LOCAL
Seeing red
As violence escalates in the deep South,
the prime minister introduces a controversial scheme to quell it
Soldiers inspect the scene of the recent car bombing near the Marina Hotel in Sungai Kolok district, Narathiwat. At least four people were killed and 37 others injured.
— PATTANAPONG HIRUNARD |
According to a lengthy post-election story in Time magazine, the victorious Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is ready to focus his second term on Thailand’s economy.
That may have to wait. He is certainly getting little time for economics during his current stint as the caretaker prime minister. Escalating violence in the South including the country’s first-ever car bomb, has pushed just about everything else to the side.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. After the election rebuke to his Thai Rak Thai Party from the three southernmost provinces, it sounded like the prime minister was going to take a more conciliatory line towards those who opposed him.
But then came the announcement that the army would shortly establish a new infantry division of 12,000 troops to be based permanently in the troubled region. The next day, during a trip to Narathiwat province, Mr Thaksin told residents there that the government was planning on dividing the area into zones and withholding development funds from villages deemed to be supporting the insurgents.
Essentially, the area would be colour-coded similar to the situation during the communist insurgency several decades ago. Instead of red, pink and white areas, however, Mr Thaksin wants to label them red, yellow and green.
Government funds would be withheld from villages where resistance to the government was heaviest. Yellow areas, where the resistance was more moderate, would receive partial funding while villages in green areas would receive the same level of funding as those in the rest of the country.
Mr Thaksin defended his controversial plan in terms that will likely sound reasonable to many people in the country. He asserted that it was necessary to withhold funds from villages supporting the insurgency because they might use them to further their separatist aims.
“What if they used the money to make bombs, buy ammunition and mobile phones [for terror campaigns]? This is intolerable,” Mr Thaksin said.
Nevertheless, criticism for the plan was swift and harsh. Veteran Democrat politician and former prime minister Chuan Leekpai reminded Mr Thaksin that the government does not have the right to punish a part of the country it dislikes. “Doing so is tantamount to saying they are not part of Thailand. It is the government itself that is separating the country.”
In its opinion and analysis section on Friday, the Bangkok Post also went on record as opposing the prime minister’s plan. The lead editorial even attributed much of the blame for the continuing violence to Mr Thaksin himself.
“The seemingly endless spilling of blood in the deep South is preventable and should be stoppable,” it said. “That’s why most people in Thailand are horrified that it is allowed to continue. Thaksin Shinawatra, the caretaker prime minister awaiting installation for his second term, is largely to blame because he has called the shots all along.”
A big part of the problem, the editorial went on is Mr Thaksin’s inflexible businessman’s mindset. “The belief that money is a panacea for all ills has propelled his threat to withhold development funding from locals seen to espouse violence … Although more than 500 people have been killed over the past almost 14 months, Mr Thaksin does not seem to have advanced on his early, simplistic analysis of the region’s problems.”
On the next page, deputy news editor Wasant Techawongtham weighed in with some strong criticism of his own. Far from improving the situation, he said Mr Thaksin’s zoning plan will only make it worse and it will likely strengthen the hand of the insurgents.
“The separatists will be happy with the plan because it will deliver a perfect vehicle for them to carry out their activities. All of a sudden the government is handing them some 300 'red' villages in Narathiwat alone. Villagers in these areas can rightly feel abandoned by their own government."
At the moment, Mr Thaksin’s zoning scheme remains only an idea. Watch to see if the criticism — some of it from members of his own party — leads him to change his mind.
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escalate
to become or make greater, worse, more serious, etc.
quell
to stop, especially violence
stint
a period of time spent working in a job
caretaker
in charge for a short time until a new government is chosen
rebuke
rejection
conciliatory
having the intention to calm people’s anger
infantry
foot soldiers |
permanently
lasting for a long time; not temporary
deemed
considered
insurgents
people fighting against their own country’s government or armed forces
moderate
not extreme
separatist
wanting to separate a region from the rest of the country
intolerable
completely unacceptable
swift
quick
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veteran
someone with a lot of experinece in something
tantamount to
having the same bad effect as something else
attributed
saying that someone is responsible for doing something
horrified
made to feel shocked, disgusted or frightened
called the shots
controlled the situation
inflexible
unwilling or unable to change
panacea
something that will solve all problems
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propelled
drove forward
espouse
to give support to a belief, policy, etc.
simplistic
making a problem seem less difficult or complicated than it really is
weighed in
added an opinion
vehicle
something that can be used to achieve something
abandoned
left and no longer wanted
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