Thai govt approves budget hike to quell southern insurgency

[webfact]

Govt Approves Budget Hike to Quell Southern Insurgency
By Teeranai Charuvastra
Staff Reporter


Soldiers man a security checkpoint on Dec. 31, 2015, in Pattani province.

BANGKOK — Security forces will get a budget increase of 4 billion baht this year to stamp out the separatist rebellion in the southern border provinces, as the conflict enters its thirteenth year.

The hike was announced by the Internal Security Operation Command just one day after the anniversary of the 2004 raid on an army base that sparked the insurgency. More than 6,200 people have died in the war since, and experts say a peaceful settlement is nowhere in sight.

“The budget to solve the problem in the south in fiscal 2016 consists of 30.176 billion baht, which is 4.4 billion baht higher than the previous fiscal year,” said ISOC spokesman Banpot Pulpian.

Maj.Gen. Banpot explained that the budget would be spent on “construction and development of basic infrastructure, job creation and development of education,” and also on salary hikes for the security force in the Muslim-majority region of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat provinces.

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1451975374


-- Khaosod English 2016-01-05

[Hawk]

Various governments have wasted billions of baht on the "southern problem" and now this government wants to waste even more money on this unsolvable problem.

[Srikcir]

"salary hikes for the security force"

That is for the paramilitary rangers who are essentially contractors. In 2015 they were making Bt15,000/month.

Notice no budget increase for peace talks.

Decades of construction and development of basic infrastructure, job creation and development of education has not quelled the insurgency. Why does the military think that now it will? This is not the root of the problem. It's a basic issue of a suppressed muslim people and attempts at their forced assimulation into a Buddhist Thai monarchy.

[Pib]

BANGKOK — Security forces will get a budget increase of 4 billion baht this year to stamp out the separatist rebellion in the southern border provinces, as the conflict enters its thirteenth year.

A mere budget increase this year is all that is required to stamp-out the separatist rebellion which is now entering its 13th year?! Wow, such a simple fix.

However, I bet if a person was to research the situation the security forces have got a budget increase for each of the last dozen years. Well, at least this year they are saying a security forces budget increase will fix the rebellion. Usually the govt says the new general they are assigning to the area will fix the problem....they have went through a lot of new generals so far in stamping out this rebellion....but never fear, Thailand has plenty of generals they can throw at the situation.

[toybits]

YES!

[rreddin]

"salary hikes for the security force"

That is for the paramilitary rangers who are essentially contractors. In 2015 they were making Bt15,000/month.

Notice no budget increase for peace talks.

Decades of construction and development of basic infrastructure, job creation and development of education has not quelled the insurgency. Why does the military think that now it will? This is not the root of the problem. It's a basic issue of a suppressed muslim people and attempts at their forced assimulation into a Buddhist Thai monarchy.

Well, at least the government is trying to do something. Credit to them for at least trying. But, alas, no matter how well intended their proposed actions are they are a product of their background and training. Military and or police action on their own will not solve the complex problems in that part of the country. This is the lesson leaned the hard way by previous governments.

Another new development is the change in the language being used. Much more bellicose language is being used to describe the actions of the "anti-government forces" (my term) as a "separatist rebellion". "Quell" and "stamp out" is not the type of language that is conducive to a peaceful resolution to a problem that started in 1909 when Thailand annexed the Sultanate of Pattani. After more than a century of trying to win over hearts and minds without success, I am less than optimistic that the new initiative will be any more successful, but we can live in hope.

According to a recent (2015) highly regarded article (New York Times, I think but I cannot find the reference), many people in the region consider themselves Pattani, not Thai, but have no sense of their own regional identity, and no cultural monuments within the three provinces to act as a focus. Nor does the rest of the country, diverse as it is, have much in common with the folk of those three provinces. Fortunately for Thailand, the dispute seems not to be based on religious differences and the violence has almost completely been confined to the former sultanate.

Yes, Buddhist monks have been murdered, but I suspect they, like the slain teachers, civil servants, police officers, and military personnel are seen by some as representatives of oppression. That is not to excuse or try to justify any of these killings, but to indicate that there is more to the problem than just a difference of religious belief. Nor is it to say that the failure to resolve these problems lies solely with successive Thai governments. There are clearly some in the ranks of the insurgents who are not interested in finding a solution and want to perpetuate the violence.

There is a case here for some form of federal relationship between the former sultanate and the rest of the country. Whether the powers that be can be convinced of the merits of the idea or are even interested in investigating such an avenue is another matter. And there remains the possibility that despite their current demands for greater autonomy, for very different reasons the insurgents themselves might not be too keen on the idea either.

[cockatoowho]

How much will be left after the grubby little hands get their cut?

[Dumbastheycome]

Hmmmm. Maybe Trump em insurgents? Build a wall around it and shoot anythin that moves if it aint truckloads of exportables heading north !