Violence In Southern Thailand: Can The Relevant Authorities Put A Stop To It?

Producer: Yvonne Gomez
First broadcast: 18 May 04, Radio Singapore International

After a very brief respite, violence erupted again in southern Thailand last Sunday, when three Buddhist temples were bombed.

In a separate incident, a policeman was fatally wounded in a shooting incident yesterday.

Reports have indicated that the temple bombings could have been carried out in retaliation to the violent clash between young Muslim militants and the Thai army and police on April 28.

For a reaction to the latest bombings, Yvonne Gomez spoke to Professor Sunai Phasuk, a Bangkok-based political analyst with Forum Asia.

SP: It is clear that the timing of the bombings was carefully chosen. It came at a time when the government felt that things were getting back in control, and security could be provided to the community in southern Thailand, both Buddhists and Muslims. Then the explosions took place at these Buddhist temples, and the intention, I believe, was to humiliate the government and to remind it that violence in the south cannot be solved overnight, especially with the new frustration and anger resulting from the government s heavy-handed approach on the 28th of last month.

The Police Commissioner has come out to say that these Muslim insurgents want the Buddhists to retaliate, to make the situation worse. How likely is this to happen?

SP: Well, it is hard to reach a conclusion on whether the assailants had a sophisticated plan to provoke a violent reaction from the Buddhist community. But what the government needs to do now is to mend the relations between the Buddhist and Muslim communities. For the Muslims, they were severely hurt in the killings, when the government stormed into their holy mosque in Pattani province, and the decision of the government to use force against the youths who took part in the attack on the 28th of April. For the Buddhist community, they were also living in fear, as a result of the ongoing violence, the killing of Buddhist monks a few months ago, and now, the bombing of the Buddhist temples. What the government needs to do is to put the two communities together and convince them to live together peacefully, and also tell them that this is nothing to do with the two groups, that this is the work of some bad guys who are trying to drive a wedge between Buddhists and Muslims in southern Thailand.

But how do you think they can achieve this? How can they convince these two communities to live together, when this campaign of bombings seems to continue?

SP: The government will have to prove that it is honest, when they explain the situation in southern Thailand. They need to be honest in identifying who the bad guys are, and then explain why they decided to use force on the 28th of April and why they decided to storm into the mosque in Pattani. That will improve the level of trust between the government and the Muslim community. On the other hand, the government will also have to explain to the Buddhist community, that the government is in a position to assure them security, and to explain to them that diversity is a fact of life. The Thai government needs to explain to both the Muslim and Buddhist communities that they can live together peacefully. For the Muslim community, the question is about injustice, where the government needs to improve its treatment of the Muslim community. For the Buddhist community, the government needs to assure them that security can be provided to the Buddhist community, and at the same time, explain to them that Thailand belongs to everyone, to people of different religions and that diversity is a fact of life. Thailand doesn t belong only to Buddhists. Only then can the Muslims and Buddhists live together.

Coming to the role of Malaysia in all of this, it has said that it s in talks with the Thai government over improving security along the frontier, and there are reports that Malaysia has boosted its deployment along its border with Thailand. What do you think can happen now between Malaysia-Thailand cooperation, in terms of the violence in southern Thailand?

SP: The assumption of the Thai government is that the assailants who cause trouble in southern Thailand often flee to Malaysia. So by seeking closer cooperation, in terms of border control and security preparation with Malaysia, the Thais hope to seal the border and therefore, the escape route of the assailants. At the same time, there would be an increase of intelligence cooperation. And by increasing security and intelligence cooperation, Thailand hopes that, once and for all, we can identify the masterminds, whom Thailand believes is seeking sanctuary in Malaysia, and to get Malaysian authorities to seek them out, arrest them and hand them over to Thailand.