After expressing his frustration over the latest Deep South peace talk, the Thai junta leader warned media not to criticise the government for the stalled peace dialogue with Deep South insurgent groups.
The Daily News reported that Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the junta leader and Prime Minister, on Friday, 29 April 2016, said at the Government House that the media should be careful about reporting on the Deep South peace talk, saying that the security force cannot accept ways in which media criticised the authorities’s attempts to solve the Deep South conflict.
The junta premier told media not to accused his government of not trying to solve the Deep South problem serious enough without being fully informed about the current security situation and the law, warning that such criticisms could be ‘illegal’.
After the fourth unofficial peace talk between representatives of the Thai state and Majlis Syura Patanai (MARA Patani), a coalition of Deep South insurgent groups, held on 27 April in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has failed, Gen Prayut expressed his frustration over stalled peace talk and said that his government was left to handle problems initiated by the former administration.
“We have avoided talks. The last government wanted to talk. That is why we have to tackle these problems now,” the Bangkok Post quoted Gen Prayut as saying.
The junta leader added that the Thai state cannot negotiate with lawbreakers, saying that the talk could proceed if the insurgents think similarly to the Thai state in findings ways to tackle the violence in the Deep South.
On 28 April, Abu Hafez Al-Hakim from MARA Patani revealed that the latest unofficial talk was fruitless because the Thai state representatives was not ready to accept the Terms of References (TOR) as the junta leader refused to endorse it.
Earlier, the TOR, a set of rules and regulations before the formal peace talk could proceed, was agreed upon by MARA Patani and Lt Gen Nakrob Bunbuathong, former Secretary-General of the Thai state negotiation team. Recently, Lt Gen Nakrob was, however, controversially removed from his post on the peace talk table and replaced by Gen Aksara Kerdphol.
Following the latest unofficial peace talk, Katsuri Makota, leader of Patani United Liberation Organisation (PULO), one of the insurgent groups in MARA Patani, issued a statement saying that the Thai team has agreed with MARA Patani on certain rules in the TOR, such as having Malaysia as a facilitator and a meeting place of the talk. However, the Thai state did not agree to recognised MARA Patani as yet.
Katsuri pointed out that the recognition of MARA Patani is necessary so that the Thai government will not have a dialogue with other groups other than MARA.
“MARA is concerned that the Thai government might start a talk with other people than MARA. Secondly, the members of the dialogue team [of MARA Patani] should be granted immunity. This is necessary because so many of our friends were arrested exactly when they were talking with the Thai government, Haji Ismail was one of them,” reads PULO statement.
Katsuri concluded that the peace talk is still its initial stage and that TOR has to be agreed upon by both parties before an official peace talk between the two could start.
According to Romadon Panjor, editor of Deep South Watch, the prospect peace in the region through the official peace dialogue between the two parties could be postponed further if the Thai state is sending wrong political signals, which could strengthen the voices of certain members of MARA Patani who are not in favour of the peace talk.
“If the voices of those who are dubious about the peace talk in MARA [Patani] are getting stronger, the strategic goal of the Thai state in transforming the violence [struggle] to peaceful struggle will be more distant,” Romadon told the BBC Thai.
He added that one of the challenges of the peace talk is how the Thai state could find personnel who could be trusted by both parties to represent the Thai government on the peace talk table.
“The peace process has never really gained the main currency within the [Thai] military since the beginning,” said Romadon, adding that the recent replacement of leader of the Thai team more or less affected the peace dialogue and that the current Thai team is not as experienced in comparison to the former team led by Lt Gen Nakrob.
Romadon added that it is regrettable that the proposals of the women’s network in the Deep South to the Thai state and MARA Patani to create a safety zone in the restive Deep South is now postponed further as the Thai government refused to sign the TOR.
The editor of the Deep South Watch urged both peace talk parties to be patient and listen to different opinions in order to steer ahead with peaceful ways in solving the Deep South conflict.
According to Gen Aksara Kerdphol, the new leader of the Thai state party representatives to the peace talk, the talk will proceed in accordance to the framework laid out by Gen Prayut, adding that currently the new Thai team is under the process of fostering trust with MARA Patani.
For many people, the stagnation of the latest unofficial peace talk between the Thai state and MARA Patani and the statement from the junta leader on the talk are discouraging sign of the prospect of peace in the restive Deep South, where more than a decade long insurgency has taken more than 6,500 lives.
MARA Patani at their first official press conference in Kuala Lumpur on 27 Aug 2015 (file Photo)