Thai govt restarting peace talks in the far South

[webfact]

Govt restarting peace talks in the far South
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- PRIME MINISTER Prayut Chan-o-cha's government has confirmed it is in the process of restarting peace talks with separatists in the deep South.

The government is also identifying "genuine" representatives of the various rebel groups so talks will be productive, as previous rounds were not successful, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said yesterday.

In an interview with Nation Multimedia Group, General Prawit said General Aksara Kerdphol, chairman of the Army's advisory committee, would remain as the Thai point man in dealings with the insurgent groups.

The new round of peace talks is expected to be held next month, a source said.

Malaysia will continue to play the role of facilitator of the meetings, Prawit said, adding that its participation was still very important.

At this stage, the situation in southern Thailand has improved, he said.

A military source said the main agenda for negotiations is how to reduce the degree of violence, especially against innocent citizens, while also avoiding armed confrontation between authorities and militant groups.

"In the next step, there will be an agreement between both sides to indicate what they need the government to do," the source said.

The dialogue was initiated by the previous government, with Lt-General Paradorn Pattanatabutr, then chief of the National Security Council, as chief of the negotiating team.

Back then, Malaysia also set up a joint working group for the Peace Dialogue Process, but progress was scant as Thailand urged Malaysia to include the "real" leaders of separatists in the process.

The latest development is more positive, as Malaysia has recently held talks with MARA Patani, or Majlis Amanah Rakyat Patani, which consists of six insurgent groups - Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), three Pulo sub-groups, BIPP and GMIP. The Pulo sub-groups claimed they had been discriminated against and did not take part in the talks with Thai authorities. Now, sources believe that MARA Patani would in effect represent all six groups in future approaches from Thailand.

The Thai side has also requested written documents on authorisation from different levels of leadership of these groups so that any agreement would be more credible.

Both Thai and Malaysian authorities are planning to launch public relations campaigns to boost awareness of the peace process.

The Thai side at this stage has insisted that the talks should be held behind closed doors, but others have different views.

Sources say Thai authorities have already started unofficial talks with the groups' leaders in the deep South, but some insurgents were not convinced and were worried they would be trapped by the Thai side.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Govt-restarting-peace-talks-in-the-far-South-30259957.html


-- The Nation 2015-05-13

[Emster23]

Someone please remind me why peace talks stopped? "The Thai side has also requested written documents on authorisation from different levels of leadership of these groups so that any agreement would be more credible." There's that old status bureaucracy at work again....

[Srikcir]

Someone please remind me why peace talks stopped? "The Thai side has also requested written documents on authorisation from different levels of leadership of these groups so that any agreement would be more credible." There's that old status bureaucracy at work again.... alt=blink.png>

Peace talks had begun under the Yingluck regime in February 2013. Yingluck's strategy was to move away from the Thaksin-military ironhand treatment of the South and offer potential autonomy rejected by Thaksin-military. However, with the disruption of government by the Democrats and the virtual shotdown by the anti-government protests by the PDRC, the government shifted its attention away from the peace talks towards pure political survival. So the talks collapse from the resulting void.

[Srikcir]

This is pure political theater.

The military has insisted that peace talks can only begin in earnest AFTER an unspecified period of time has past during which NO insurgency violence has been commited. From an insurgency perspective, that would be unacceptable.

The military has also insisted that Thai sovereignty will never be relingished over the Southern provinces, ruling out any autonomy for the Malay-Thais. Autonomy is the minimum goal of the insurgents.

Peace talks with the Junta are DOA.

[lvr181]

Speak softly but carry big stick.