The new programme aiming to recruit policemen straight out of Islamic schools in the deep South is not only a good idea. It is actually long overdue. And if it works, it will be a positive step in the right direction in the restive region. There will be a few problems along the way; however, most of them foreseeable because they are self-inflicted.
The scheme is the joint work of the Southern Border Provinces Police Operation Centre and the Police Education Bureau. A first group of 100 students has already undergone initial training. When they finally graduate, which should take about a year, the new police officers will be given the rank of sergeant. But the key point is that all will be assigned to stations in the deep South. In the best case, they will serve in their own provinces and districts.
While problems in the South still linger, even partial success of this programme will go a long way toward building trust. Policemen and policewomen can always achieve more in a community where they speak the local dialect and even are known by many residents. In the South, many people still are only comfortable in Yawi, the Malay dialect spoken by few Thais from outside the area. The ability to communicate without interpreters gives security forces a huge advantage.
The new emphasis on recruiting police from the local Islamic schools known as ponoh is welcome. The use of outside police forces has long been a source of mistrust and suspicion. Separatists have long emphasised in their propaganda how the government insists on deploying soldiers, police, administrators and governors from Bangkok. They issue orders to local people, creating in many minds the vision of a superior force forcing their decisions on the inferior locals.
And this is not just a figment of the separatists' propaganda machine. Tales of the southernmost provinces are rife with stories of corrupt and incompetent police being sent to the South as punishment. Of course the "punished" security forces continue to be corrupt and incompetent in the South. The initial questioning of how a policeman from, say the North or Central regions can understand the problems of the South is magnified by the venality of the suspect officer.
In general, the wholesale transfers of second-rate or even criminal administrators and security forces has halted. But old impressions die slowly. Bangkok has earned many black marks in local public opinion. Decisions like the current experiment to recruit police from local schools will speed up necessary reconciliation.
The goal of the programme is to encourage communities and families, businesses and mosques to cooperate with security forces. The more that local people are involved, the more police and other security teams can protect villages and cities, schools and markets. As always in conflict zones, information is the key to stopping violence before it begins, or catching perpetrators and ensuring their activities are halted.
Whether the ponoh-to-police programme will succeed is an open question. If school authorities help, and if students see a future in the police, and if communities support their youths enlisting in the programme, there is a chance. That places many "ifs" as obstacles on the road to success.
And of course it is only one necessary step to bring peace, prosperity and a confident future. The South has been mistreated and misunderstood for decades. It will still take enormous effort and goodwill to get the region back on track. But projects like ponoh-to-police can help to repair old errors.