Bangkok Post : PM: No autonomy for South

PM: No autonomy for South

Published: 5/11/2009 at 04:07 PM
Online news: Breakingnews

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has told parliament that the government disagreed with the idea of establishing autonomous areas in lower South, as it was not a solution to the problem.

Mr Abhisit was responding to a question from Puea Thai MP for Narathiwat Waemahadi Waedaoh.

He asked about the government’s plans to decentralise administrative power in the three southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.

He also asked Mr Abhisit to clarify to all MPs a news report in Malaysia that he had agreed to discuss the establishment of autonomous areas in the three border provinces with Malaysian prime minister Rajib Razak.

Mr Abhisit said the Malaysian media report was without foundation. He did not support the the idea of autonomous zones in ion he far South. He believed the Malaysian prime minister fully understood the government's position that the unrest in the far South was an internal matter for Thailand to settle itself.

He admitted he really did not understand Puea Thai chairman Chavalit Yongchaiyudh's rather vague “Pattani City” idea.

But he was confident that ensuring justice for the people and helping develop the three provinces would lead to an end to the southern violence.

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anonnymouse

Discussion 4 : 06/11/2009 at 06:14 PM4
They could learn from what happened in Northern Ireland. Get Adams and McGuinness over here for a chat.
Steve

Discussion 3 : 06/11/2009 at 09:31 AM3
A bit of useful background........ This was not a "Malaysian media report" but actually a report filed by an AFP (Agence France Presse) reporter. Malaysian media and others - including Bangkok Post on 28 October (http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/158319/thai-pm-backs-autonomy-for-troubled-south) - reproduced the AFP report mostly word for word. The report included the following:

"Razak [Malaysian PM] said in a newspaper [The Nation] interview published on Monday that Thailand should offer 'some form' of autonomy to the region, where more than 3,900 people have been killed since separatist violence erupted in January 2004.

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

and

"'Thailand is supporting this approach but it's not an independent region. It does not contradict the constitution, but instead allows more public participation in the form of a local assembly,' he [Panitan] told reporters."

Major international news agencies like AFP are not in the habit of making these things up. The report quotes both the Thai PM and his spokesman (Panitan) in terms of "he told reporters" - i.e. not just the AFP reporter.

We should ask - did the AFP reporter somehow just get it all wrong? Or did the PM get told by PAD and other ultra-nationalist backers after these reports that he had gone too far and he had better deny it all - or else?

One other bit of useful background. In the original interview with the Malaysian PM (to which Khun Abhisit and his spokesman were both responding), Najib Razak gave very direct answers to very direct questions about the situation in the south: "It is a problem that can be resolved, because the people in the south ... their demands are not so onerous. Their demands are within the realm of … you can consider their demands. They are not going for independence. That's totally out of the question........... What I've been telling them, what we have been telling them, is to be part of some form of autonomy. You may not even want to call it 'autonomy', but at least some form of them participating in things that matter to them. For example, in education; in selecting their local leaders; in employment; the question of religious education. These are things that matter to them. 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 their people".

Asked how far Thailand should go in allowing autonomy, he says: "It is not for me to decide. I want to make it very clear that this is a domestic consideration. This is internal. We want to be as helpful as possible. You, the Thais, must be comfortable with the level of autonomy...... our part is to be supportive, that's all. But we're not going to negotiate on your behalf. We're not going to go beyond what a good neighbour would do. We must respect Thailand's sovereignty."

To some of us it would seem that the Thai PM could hardly ask for a better partner than his Malaysian counterpart for tackling this Thai problem in a sensible way - if only the people that control Khun Abhisit's actions would allow him to do it........
kasper

Discussion 2 : 05/11/2009 at 05:31 PM2
I live on Samui. Is there any chance we can also become autonomous?? Or at the very least get some form of government down here, central, local or whatever?
Pointman #2

Discussion 1 : 05/11/2009 at 04:54 PM1
The only way to solve problems in Southern Thailand, is through toughness. Using the "soft" approach never solves anything. From my experience, a boot in the axx normally, acheives fast results.