Conflict resolution advice

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Published: 20 Nov 2012 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

Yet another terrorist incident in southern Thailand. Sad indeed.

Here are some suggestions for what could be done to lessen strife in that region. Get creative-thinking Thais (is that an oxymoron?) to arrange ''town hall meetings'' in the southern region. Find out, first hand, what locals are thinking and what they want. Get all concerned involved in a dialogue with each other. Get authorities involved also, to see what tangible things the government can do to assist.

One big step toward fixing things would be to seriously discipline any and all authorities who made bad decisions that led to problems such as Kru Se and Tak Bai. The ill will among some Muslims from those events is still smouldering in the South, and ongoing terrorist incidents are indications of that. The responsibility goes from middle-ranking officers at the scene, to generals ... on up to the PM. Lest we forget, that was ''Mr Hands-on CEO'' PM Thaksin at the time.

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ricefield
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Discussion 11 : 20 Nov 2012 at 22.3611
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Disc 8 - The present government is a majority coalition PTP have 265 of the 500 seats in parliament. The PTP offered to let the opposition into the government, mostly to insure stability I agree. When you increase your seat count by 76 while your main rivals loose 14 that's a differential of 90 seats and that's a landslide.
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elvis
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Discussion 10 : 20 Nov 2012 at 17.1810
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Khun Vint,

Do you seriously believe that by 2015 immigrants from neighbouring poorer countries, will come in droves to Thailand to work? They're already here. An estimated 2 million Burmese are here building our skyscrapers, roads, fly overs and work in the Thai tourist industry as waiters, cooks, cleaners, etc. And who knows how many Cambodians there are in this country?

What I would worry you about if I were you, is these people returning in droves to their home countries considering the development that's taking place right now. Who's going to build that new office building then? Thais?
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lungstib
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Discussion 9 : 20 Nov 2012 at 17.099
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Maybe being nice to taxi drivers reaps rewards. I've worked all over S.E.Asia with tour groups and hired taxis everywhere. Yes, I've found some difficult but never enough to spoil my day or write to the papers. One driver, high as a kite on ya ba, was the worst.
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bangmodken
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Discussion 8 : 20 Nov 2012 at 15.078
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D4 : The current government is a coalition and so was the last 5 ones. It doesn't take much to tip the balance. Landslide is a gross overstatement. But it sounds nice,I guess. Anyway,propaganda is your specialty so of course you're going to use this opportunity to spin a little.
D5 : It's one of those rare occations where I have to say well spoken,Dom,I couldn't agree more.
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dao
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Discussion 7 : 20 Nov 2012 at 10.497
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If you want to see how honest some taxis are try to take one in the evening in Silom or Lower Sukhumvit .Most will refuse the fare only wanting to take you to a nightclub and the police who are supposed to be moving them along are all a part of it .To the honest taxi drivers thank you .
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OldThaiHand
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Discussion 6 : 20 Nov 2012 at 09.376
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"does this mean there should be rights for women in Asean, but not in Thailand?"

No. It means that there should be no rights for visting Farang women in Thailand because they don't count.
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domdunnn
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Discussion 5 : 20 Nov 2012 at 08.425
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Kip Keino

Whilst I agree that Tak Bai and Kru Se are powerful memories in Southerners minds, a far greater cause of distrust are the human rights abuses that continue to occur on a daily basis.

In addition to deaths and disappearances there is the regular situation of men being arrested spending months in prison and then being found innocent of all charges. Men being forced to attend re-education camps etc. The chances of bringing anyone to justice for KS and TB are slim but the continuing abuses should be easier to tackle.
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ricefield
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Discussion 4 : 20 Nov 2012 at 07.214
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KIP - Generals in Thailand taken to task, surely you jest.

Disc 1 - A majority government is a landslide mandate especially in Thailand where the Constitution was specifically written to avoid one.
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thaigenius
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Discussion 3 : 20 Nov 2012 at 06.493
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@TonY... it is very common for thai expats to be very defensive about thailand. my observations are this. thai expats generally dislike malaysia as it does not "entertain" them. malaysian expats tend to dislike thailand because they don't like to be "entertained". i have lived in both places and currently reside in malaysia, both places are nice, both places have lovely people, both places have great food, and honestly it's all about where you enjoy living as there are good taxi drivers and bad taxi drivers in every country.
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justfacts
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Discussion 2 : 20 Nov 2012 at 06.182
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Matt, Obama and intelligence should not be used in the same sentence...you know like shinawatra and honesty

Tony, maybe in eric's case its not the cab driver but the passenger...there is a patern developing. As I myself have spent time in butterworth/georgetown as well as penang and others ,never having a problem with taxis or anyone else.
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Conflict resolution advice | Bangkok Post: opinion