Don’t forget the far South

Don’t forget the far South

The news of the forthcoming “duelling protests” is surely not designed to make anyone happy. Only the most partisan members of the most fervent political groups can find satisfaction in a race to see which faction can organise the bigger march.

Two successive Saturdays of mass gridlock, inconvenience and political posturing is no service to the country. Vital parts of the nation are showing signs of crumbling. None are sadder or more important than in the deep South.

Since the political crisis began late last year, the situation in the three southernmost provinces has spiralled almost out of control. Killings are more gruesome, distrust of authority is arguably at an all-time high. While the army’s top generals fret over a couple of quirky statements from obscure fringe players in the North, real separatists have made major gains in the South.

A new type of atrocity has claimed many lives; the victims shot and killed, and their bodies burnt. There has been news in the past from the South of violent upsurges and popular distrust of security forces. But since the beginning of this year, the situation is possibly a greater threat to national unity than it ever has been.

Security forces in the region are getting little or no help from their superiors. The government, lackadaisical in the past, now seems to have no interest in the terrible and threatening events in the deep South.

Note, this is not the region of the home of protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, the area hugely friendly to the Democrat Party and willing even to send protesters to help the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) in its Bangkok demonstrations.

The deep South is an area where Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra received a friendly welcome on several occasions. Even though she is the caretaker defence minister, however, the prime minister has not mentioned a single word about the problems in the deep South, even as the separatists gain ground in both the political and physical battles there.

The terrorist attacks have involved Buddhists who are ethnic Thais, indicating the savagery is not random. Two of the victims were women, one of them a teacher. This emphasises the purpose of the murders, to terrorise the local people. Other murders, with guns and bombs, continue.

The army’s middle commanders insist the South is a priority. Last week, it announced it had formed a “Budo Task Force” to send patrols into the Budo mountains, to discover and disrupt the camps and training grounds of the militants. An element of the Long Range Surveillance Unit (LRSU) of the Border Patrol Police Bureau has also been sent to the South. It, too, has been assigned to pursue separatists into their jungle hideouts.

One wishes these forces well, but they have little to do with the massive gaps in security in the South. Residents of the region are less safe than they were a year ago. There are a number of reasons for this, but one in particular stands out.

At this time last year, the government and security officials were moving towards peace talks with the Barisan Revolusi Nasional, the most visible of all the separatist groups. That will to negotiate has evaporated. It has not been replaced with any alternatives. All initiative has been lost.

Peace talks, of course, are necessary in the South, and also for the nation as a whole.

The alternative is a slow crumbling of national spirit and institutions.

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