EDITORIAL : THE BANGKOK POST, THAILAND

 

 

Chilling fact in the South

Anew report seems to support the concept of a growing commercial centre in Hat Yai, the popular business hub of the South. But in fact the statistics from municipal mayor Prai Pattano hide a troublesome, even shameful secret. Mr Prai said last weekend that in the past seven years, some 200,000 people have moved into Hat Yai district, the vital shopping, tourism and transportation core of the deep South, in Songkhla. Normally, that would indicate prosperity, but not this time. Mr Prai said, credibly, that almost all the new arrivals are effectively refugees in their own country, fleeing the violence in surrounding Songkhla province, but especially in the three provinces just below and to the west of Hat Yai.

The report brings home dramatically the scale and effect of what is now a seven-and-a-half year conflict. The so-called separatists of the deep South renewed their attacks on the central authority in January 2004, and have not let up. One of the stated goals of the shadowy gangs, revealed in anonymous letters and posters, is the ethnic cleansing of the South. The gangs aim to force out ethnic Thais - "Siamese" in their hate propaganda - and create a region where only anti-Thai people of Malay origin live.
The overwhelming majority of those who live in the region have rejected this aim. The people of Thailand have rejected it, as has their government. Right-thinking people in and outside Thailand have long ago resisted such efforts to use ethnic origin as a community standard. In a great irony, Malaysia itself is cited as one of the region's success stories in cooling racial tensions. Yet if Mr Prai's figures are correct - and there is no reason so far to doubt them - the malicious and violent little gangs of the deep South not only promote and pursue ethnic violence, they have been successful at it.
If ever a shocking statistic deserved the close attention and immediate involvement of the government, this is it. Not that the new report should actually shock concerned authorities. The Thaksin Shinawatra government in power in 2004, its successors and the Abhisit Vejjajiva government of the past two and a half years all are aware of the hateful intent and actions of the southern gangs. Four years ago, Her Majesty the Queen personally urged the army to discourage Buddhists from leaving their homes in the deep South. She encouraged the armed forces to help citizens rebuild after they had been forced out of their communities by violence. Gen Wattanachai Chaimuanwong, then the chief adviser to the government on the deep South, told the media that "the Buddhist population has declined sharply" because of a lack of security.
Any Thai citizen forced from his home for fear of violence represents a failure of both the government and the security forces. Mr Prai's claim that 200,000 Thais have become refugees in Hat Yai alone is a black mark. The government, the army and the specialised agencies in the deep South should immediately be held accountable. Residents of the four southernmost provinces, and all Thais, deserve to know why the government has allowed this to occur, and what the plans are to right this terrible wrong.
With an election under way, there is no better time to raise this chilling issue. The present government and its political opponents must face the fact that armed rebels are killing Thais and forcing them to become refugees in huge numbers. There is no excuse for failing to act immediately.