Trigger-happy troops not the solution

Abhisit cannot win Malay hearts with more guns pointing at heads in the strife-torn South

Editorial
By The Nation

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Thursday that he would send an additional 4,000 troops to the plagued deep South to help quell the ongoing insurgency to which there seems no end in sight. Abhisit said the extra paramilitary rangers would work to improve relations between the authorities and the Malay-speaking South, where historical mistrust runs high.
"They will work towards a better understanding with the residents," Abhisit explained, after meeting with top military officials on Thursday.

The PM said the authorities could only maintain the status quo at present. However, he added that this was not enough because there were enough militants around who could still induce a climate of fear in the region.

While it is clear that the insurgents continue to have a capacity to inflict terror among the local population and the authorities, the suggestion that the authorities have succeeded in containing the violence to one geographical area is a bit of a stretch.

It's one thing to say that the militants don't have the capacity, or the desire, to expand their campaign of violence outside the Malay-speaking areas. But it is entirely another to suggest that the troops have been doing such a great job in containing the insurgents to a geographical area.

There are about 60,000 security officials in this highly contested region that was once a Malay homeland before Siam annexed it over a century ago. How will another 4,000 paramilitary rangers help the situation?

If anything, it seems as if Abhisit was just filling the blanks in an unspoken contract created by the Army. A new lease on life has been given to the nearly defunct Internal Security Operation Command (Isoc), and now it is time to make do. The 4,000 rangers, it seems, were just the latest item to go on the dotted line.

Yet how long must we continue this? Didn't Abisit himself once say that the military was not the solution to the trouble in the deep South?

He started off his administration nicely, talking about the return to civilian supremacy by setting up a bureau to administer the Army and the civilians. This bureau was supposed to take its directives from a mini-Cabinet of relevant ministries.

Moreover, the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre (SBPAC) was supposed to be given a legal basis so it didn't have to go through Isoc for funding to carry out projects.

Abhisit also dispatched a high-level delegation that included Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya and Thai envoys to Malaysia and Indonesia, in order to touch base with clerics, local officials and youth. During the visit, Kasit explained why it was important for the foreign ministry to get involved and become part of the solution. He urged one and all to give this administration a chance and vowed to follow through with more visits to a region that has placed the Kingdom in the spotlight, albeit an unwanted one.

No doubt the first few weeks did indeed bring a breath of fresh air. After listening to the Army's quirky explanation and all sorts of conspiracy theories for the past five years, the initial messages from the new administration were refreshing.

Today, however, some three months into Abhisit's leadership, nobody is talking about a civilian-led bureau, nor has there been an update as to when SBPAC will be let off the Army's leash.

So when we get reports about more troops being sent to the deep South, one can't help but wonder how this is going to win the hearts and minds of the Malays who continue to question the legitimacy of Thai rule in their historical homeland.

Authorities often argue that including more ethnic Malays in these ranger units could ease the tension because they are fluent in the language and culture. Are they expected to feel grateful for this employment opportunity, or is it some kind of sick joke?

Don't our officials know that most of the victims in the deep South are ethnic Malays killed by Malay insurgents who suspect them of spying for Thailand?

As former US president George W Bush once said: "You are either with us or against us." Sadly, this unspoken policy is employed by both the Thai State and the insurgents.

This policy manifested itself in the State employing local Malay Muslims for Bt4,500 a month to serve as their eyes and ears, and then they get told that they should be grateful for what they get? Never mind that 80 per cent of the bureaucrats in the deep South are Buddhists hailing from other parts of the country.

So when the so-called "eyes and ears" get shot in the head, the State is quick to tell the media that so-and-so was killed because he or she was spying for them. See? These Malay Muslim victims are on the side of the State, or so the authorities would like the public to believe.

Are the authorities that desperate for brownie points, or do they just not care about the safety and well being of the victims' families?

The initiatives have not become any more sophisticated, partly because the Thai military personnel and security planners are not the most sophisticated people in the world. Perhaps it's time to bring in people with fresh ideas, not poorly trained rangers with a reputation for being trigger-happy.

It is also time to give the local Malays a real stake in their country, so they too can feel like citizens and not just colonial subjects.

Dear Prime Minister, have you ever heard of social mobility? Try that for a change.