PM : Thai envoys must get support of Muslim nations

POST REPORTERS

The cooperation of Thai diplomats overseas in getting support from the Muslim world is crucial to solving the problems in the deep South, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said yesterday.

He told a meeting of about 40 Thai envoys to Islamic countries, including nations within the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), his government would focus on peace-oriented means in dealing with southern violence.

There would be more emphasis on public participation through the Southern Border Province Administrative Centre (SBPAC), delivering justice to Muslim people and allowing sharia law to be applied in some areas, as well as increasing the number of Muslim judges in the common court, he said.

Economic development and job creation, including revitalising the Joint Development Strategy with Malaysia and greater cooperation within the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle, should help divert Muslim youth away from manipulation by insurgents, he said.

Southern violence was an internal issue but it also had international dimensions as the perpetrators had used foreign countries as their back-up, he said. Malaysia had given him a reassurance of its cooperation during his visit.

The prime minister thanked the ambassadors and consuls-general for their efforts so far in establishing understanding with OIC member states, but he said that they should work harder to get the message across.

Chulalongkorn University professor of political science Panitan Wattanayakorn said the government had spent the past three months reintroducing the SBPAC. It was now imperative that non-government organisations and Islamic civic society also take part.

The process of bringing all government agencies in the deep South under the SBPAC's supervision was still under way but the government hoped to have it in place this year, Mr Panitan said.

''It's an urgent matter but it's subject to procedure in terms of shifting the chain of command and budgets,'' said Mr Panitan, who is security adviser to the prime minister.

SBPAC director Pranai Suwannarat said in Yala that a support project was planned to improve the living conditions of southern residents affected by the insurgency and presence of troops.

The project resulted from several meetings with spiritual and community leaders as well as local residents who lived in fear and had only limited access to public health services.

It was targeting people in 88 tambons across 44 districts of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, Satun and parts of Songkhla. A special team would monitor progress in each tambon.

The project was developed based on a strategy suggested by His Majesty the King _ which is to ''understand, access and develop''.

The prime minister is due in Pattani on Saturday to provide guidelines for the project.

Army spokesman Akkara Thiproj said 31 Thai-Muslim families from Yala's Bannang Sata district who had taken refuge in Pattani following a clash with Buddhist villagers in November returned home yesterday under the protection of a special task force from Sirindhorn military camp.

In Yala, three villagers were shot and wounded on Tuesday while they were watching television in their house in Yaha district.

General News
Bangkok Post
Thursday January 25, 2007