Peace talks with southern insurgents to proceed
By Digital Content



BANGKOK, July 7 -- The Thai military council which seized power in a coup on May 22 has affirmed that peace talks with southern insurgents will proceed.

Deputy army chief Udomdej Sitabutr confirmed the continuation of peace negotiations while on his trip to the far south Monday morning to follow up local situations and meet local Islamic leaders on the occasion of the Ramadan month of fasting.

Gen Udomdej, secretary-general of the military's National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and his delegation are visiting the southern border provinces of Yala and Pattani.

It is his first visit to the violence-plagued region in his capacity as the head of the committee designated to solve problems in southern border provinces.

Gen Udomdej said that the NCPO was seriously at work resolving problems in the southern border provinces and was integrating solutions.

He commented that incidents of violence were declining in the south year-on-year.

Regarding peace negotiation for the southernmost provinces, Gen Udomdej said that it would continue with care and attempts to develop mutual trust.

Forms of negotiation at the local level will be adjusted to create mutual trust, he said without elaborating.

Gen Udomdej confirmed that the secretary-general of the National Security Council continued to head the peace negotiation team of Thai authorities. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2014-07-07

Violent incidents are declining year on year in the south????

So 1 or 2 killings is a decline.......zero killings/bombings/attacks are a decline....every day in the press, reports of murders/bombings are page 3 news nowadays.......

Next, the media will be banned from reporting incidents from this region.

If they are on the decline the news papers must be doing their job finnaly. It seems like there is a dearth day minimum. Could have been worse if the news papers had been burying the articles.

Forms of negotiation at the local level will be adjusted to create mutual trust, he said without elaborating.

I would be greatly interested in some elaboration into what they are doing at the local level. Trying to put more soldiers in there? Or trying to show the people that they are not out to change their way of life or religion as long as they obey the same laws all the other ethnic and non ethnic people in Thailand obey.

They have every rite to be a Muslim but they do not have the right to kill because some one else is not their kind of Muslim.

"NCPO was seriously at work resolving problems in the southern border provinces and was integrating solutions."

Translation: We haven't a clue on what to do differently that we haven't tried before.

"...it would continue with care and attempts to develop mutual trust."

The muslim insurgents may be a little hesitant with trusting Thai military negotiators who just recently overthrew an elected government just days after the military proclaimed that it had no intention of a military coup. If the military was in reality willing to lie to Thais (the military claims it did not plan for a coup, it just happened suddenly), how sincere would it be with muslim insurgents, especially given the military's history with using armed conflict as its means of negotiating with the muslim insurgents? Resolution requires "give and take" and not the "I take and you give." Happiness centers for the insurgents will not solve the conflict.

Violent incidents are declining year on year in the south????

So 1 or 2 killings is a decline.......zero killings/bombings/attacks are a decline....every day in the press, reports of murders/bombings are page 3 news nowadays.......

Next, the media will be banned from reporting incidents from this region.

"Next, the media will be banned from reporting incidents from this region."

This has been on & off the burners for nearly 20+ years...long before the 2004

incident. Shame isn't it? Outta sight & outta mind. And the negotiations aren't

gonna solve anything.