FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Security agencies need to stop undermining each other

Security agencies need to stop undermining each other

How can they deal with the south if they can’t work together efficiently?

One has to wonder what kind of communication and coordination the government has in its dealings with the ongoing insurgency in the far South. 
When one agency undermines another agency on security matters, one has to wonder about the effectiveness of our security and intelligence work.
Last week, the National Security Council secretary-general Thawip Netniyom stated that more than 100 of the Thai Muslim students studying in the Middle East embraced separatist ideologies for the Malay-speaking South.
About 5,000 students from the far South are studying in Muslim countries, mostly in the Middle East and North Africa. 
Thawip added that there was no evidence that these students had joined terrorist groups such as Islamic State. 
He was correct to say that upon graduating these students have limited opportunities to get a job in Thailand.
The following day, the Internal Security Operation Command issued a statement disputing the NSC statement. Isoc spokesman Colonel Peerawat Saengthong said there was no evidence that Thai students studying abroad supported separatist movements or embraced separatist ideologies.
Thailand’s far South is made up of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat provinces and the four Malay-speaking districts in Songkhla. The region has about two million people, 90 per cent of who identify themselves as Muslim of Malay 
ethnicity.
The idea of monitoring these Muslim students from Thailand was initiated by Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon. The concern is legitimate given the global war on terrorism and the radicalisation that has attracted extremists from all over the world to flock to Syria and Iraq or become a “lone wolf” in carrying out a terrorist attack when they return home.
But before going public with their findings, perhaps the security agencies should consult one another to make sure they are on the same page. Statements from last week suggested that they weren’t. It makes Thailand’s security community look unprofessional in the eyes of the world and people at home. 
This is because so many resources have been channelled into countering the insurgency in the far South. 
If Thailand is concerned about Thai Muslims joining groups like Islamic State or al-Qaeda, Bangkok should cooperate more with the international community in terms of intelligence sharing. After all, this terrorism knows no boundaries and the terrorists could strike any place any time. 
As for the Malays of Pattani, if the past 12 years tells us anything it is that virtually none have joined an international terrorist organisations. Even groups like the Jemaah Islamiyah, with its stronghold in Indonesia, have failed to attract Muslims from the far South. 
This is because they do not share the same ideology. If the international Islamist organisations, with their cross-border tendencies and activities, are determined to create their own state based on some wicked interpretation of Islam – an interpretation that is rejected by the vast majority of Muslims worldwide – then the armed movements of Pattani are ethno-nationalists. This explains why the Southern Thailand conflict is largely confined to the Malay-speaking region. 
Thailand needs to do more to find ways to come to terms with the historical grievances of the people in the far South and how this sentiment has translated into separatist movements. 
To do this, Bangkok would have to go beyond talking about the half-baked peace initiative that has yet to produce anything desirable. From the look of it, this military government is more concerned with finding ways to bring down the number of violent incidents but nothing much more.  The government wants to talk to the separatist leaders who have command and control over the combatants on the ground but gives no indication as to what kind of compromises it is willing to make. 
The Barisan Revolusi Nasional, the group that commands the vast majority of the combatants on the ground, has indicated it is willing to talk but it must be in line with international best practices and must be mediated and witnessed by foreign states to enhance its legitimacy. The ball has been in Thailand’s court for some time but it appears Bangkok is not ready to debate this conflict in any meaningful way.
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