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.
"This has got to be the funniest post of the day! Thanks for the laughs."
I was gonna' say something, but you got it first.
It's funny because it's true...
Since you appear to have a horse in this race, my advice is to keep your mind open to the benefits that Iran gets, every time he turns a former friend of the U.S. into a Nonaligned nation state.
The point is that regardless of the fact that this government had institutional problems, the cure is a no confidence vote and a new election, not the appointment of a KING.
The domino's keep falling and nobody sees the connections.
Follow the money.......
"The Immigration Department is in the process of 'reforming' the immigration laws."
Wifey is a bit resistant to Thailand, she doesn't want to learn yet another language.
It's funny when we're there. People are always trying to speak with her in Thai, and she has learned this phrase well, complete with proper intonation and a smile: "Mai Thai."
Does that mean that great big Thailand is caving to a tiny section of the population that occupies a tiny slice of land down south?
Under the former Prime Minister (I love how that sounds) Thailand had better relations with China than with the US. Sondhi has much stronger ties with the US than the former Prime Minister ever had. Sondhi volunteered to fight on the ground next to US troops in Vietnam. That counts for a lot in my book.
The point is that regardless of the fact that this government had institutional problems, the cure is a no confidence vote and a new election, not the appointment of a KING.
The King in Thailand is hereditary, not appointed. They tried a no confidence vote and a new election a few months ago. It didn't work and that is what led to the current situation.
this writer with the muslim-sounding surname seems to have her nose into SE Asian Muslim issues at every opportunity:
http://www.google.com/search?q=%22By+Amy+Kazmin%22+muslim&hl=en&lr=&start=0&sa=N
"Thaksin, a telecommunications tycoon before entering politics, handily won three general elections since coming to power in 2001 and garnered great support among the rural poor for his populist policies."
Australia is raising bloody hell about this coup. They must have some Maxine Waters types taking a hit from this. Maxine Waters was joined at the hip with Aristide over Haitian Telecom contracts.
The USA and the western model is general doesn't translate so well in these "nationalized" countries. We love profit and will ignore the obvious inefficiencies and hardships caused by the corruption we encourage. These countries have people who are paid by the transaction, not performance. The more you move, the more you can cut. It's terribly corrupt. It's why in places like Lebanon the Hizb are running circles around our relief efforts. We encourage corruption in countries that don't follow the rule of law.
I hope your understanding is the better one. I know just enough of Thai history to understand the Thai as devious in their pursuit and maintenance of order ond independence.
For those of you more familar with Asian geopolitics than I am, I have a question. How does China view this potential muslim takeover in Thailand and its increasing influence in the region? I can't imagine that they are very comfortable with it. Is it unreasonable to hope that we may have an ally in the region, at least in this arena? Or am I just dreaming?
30 years ago 150k US might have bought a big piece of that place right here in the USA.
Good point.
"Muslim sounding name?"
Jeez, so many people are going off the deep end on this thread without even the most basic fact.
Kasmin is an ethnic Russian name.
And maybe Amy Kasmin writes about SE Asia and its Muslim issues because that's her job? She is the assigned "SE Asia Correspondent" of the Financial Times of London and there are Muslim stories in SE Asia.
Iranians??
There has been absolutely no Muslim takeover of Thailand and there is absolutely no Muslim influence in any part of the Thai government. It only exists in the minds of some foreign journalists and some individuals online who believe what those journalists write.
I can't imagine that they are very comfortable with it. Is it unreasonable to hope that we may have an ally in the region, at least in this arena?
I am sure China is pissed, but for another reason. The former Prime Minister was ethnic Chinese and on very good terms with China. He basically gave China anything they wanted. I am sure they are not happy about losing that relationship. It is another way this is a good thing for the US.
I do believe these folks have had a king for kind of a while now.
When you have Islamic terrorists bombing state infractructure and demanding seperation, two things will happen.
1. You can let them have their own seperate state.
2. You can beat them back by killing all the terrorists.
#1 buys time until they start up in another province.
#2 buys security.
Perhaps I need to get up to speed here. Thanks for the reply.
National suicide on isle six...
"...there is absolutely no Muslim influence in any part of the Thai government."
Excuse me, but the coup leader is a Muslim. You may want to ignore that fact all day, but it is a fact. There WILL be an influence of some sort.
His first act was to call for talks with the terrorists. I put those two FACTS together, and I am EXTREMELY uneasy if I live in Thailand.
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