The director of the Centre for Conflict Studies and Cultural Diversity (CSCD) at Prince of Songkla University is calling on the government to seek more countries to act as facilitators in peace talks with southern separatists.
Srisompob: Stance 'must change'
Asst Prof Srisompob Jitpiromsri said the government is insisting on choosing Malaysia to act as the sole facilitator in the peace talks, despite the fact that several countries have offered to facilitate the dialogues. He said the government's decision was based on Malaysia's position as Thailand's immediate neighbour, sharing some cultural similarities with the Thai-Muslims living in Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala.
He added that Japan and several European countries have offered to help in the talks.
"Thailand's stance on this matter needs to change as quickly as possible," he said.
Asst Prof Srisompob said the Thai government shouldn't be afraid of having more countries acting as facilitators in the talks, as they wouldn't be allowed to either intervene or express their opinions.
"They will be duty-bound to [only] facilitate discussions or they can act as observers," he said.
Asst Prof Srisompob, who is also the director of Deep South Watch, a think-tank based in Pattani, made the remarks in front of Class XI students from the King Prajadhipok's Institute (KPI), at a forum about the government's conflict resolution and peacebuilding efforts in the deep South.
According to him, since the government set up a team to engage the southern separatists in 2013, 25 rounds of negotiations have been held, yet none yielded any concrete agreements.
Former National Security Council secretary-general, Wallop Raksanoh, is currently the head of the government's chief delegate in the peace talks with Mara Patani, an umbrella group for several rebel factions in the south.
Gen Wallop replaced Gen Udomchai Thammasarote, an adviser to the Royal Thai Army and a former commander of the South-based Fourth Army Region.
Asst Prof Srisompob said Gen Wallop led two rounds of dialogues with the separatists at the start of the year, prior to the worsening spread of Covid-19.
"I want to see the two sides come back to the table immediately after the Covid-19 outbreak comes to an end, as the dialogue process needs to be held continuously in order to foster trust between the government and the separatists," he said.
He went on to say that there has been almost no progress in the talks over the past seven years. That said, Asst Prof Srisompob said he is reassured by the continued efforts by the Prayut Chan-o-cha government to invite the conflicting parties back on to the negotiating table, saying it shows the government still views peace-building in the deep South as important.
He also stressed the importance of fostering mutual trust to ensure the dialogues are productive and encouraged the participation of civil society and media to promote the talks.
The conflict in the deep South has claimed 7,172 lives since the separatist movement re-emerged in early 2004, with 20,725 violent incidents and 13,353 people injured, according to Asst Prof Srisompob.