Thailand-based separatist group calls for international observers in peace talks

[webfact]

BRN calls for international observers in peace talks
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- A Thailand-based separatist group said yesterday it would join the peace talks with the government only if they are conducted formally according to international standards and norms.

"However, such a peace process must be dignified and sincere in its pursuit of peace, not a peace process used as a form of political subterfuge in order to deceive and undermine the strategy of the Patani-Malay people," Barisan Revolusi Nasional Melayu Patani (BRN) said in a statement.

The dialogue must also include mediators and observers from other nations, said the group, which the government accuses of orchestrating the current wave of violence in deep South. The group said it did not reject the peace negotiations but was prepared to achieve reconciliation through peaceful means.

With the facilitation of Malaysia, the Thai government has assigned General Aksara Kerdphol to lead its team, while a group of Muslim Malays calling themselves MARA Patani surfaced recently to also become a party to the talks with Thai authorities.

The parameters of the formal discussion has not yet been established. The BRN said it would not get involved in the meetings brokered by Malaysia.

In 2013, talks collapsed when the Thais could not find legitimate partners with whom to negotiate.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/BRN-calls-for-international-observers-in-peace-tal-30270729.html

-- The Nation 2015-10-13

[SABloke]

Do separatist groups ever think beyond their goals i.e. after separation...well done, you have created a new country, now start supplying basic services like electricity to your citizens....wait you don't have any power stations so now you have to import electricity, people lose cheap healthcare which was previously subsidised by one of the biggest economies in the region. It seems to me that unless you are a tertiary industry economy it would be very difficult to be successful after separation (for such a small area).

[Stocky]

They don't think what the people who live there want either, the 2005 National Reconciliation Commission study of the southern conflict found that the majority of Thai Muslims within the southern states wished to remain Thai, they just wanted the government to recognise their Malay heritage and in particular recognition of the local language Yawi.

Edited October 13, 2015 by Stocky

[webfact]

ISOC doubts BRN’s latest statement

BANGKOK: -- ISOC spokesman Maj-Gen Banpote Poonpien, in his capacity as the spokesman of the government’s peace talks team, said Tuesday that initial finding could not yet confirm the authenticity of the statement but he conceded that some of the contents in the statement were a repetition of what used to be presented publicly.

Pointing out that there are some discrepancies in the latest statement which might cause public confusion, Maj-Gen Banpote urged those responsible for releasing the statement to stop the practice and to act more constructively by participating in the peace process.

He insisted that the peace talks were in the initial trust-building process and the government would carry on with the process with sincerity and openness to all opinions based on mutual respect and equality.

He disclosed that the government’s peace talks team had recently come up with several sets of ideas on security, development and justice issues.

In the statement purported to be released by the BRN, the separatist group said the government’s rejection of its proposed five conditions showed that the government had never accepted that the root cause of the unrest in the far South was the “occupation and colonization” of the region by Bangkok.

The group demanded international mediation and observation of the peace talks.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/isoc-doubts-brns-latest-statement


-- Thai PBS 2015-10-13

[Srikcir]

"the government had never accepted that the root cause of the unrest in the far South was the “occupation and colonization” of the region by [buddhist] Bangkok."

Fair statement apart from the Yingluck regime that seemed receptive to some autonomy for the South. But the military views any autonomy as a violation of Thai sovereignty. The Prayut regime wants the BRN to trust its motives while it does not trust the BRN in return.

The BRN request for international mediators and monitors is justified. And it's a perfect excuse for the government to blame the BRN for failed peacetalks since it would consider such request as a violation of Thai sovereignty.