. Malaysia has said they do not want them.

Many countries in the world are made up with people from different heritages mine is German many generations ago on one side of the family and less than 60 years ago on the other side. Yet I am an American. (not always proud of it) but it is what I am and I have no intention of causing trouble over it.

The main problem here is that Thailand has never reached out and tried to make the honest hard working citizens of the south feel Thai with a different religion. The government must stop there trying to solve the problem by military means and use social means.

By this I mean reach out to the citizens let them know they are a part of Thailand with all the rights of any other part of Thailand,. Their religion is not a block to their citizenship any more than Christianity is. Make them comfortable and they will in return no longer protect the identity or location of the terrorists.

That is my feelings on the subject. I believe Yingluck had the charisma and she had made a feeble attempt at it but they would have been much more open to her. Unfortunately world travel interfered with solving a home problem.

It will be interesting to see how the new government deals with it when they get down to it. I believe Abhist had a start at it. Might be worth while reviewing his ideas.

[rajyindee]

The idea of the people in the south as being Malaysians is ridicules.

Malays, John. There is a difference, you know.

[fasteddie]

Several avenues have been tried and yet all have failed.

The people that they hope to deal with are extremists and hardcore and do not reflect the beliefs of the Muslim faith.

There is no negotiating or compromising with these lunatics as they are fanatics who think nothing of killing and maiming innocent men women children and even fellow Muslims .

Only joint bipartisan action by both Thailand and Malaysia will rid the south of this scum.

But getting Malaysia on board has proved difficult in the past,

Hmmm... Sounds a lot like the problem the country is currently having with the Reds.

And how in your tiny little oxygen starved mind do you come to that conclusion?

[Piichai]

Seriously?

The parallels are inescapable.

It wasn't so long ago that Red Shirts attacked peaceful protesters in Trat, murdering two innocent children. And if I remember correctly, the parents of the murdered children were actually Red supporters.

What we see now is the military dismantling the Reds. We should all hope that things learned dismantling the Reds can be useful dealing with the south.

It may not be easy, and doing the right thing often isn't. But that doesn't make it any less right.

And nothernjohn's post was very good. The Thais should indeed embrace the southerners, just as the recent leaders have embraced the farmers.

We should be a friend to those less fortunate, and ruthlessly pursue those who would harm another.

[Echo Tango]

This is a great opportunity to crush the insurgency once and for all! Unfortunately, the military is busy chasing-down red shirts and stuff while the Fanatic-Muslim-Extremist blow up hospitals and shops. Since the military is in charge they can do whatever they want without interference from politicians. It's time for the "Scorched Earth" game plan! Giddy-up!

Giddy Up Indeed! How about you volunteer to run one of the Scorched Earth teams, Kramer?

I've already volunteered in Afghanistan for four years. I saw first hand what happens when you let an insurgency get out of hand, and it's not pretty! Fanatic-Muslim-Extremist only understand one thing, and that's overwhelming power! It's up to the Thais to protect the integrity of their borders and the sovereignty of their country, isn't it?

P.S. Who's Kramer?

[Staffan]

I find the editorial in the Nation a lot more thoughtful and constructive than many/most of the subsequent comments. There are real grievances, historic and more recent ones, among the population in the 'Deep South'. These are not purely based on religion. They have never been dealt with adquately, and to do so is very difficult. But if a new intitive to do so is now possible, so much the better.

[Thailand]

Seriously?

The parallels are inescapable.

It wasn't so long ago that Red Shirts attacked peaceful protesters in Trat, murdering two innocent children. And if I remember correctly, the parents of the murdered children were actually Red supporters.

What we see now is the military dismantling the Reds. We should all hope that things learned dismantling the Reds can be useful dealing with the south.

It may not be easy, and doing the right thing often isn't. But that doesn't make it any less right.

And nothernjohn's post was very good. The Thais should indeed embrace the southerners, just as the recent leaders have embraced the farmers.

We should be a friend to those less fortunate, and ruthlessly pursue those who would harm another.

They are not dismantling the reds, that's some 25 million plus?

They are dismantling the Shinawatra influence, nothing like the problem in the south. With Thaksin and the Shin dynasty gone the "reds" will still have a massive say in what goes on in Thailand unless the "reforms" are something completely outrageous.

As for deaths and violence, all sides, parties, colors, creeds here have an equal number of idiots capable of atrocities,it's not limited.

[phuketsub]

This is one of the best, most insightful editorials I have seen in The Nation for a long time.

