KPI students come up with peaceful options for South
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The situation in the three violence-plagued provinces in the South does not seem to be improving, and previous experiences have proved that coercion does very little to help. Hence, a group of students have come up with a new compromise - understand the u
After 10 months of extensive research, students from the Office of Peace and Governance at the King Prajadhipok’s Institute (KPI) have come up with the “City of Peace: Cultural Space as a Path to Peace in the deep South”.
“After conducting interviews, we have learned that communities want their traditions and religion to be accepted. They don’t want to pull away from Thailand, but want the law to tally with their way of life,” Sompong Yingchonchareon, a member of the group and former mayor of the Yala municipality, said.
According to the study, changes are needed in three sectors – medical care, education and the enforcement of law.
The group suggested that medical personnel also become fluent in the Malayu language so they can communicate better with patients. The study also showed that medical personnel need to understand and provide facilities for Muslim patients’ religious activities.
“Only seven of the 37 hospitals in the three provinces provide these facilities,” Dr Petchdau Tohmeena, director of the Public Health Ministry’s Mental Health Centre 15, said.
The study also revealed that schools need to teach in both Thai and Malayu, with teachers and the principal having a clear understanding of the culture.
In addition, the police – who are key law enforcers – need to review their responsibility.
Naree Chareonpolpiriya, a member of the students group, said that from 2004 to 2011, 8,247 cases have been filed with the police, but police have still not been able to verify 76.4 per cent of these cases. She said research shows that police officers need to focus on good governance, be more respecting of the culture and allow people to participate in solving problems.
“The government also needs to revoke the state of emergency and accept the local culture as a common law,” Naree said.
Dr Borwornsak Uwanno, secretary-general of the KPI, said a study into the three public services proved that accepting traditions was more important than introducing economic measures.
General Akechai Srivilad, director of KPI’s Office of Peace and Governance, however, said that though he does not believe the “City of Peace” would completely solve the problem of insurgency in the South, he did admit that it might be able to cut down on conditions that lead to violence.
“We have done more than 500 studies on resolving the problems in the South, but it is up to the government to decide if it wants to pay heed to them or not,” Akechai said.
