Southern Thailand - Security by Augustine Anthuvan.

Producer: Augustine Anthuvan
First broadcast: 4 May 04, Radio Singapore International

Thailand has defended its handling of violence in the Muslim south and has rejected growing international calls for an investigation into the deaths of more than 100 militants.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, in his weekly radio address, said Thai authorities had done everything to exercise maximum restraint.

The prime minister said the security forces' overwhelming response (on Wed 28 April) to Muslim rebels' attacks on police stations and checkpoints should be seen in the context of the recent wave of violence in the south.

He said the unrest which flared at the start of the year had resulted in 97 police, military, monks and people killed and more than 90 injured along with countless arson attacks on government buildings.

Thaksin reiterated his belief that the militants were not separatists despite confessions from those captured that they were part of a force seeking independence for the Muslim-majority south.

Meanwhile, across the border in Muslim-majority Malaysia, efforts are underway to tighten security on the Malaysian side of the border.

Relations between the neighbours have been strained since Thai officials said in March militants behind renewed violence in the area had taken refuge in Malaysia.

For a Malaysian perspective on this, Dr. Zakaria Haji Ahmad, who heads the Strategic and Security Studies Department at the Malaysia Strategic Research Centre offered this assessment.

Z: "well first of all the reports have already come out that they've tightened the security. Security forces in Malaysia, so that's one. Secondly the Malaysian government has been quite consistent in the past. That they've nothing to do, they do not support the separatist Thai movement. So there is no sense of the government officially providing sanctuary for those elements that cross the border. But what's happening in Southern Thailand is very disturbing because the ramifications can have a spill over effect into Malaysia".

In fact, Malaysia's conservative Islamic opposition party (PAS) was quick to respond. PAS slammed Thailand over what it called "brutal state-sanctioned terrorism" against Muslims that left more than 100 people dead in southern provinces.

PAS said the recent clashes between Muslim militants and Thai security forces near the Malaysian border amounted to a "planned massacre," and criticised Kuala Lumpur for "turning a blind eye.".

Nik Aziz Nik Mat, the spiritual leader of Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS), denounced the attack by Thai security forces on a mosque in southern Thailand, in which 34 young militants were killed.

Nik Aziz, who is also chief minister of the opposition-held state of Kelantan was quoted by Reuters as saying, "Islam forbids Muslims from attacking churches or temples", and added that "Even in times of war, Muslims cannot attack people taking shelter in churches. So the attack on the mosque is totally unacceptable."

Dr. Zakaria Haji Ahmad from the Malaysia Strategic Research Centre with this analysis.

Z: "Now the spill over effect is because this can be made into a political issue here in Malaysia. That Malaysia did not support so called Muslims who are mistreated and so on in neighbouring country. But you know, on the other hand the Malaysian government's position has been they don't interfere in the affairs of other countries. So that is a much more upper most principle for Malaysia. But of course there will be elements which will want to provoke or invoke sympathy for those people who have been involved in the fighting in Southern Thailand. And of course the so-called allegations of injustice on the part of the Thai central government".

Dr. Zakaria added that while media reports might seem to hinder efforts to secure the Thai-Malaysian border, the long standing ASEAN principle of non-interference is likely to prevail as it guides relations between the two neighbours.

Z: "You know if you read the press reports, they can be sometimes they're quite mischievous in their effect. But actually at the very high level the relationship is quite good. Both sides understand the situation and they know Malaysia officially does not want to get involved in the Southern Thai problem. And we don't give the sanctuary you know. Ok. But it can be a political issue in Malaysia just as maybe on the Thai side too. They always have the view that there are elements in Malaysia that are sympathetic to the Southern Thai problem".

At the time this programme was being put together, Malaysia announced that a special delegation headed by Deputy Premier Najib Razak would meet up on Tuesday with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to discuss border security cooperation. Dr Zakaria on what Malaysia's proposed actions are likely to be.

