Posted on 09/20/2006 3:54:59 AM PDT by excludethis
Thailand must negotiate with leaders of an ethnic Malay Muslim separatist insurgency if it wants to end bloodshed in its troubled Muslim-majority southern provinces, the country’s army chief said on Friday.
General Sondhi Boonyaratkalin said the violence, which has claimed more than 1,500 lives, would not be quelled if authorities only arrested the foot-soldiers of the militancy, but refused to talk to its instigators. “It is necessary to talk to make lasting peace,” Gen Sondhi, the first Muslim to head the Thai army, told Thai journalists on Friday.
ADVERTISEMENT The appeal for talks with insurgents came a day after bombs in 22 banks across the province of Yala exploded almost simultaneously, killing a retired official, and injuring 28 people.
The highly co-ordinated attacks on the banks, including two state-owned Islamic banks, demonstrated the militants’ rising technical capacity, and their willingness to strike at the foundations of the economy of the region, an ethnic Malay Muslim-majority enclave in Buddhist-majority Thailand.
“Nothing is spared,” said Sunai Phasuk, a political analyst with Human Rights Watch. “So far, they have targeted administrative structures, security forces, law enforcement, educational structures, and cultural structures, like Buddhist monks. Now they attack the economic structure, which means nothing put in place by the Thai state is accepted.”
Since the renewed flare-up in January 2004 of a decades-old separatist insurgency, Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister, has promised to shower the troubled region with money to accelerate economic growth, while also imposing a state of emergency that allows security forces to use harsh measures to crack down on suspected militants.
Mr Thaksin has, in public, staunchly refused to engage in negotiations to end the long-standing conflict, which has at its roots resistance by ethnic Malay Muslims against forcible assimilation into the Thai state, and resentment at discrimination against them in jobs and education.
Yet behind the scenes, some Thai officials have been quietly engaging over the last year with “certain individuals” – including prominent southern Thai Muslims in political exile – who are seen as potentially able to influence the insurgents.
“The army has been trying to talk with the intellectual leaders of the militant groups,” Mr Sunai said.
However, Mr Sunai said negotiations still faced formidable obstacles, including ensuring that those southern Thai Muslims in contact with officials could actually exert influence on the ground.
The problem, as I see it, is that the coup so far has turned into mostly a non-event. I think the media wishes there was more of a story so they are having to hype everything they can. The whole Muslim angle is a perfect example of it. They want pictures of blood in the streets so since they can't have it, they are trying to go after something else that doesn't exist.
The hard facts are very simple and easy to understand. The former PM has been doing everything possible to hang onto power (think Al Gore). As part of this process, he has been trying to replace key people with those that are loyal to him. His latest attempt was to replace key people in the military and it backfired on him.
While in NY, he tried to force some people out of office and they said no. In turn they forced him out. QED.
They are now in the process of setting up a transitional civilian government that will take power within 2 weeks and lead to new elections. So far, everything looks good. For example, they have set up a commission to investigate corruption under the former PM and the people on the committee are very well respected (including one who was on the former PM's side).
Of course, these types of things don't sell papers so they hype up lies about General Sondhi instead.
"They" may understand Thai society in ways I may not. However, I would submit they may not understand Islam as well as they think they do.
Thank you for saying in one post what I have been trying to say in the past day.
Is this the guy who orchestrated the coup? Is this why it happened, so that the Muslims rebels could prevail?
He has the Blessings of the King,,Good nuff' for me.
Meaning they didn't get the results they wanted. That's crazy.
Meaning the election was overturned because of fraud committed by the former prime minister. A new election had to be scheduled. This has been going on for more than six months and people finally had enough of it.
After what the Pope has just gone through, is there any wonder the King endorses the new moozlim dictator of Thailand?
It's like when you ask them to condemn suicide bombing, and they say "Oh, of course, we condemn it unconditionally, except for Jews of course."
Thailand was aligned with the Axis in WWII.
Har-dee-har-har, wiseacre.
Yeah, IF that were ALL he had, I'd have a very different opinion. It ISN'T all he's got, and in two weeks we'll see hard evidence that will either confirm or refute the claims he has made regarding his long-range intentions.
You cannot ignore that 94% of the country is NOT Muslim and, were he to alienate them, the 94% non-Muslim army would take him down in nothing flat. He's ONE Muslim. ALONE in a sea of Buddhists. He didn't get where he is being stupid; he's NOT going to advocate appeasement with Muslim terrorists in the south. To do so would be, shall we say, a monumental career limiting maneouver.
Yes and No. In name only. The US OSS was all over the country working with the Free Thai movement to sabotage the Japanese.
I would go into the details but it is past my bedtime...
Yes. After the news blackout of the country followed by the fait accompli that the coup has already happened, to find out 24 hours later that the coup leader is Muslim and says there is no way to win against the muslims besides talking... Well let's just say it's the Thai's that are the provincials, not us. We KNOW what the muslims are up to and capable of.
When muslims reach a 5% population they begin to make an outsized impact on the host country's politics.
A Muslim-led coup takes over a Buddhist country.
No wonder the MSM was so scant on details last night.
It's hard to believe Islamic leaders ever get ticked at the MSM (like Mullah Omar
in the last days of his reign).
The MSM are about the most loyal allies radical Islam could ever hope for.
And by far the best agency for squelching the distribution of what
Islam is really doing.
Trying to take over the world.
I'm sorry to have been disrespectful, you just seem so innocent of the ways in which the muslims have been sneaking their way into western democracies, and so sure it can't be happening in Thailand. It troubles me that you don't even seem to see it as something to watch out for.
Well it stands to reason those that do feel that way, would also think that anyone supporting Israel is problematic.
I've heard some interesting interviews involving "moderate" Muslims. When the questions become more pointed, they reveal some problematic mindsets.
Medvid was interviewing a guy he touted as being moderate last week, and by the end of the interview he had to state several times that he didn't realize the guy's stances were what they were on several points. Those points were moderately damning to his overall outlook.
I try to be even-handed on this, but from what I've seen, there are some serious problems present even with moderates. If push came to shove, I have to wonder what their reactions would be.
I think he will do what is best for Thailand,,FIRST.
Whatever it takes to set the country straight,The King said. ;0)
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