Not addressed, however, is the need for the Thai state to get out of the 'business' of religion, whether it be for the (perceived) benefit of Buddhists, flying Deep South Muslims to Mecca for the Hajj at great taxpayer expense, etc..

[simple1]

This is a great opportunity to crush the insurgency once and for all! Unfortunately, the military is busy chasing-down red shirts and stuff while the Fanatic-Muslim-Extremist blow up hospitals and shops. Since the military is in charge they can do whatever they want without interference from politicians. It's time for the "Scorched Earth" game plan! Giddy-up!

Giddy Up Indeed! How about you volunteer to run one of the Scorched Earth teams, Kramer?

I've already volunteered in Afghanistan for four years. I saw first hand what happens when you let an insurgency get out of hand, and it's not pretty! Fanatic-Muslim-Extremist only understand one thing, and that's overwhelming power! It's up to the Thais to protect the integrity of their borders and the sovereignty of their country, isn't it?

P.S. Who's Kramer?

It is true that there are allegations of Islamic extremism slowly gaining a foot hold in the deep South, but overall there is minimal comparison to the conflict in Afghanistan. As you are ex military may may wish to review an analysis published in 2012 by a Thai military officer that talks to the underlying issues of the conflict.

http://www.defence.gov.au/ADC/docs/Publications2012/SheddenPapers12_120306_ConflictinThailand_Nurakkate.pdf

[Zooheekock]

I see absolutely no reason to agree with the OP. The Thai army have been accused of a very great number of grave human rights abuse in the Deep South and that was when they were at least nominally under the control of a civilian authority. As they are now free to do what they wish, which as far as I can tell is restricted to the threatened or actual use of force, why would things suddenly get better rather than worse? Have the army desperately been trying to bring about peace for the last decade only to hampered by the war-mongering civilians in Bangkok? Hardly. To be honest, the OP just sounds like more cheer-leading from The Nation for the junta.

[khunken]

This is a great opportunity to crush the insurgency once and for all! Unfortunately, the military is busy chasing-down red shirts and stuff while the Fanatic-Muslim-Extremist blow up hospitals and shops. Since the military is in charge they can do whatever they want without interference from politicians. It's time for the "Scorched Earth" game plan! Giddy-up!

Giddy Up Indeed! How about you volunteer to run one of the Scorched Earth teams, Kramer?

I've already volunteered in Afghanistan for four years. I saw first hand what happens when you let an insurgency get out of hand, and it's not pretty! Fanatic-Muslim-Extremist only understand one thing, and that's overwhelming power! It's up to the Thais to protect the integrity of their borders and the sovereignty of their country, isn't it?

P.S. Who's Kramer?

It is true that there are allegations of Islamic extremism slowly gaining a foot hold in the deep South, but overall there is minimal comparison to the conflict in Afghanistan. As you are ex military may may wish to review an analysis published in 2012 by a Thai military officer that talks to the underlying issues of the conflict.

http://www.defence.gov.au/ADC/docs/Publications2012/SheddenPapers12_120306_ConflictinThailand_Nurakkate.pdf

Just finished reading that paper - a very good analysis of the problems there. Thanks for sharing.

The 'let's bomb them to oblivion' brigade would do well to read it and not make ignorant comments and crazy 'solutions'.

[northernjohn]

Seriously?

The parallels are inescapable.

It wasn't so long ago that Red Shirts attacked peaceful protesters in Trat, murdering two innocent children. And if I remember correctly, the parents of the murdered children were actually Red supporters.

What we see now is the military dismantling the Reds. We should all hope that things learned dismantling the Reds can be useful dealing with the south.

It may not be easy, and doing the right thing often isn't. But that doesn't make it any less right.

And nothernjohn's post was very good. The Thais should indeed embrace the southerners, just as the recent leaders have embraced the farmers.

We should be a friend to those less fortunate, and ruthlessly pursue those who would harm another.

They are not dismantling the reds, that's some 25 million plus?

They are dismantling the Shinawatra influence, nothing like the problem in the south. With Thaksin and the Shin dynasty gone the "reds" will still have a massive say in what goes on in Thailand unless the "reforms" are something completely outrageous.

As for deaths and violence, all sides, parties, colors, creeds here have an equal number of idiots capable of atrocities,it's not limited.

You are correct it is not limited. But it is only carried out by the red shirts and the Muslim terrorist's.

One other thing the problems in the south have been around for a very long time. But it is only since the Shinawatra influence in the early 2000s that it has become so big.

Close to 6,000 deaths in ten years. As is typical of the Muslims they don't care who they kill they will kill other Muslims. Makes no difference to them.