Z: "you can think of a variety of things. But in the past, government actions in Malaysia have been that, when they have actually arrested Southern Thai dissidents and send them back to Thailand or rather they've not allowed for these people to stay on in Malaysia, that has happened. So I think the Malaysian government's position will be quite consistent on this one".

Is separatism driving violence in southern Thailand? Prime Minister Thaksin Shiniwatra says no. But Thai media reports say the military is probing the rebellion's links with regional militant groups.

No one has a very clear idea as to what motivated scores of machete-wielding Muslim youths to storm heavily armed Thai security posts in three southern, Muslim-majority provinces. The uprising killed 108 suspected militants and injured six.

Prime Minister Thaksin, in his weekly radio address, has suggested the young attackers were being manipulated by drugs traffickers and smuggling syndicates.

But his interior minister, Bhokin Balakula, told reporters that while criminals and drug traffickers were involved, "separatists are the main players here".

For more on the underlying factors that may have led to increased violence in the southern Thailand, Dr. Mark Tamthai, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Strategic Non-violence, National Security Council (Thailand), during a recent security dialogue in Singapore, offered this perspective.

M: "I do think its more of a domestic issue. But to explain why, I think the correct way to approach the question of violence in Southern Thailand at the moment is not to say what is the cause. Is this the cause or is that the cause because there are many variables there. I think a better way to approach this is to see what is the primary cause. By primary I mean what is the cause that if you address will make it easier to address the other causes which are secondary. A secondary cause would be a cause that if you addressed it wouldn't solve the violence, it would just solve that particular area. In that sense I see it as a domestic issue because the primary cause is a domestic cause. And other causes that are more transnational such as dual citizenship and border crossing are secondary. They won't solve the violence. But they might contribute a little bit to it. But if you just address those like you close the border or have a stricter border controls, none of that will solve the violence in my view".

Thailand's five Muslim-majority provinces are strung along a narrow peninsula and separated from Malaysia only by a porous border which can be easily crossed without passing through checkpoints. So what is the primary cause of violence in Southern Thailand? Dr. Mark Tamthai agan.

M: "The main thing right now is that there is a lack of trust between the community, the people and government officials who are actually responsible for providing security to the people, security in their lives. There is this gap now, a trust gap. As soon as there is this trust gap, all the other issues that happen, whether its sporadic violence, makes it more difficult to be solved. Because with this trust gap no one will come forward to participate or contribute to trying to solve the problem because of the fear that if you go forward, you might be going and talking to an official that somehow will cause you danger, he might be involved or something. So domestic in the sense that you have to address this trust gap".

Where did that trust gap come from? Dr. Mark Tamthai traces it decades of mismanagement by the Bangkok government and more disturbing unauthorized activities in Southern Thailand.

M: "It comes from certain activities by state officials that actually have been carried out for a number of years, illegal ways of interrogation of people but might have been carried out in these past few months even more than before. So its an increase of this type of activity that creates this gap. Because if you're not sure that the person that you're going to talk to is a threat to yourself or not, even though he's a state official, you're going to not try to collaborate. The second source of distrust gap is a more cultural source. Its a long history in Thailand of not understanding exactly what is important to the people who live in the south. Its a neglect that Bangkok has had, the South has been part now of Thailand for a 102 years. A 102 years of misunderstanding, misgovernment, not caring. Its not just economic reasons of neglect. Its also cultural insensitivities, things like that".

Thaksin has said the core problem was the region's lack of development, and job creation and economic programmes were the key to solving the crisis. He has directed relevant ministries to help create about 100,000 jobs for Muslims in the south.

However going by the analysis offered by security experts about the methods used by the attackers, its evident they were lightly armed and totally unprepared for the response from fully alert Thai troops. Suggesting they were too poorly organised to have undergone full-scale terrorist al Qaeda type training.

But analysts said, the high body count, especially at the Pattani mosque, might fuel Muslim resentment and play into the hands of the likes of al Qaeda and JI. And thats a scenario that must be prevented not only by Thailand but ASEAN governments as a whole.