ANALYSIS
KL floats 'autonomy' idea for Thai south

2009/11/01

By KAMRUL IDRIS

New thinking and renewed resolve could yet chart progress in the enduring troubles Thailand is facing in its restive southern provinces, writes KAMRUL IDRIS

A BREAKTHROUGH could be taking shape in southern Thailand's deadly insurgency.

At the Asean Summit in Hua Hin last weekend, Datuk Seri Najib Razak suggested to his host, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, that some sort of autonomy ought to be granted to the fractious border provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala.

The suggestion has been made before -- to the mostly pursed lips of an establishment dead set about the unitary nature of the Thai monarchical state.

This time, however, Najib appears to have made a difference. AFP reported on Tuesday that Abhisit, also British-educated and representing a new generation of enlightened leadership, backed the idea.

"That's the right approach," he said. "My government is working to make it materialise and in early December, I and my Malaysian counterpart will visit the southern region."

The notion of a degree of self-rule for the predominantly Muslim, former Pattani sultanate of the Thai south is a no-brainer, along with alleviating its poverty. The uprising against Bangkok has simmered for years and has claimed more than 3,900 lives since a surge in violence in 2004.

In a June report on "Recruiting militants in southern Thailand", the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) said "the primary cause of those engaged in the movement is to defend their identity and struggle against oppression".

"The grievances that have long fuelled the insurgency must be addressed with demonstrable results. This means stopping abuses and punishing those responsible for past crimes.

"Changing policies and practices that disregard the ethnic identity of Muslim Malays in southern Thailand will be an important next step, and should include increasing respect for their language, religion and culture," the ICG said.

As obvious as autonomy may be to outside analysts, Najib was circumspect in articulating Malaysia's good intentions.

In an interview with Bangkok's The Nation newspaper published on Monday, he scotched any hint of caving in to the insurgents by dismissing independence for the southern region as "completely out of the question".

"What we have been saying is for them to be part of some form of autonomy. You may not even want to call it 'autonomy', but at least some form in which they can participate in things that matter to them.

"For example, in education, in selecting their local leaders, in employment, religious education.

"It does not intrude into the fundamental question related to the constitution of Thailand or how Thailand is governed. But these are things that the government can consider for its people," Najib said.

The prime minister was careful not to cross the red line into Thai sovereign prerogative. But he was frank in mapping out what was possible for the south. "I think it is not an intractable problem. It can be resolved because the demands of the people in the south are not so onerous," he said.

Asked if Malaysia could contemplate "a Pattani republic as a neighbour", Najib was emphatic.

"No, absolutely not. It is something that is not realistic for them to demand, and they should not demand it.

"They should be good Muslims and good Thai citizens. They must be loyal to Thailand, to the king, to the Constitution of Thailand, but at the same time they should be good Muslims and they should be allowed to be good Muslims. And the system in Thailand should allow for that," Najib said.

Part of the Asean credo is never to seem too clever about the internal affairs of fellow members, but always to tender advice in terms of one's successful experience. Malaysia's federal structure allows for decentralisation in localised matters such as land and religion, without impairing national cohesion -- an arrangement Thailand was subtly encouraged to emulate.

"Our part is to be supportive," Najib said. "We're not going to negotiate on your behalf. We're not going to go beyond what a good neighbour would do."

Echoing his premier, Thai spokesman Panitan Watta-nayagorn proposed a standard of autonomy that equated with local democracy. "Thailand is supporting this approach," he said in the AFP report. "It does not contradict the constitution but instead allows more public participation in the form of a local assembly."

Najib's statement, the first to have been made by a Malaysian leader in such a public fashion on Thai soil, has propelled a discussion of southern autonomy in Thai governing circles.

Even before he spoke up, the Abhisit administration, which took over last December, had hastened to take control of the southern problem from the military, and explored moves such as beefing up the civilian-led Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre.

Yet one reason why autonomy has not caught on among Thai policymakers is that they have not had a moment's peace since the 2006 coup, which toppled Thaksin Shinawatra, to weigh all the options for the restive south.

Thailand remains sharply divided between the pro and anti-Thaksin camps, and so distracted by the fugitive former prime minister that it is barely capable of focusing on the three provinces, even with the almost daily body count in decapitations and drive-by shootings.

Thaksin's and the generals' hardline stance in the area -- emblemised by the Krue Sue and Tak Bai incidents of April and October 2004, in which 106 and 78 died respectively -- has dug a well of resentment so deep that negotiations will prove difficult.

Jim Della-Giacomo, the ICG's project director for Southeast Asia based in Jakarta, believes autonomy lies some distance in the future.

Bangkok has first to act against the "culture of impunity" among the 60,000 troops stationed in the south over the brutalities inflicted on the population.

Della-Giacomo proposes step-by-step confidence-building measures, culminating in a package deal that would allow southerners more freedom to live their lives.

From the other side of the divide, The Nation regional editor Don Pathan also thinks autonomy is a "long way" off.

"This is a politically charged issue in Thailand. Before we can get to that, Thais will have to debate something more basic about the Pattani people and their place in Thai society and their membership of the Thai state.

"This government is more sensitive than the last two. But at the same time, it has to develop a new mindset that gets away from the mode of thinking that considers the Pattani people like the Chinese in Bangkok's Chinatown or the Lao in the northeast, who have no problem with the Thai state," Don said.

Najib does not want to get involved in the national debate over the incompatibilities or otherwise of the Thai and Pattani identities.

"I want to make it very clear that this is a domestic consideration," he said in the interview.

"We want to be as helpful as possible. You, the Thais, must be comfortable with the level of autonomy."

Najib's interest, and Malay-sia's, is to mobilise energy and resources on a common platform with the Thais to bring about an end to the conflict in the south. Kuala Lumpur has no desire for an unstable frontier that can shelter not only rebels but terrorists and criminals.

In floating an idea that rarely dared speak its name before, Najib will have pressed home an alternative to simply waiting for the insurgency to murderously burn itself out.