Political turmoil diverting focus from Deep South peace process: panel

Unrest in Thailand is harming efforts to find a peaceful solution to the insurgency in the far southern provinces, experts say.

By Somchai Huasaikul for Khabar Southeast Asia in Hat Yai

December 19, 2013
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Political turmoil in Thailand is slowing efforts to resolve the insurgency in the Deep South, one of the deadliest internal conflicts in the world, experts told at a recent forum on the matter.

  • Analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak (centre) addresses a forum on prospects for peace in southern Thailand at Chulalongkorn University on October 30th. Danyal Abdulloh (right), an activist from the conflict zone, said youth there want peace and accommodation of

    Analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak (centre) addresses a forum on prospects for peace in southern Thailand at Chulalongkorn University on October 30th. Danyal Abdulloh (right), an activist from the conflict zone, said youth there want peace and accommodation of "different livelihoods, a different way of living" in the Muslim Deep South. [Photo courtesy of ISIS]

"The violence we see in the Deep South is now almost a decade old. The conflict dates back a century, but over 5,300 people have died in the violence since it flared up in January 2004," Thitinan Pongsudhirak, forum moderator and director of the Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS) at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok said in his opening remarks.

Political upheaval "has not allowed for a full-hearted effort to tackle the southern insurgency and move forward with the peace process," said Thitinan, whose think-tank hosted the October 30th on-campus forum as political disputes began to escalate in Bangkok.

Matthew Wheeler, Southeast Asia analyst for the International Crisis Group (ICG), urged all parties not to abandon the peace effort.

"We are a long way still from a discussion of substantive issues," Wheeler told the forum. "I think the matter at hand is trying to build a secure and stable process, and even that is going to take time," he said.

"However long it takes, that's the amount of time we need to invest in it," he said.

The Muslim youth perspective

Another panelist, activist Danyal Abdulloh, offered a grassroots perspective from the conflict zone. He said local people in the conflict area found it difficult to express their wants and needs though existing channels.

"The more violence we've had from both sides, the insurgency and the state, the less political space we get, and that space was already limited to begin with," he said.

Danyal said people in the region have their freedom of expression impinged from both sides.

"There is a saying in the Deep South that the local people have to live under two laws. …. So if the Thai authorities go down to talk to them, they will be pressured to speak to the tune of the Thai government. But if the insurgents talk to them, they would be more inclined to say what the insurgents would like to hear."

People in the Deep South desire not full independence, he said, but "some adjustment or recalibration of government structures of laws, rules to accommodate a very different way of living, different livelihoods in the Deep South because we are Muslims".

From his experience in several peace dialogues, Danyal believes the main objectives of southern youths are: peace and better mutual understanding; lifting of security measures; establishment of a "safety zone" where people could discuss matters and political views and respect from authorities when following religious obligations.

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