The outbreak of violence marked by 16 militants who were killed during their raid on a marine base in a village in Narathiwat, followed barely two days later by multiple bombings and fires in Pattani's provincial centre, has caused major property damage.
Shopping centre owner Net Chantharassamee says: ‘We’re hanging in there’.
Among the damaged property was the Diana Supermarket's Pattani branch. Speaking to WICHAYANT BOONCHOTE, Net Chantharassamee, owner of the Hat Yai-based Diana Complex shopping centre empire which runs the ruined supermarket, has vowed to soldier on in spite of the security woes.
Is this the worst damage your business has suffered so far?
This is the most severe. The assailants placed an incendiary device inside a toothpaste box and left it inside our supermarket. They aimed to set fire and not to kill anyone from a blast. But the fire consumed the entire premises.
Stock worth about 4 million baht was destroyed and damage to the building came to about 3-4 million baht. The total damage amounts to about 7-8 million baht.
Are you pulling your business out (from Pattani) in the wake of the attacks?
We have insurance which partially covers the damage.
We also get some compensation from the government but that's not much. The major loss is to our business opportunities which will take at least a year to recover. But we are hanging in there. We will fight on. We won't lose our spirit.
How do you make sense of what has happened?
It's regrettable that the militants chose to attack us when we have helped and donated to many Muslim folk and we have done that continuously. We also create jobs. Most of our sales staff are local Muslim residents. What they [the militants] did will cost them any public support they might hope to gain. It's an arbitrary and senseless attack.
What should the government do to end the violence once and for all?
We need to talk. Find a place where all sides, the government, the militants and all, can sit down and speak their minds. The government shouldn't go thinking a dialogue will be tantamount to giving in to the insurgents' demands.
Let them talk and spell out what kind of local administrative rule they want. But we can't go on killing and killing. Everyone loses all the same.
The problem is complex, multi-faceted and deep-rooted. They are still talking about what occurred at Tak Bai and so forth and then this latest violence. All sides should figure out how we can start anew but we definitively need to come to the negotiating table.
What's your view on the government's approach to the insurgent problem?
The governments under Gen Surayud Chulanont and the Democrat Party or even the present one under the Pheu Thai Party have adopted the same method of solving problems. We need a new approach and the government has to take the bull by the horns.
How much do you have to invest to protect your business interests?
While we wait for the seemingly endless southern violence to be tackled, we innocent citizens have to protect ourselves.
Our company will invest another 10 million baht to increase our surveillance security protection systems in all our business branches. More closed-circuit cameras will be installed linking with the company headquarters around the clock.
Our stores will ask to search bags and see the ID cards of our customers. Where there aren't already concrete barriers, we will lay them outside our supermarkets. More security guards will be hired and we will also take out more insurance. Of course, the premiums will go up.