If peace talks with far South insurgents fail, all of Thailand’s security agencies will be at fault, the team’s chief negotiator said on Wednesday.
Gen Aksara Kerdpol said that no fewer than 10 government and military organisations compose the Thai side in the ongoing peace talks with separatists in the southern border provinces. The team was designed so that all agencies have a stake in the outcome, he told reporters.
He said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has made resolution of the insurgency problem a priority and that the general himself chairs a national committee on the peace talks, with the National Security Council's chief as secretary.
Gen Aksara said he, as head of the negotiating team, is duty-bound to comply with the policies handed down by the prime minister's committee.
He said he has been working collectively with a department chief, a deputy permanent secretary from a ministry, a deputy secretary-general from the NSC, and representatives of the Internal Security Operations Command, army, 4th Army Region, National Intelligence Agency, Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre, Justice Ministry and Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Gen Aksara Kerdpol, head of the peace talks team, stresses collective responsibility.
Through a number of meetings to lay out operational plans, these agencies have successfully brought together numerous insurgency groups with different ideologies for the talks.
"Therefore, should the talks turn out to be a failure, all security agencies must take collective responsibility," Gen Aksara said. He added that all agencies have worked together, not in parallel or opposition to one another, as some media reports alleged.
Gen Aksara also stressed the need for the people to support the peace talks and rejected all forms of violence.
If the overall situation shows improvement, it would reflect the work of all agencies concerned and the policies dictated, he said, dismissing suggestions that the talks should be emphasised more at a local, than national, level.
To promote better understanding by the media, Gen Aksara said a team of spokesmen would be deployed to publicise progress in the peace negotiations.
He said the peacemaking process is now at the introductory stage to establish mutual trust and bring as many insurgency groups as possible to the table.