THAILAND: TRT MPS BEGIN THEIR ENGAGEMENT IN THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 001817 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPARTMENT FOR EAP, EAP/BCLTV PACOM FOR FPA (HUSO) E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/10/2014 TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER TH SUBJECT: THAILAND: TRT MPS BEGIN THEIR ENGAGEMENT IN THE MUSLIM SOUTH REF: A. BANGKOK 1775 ¶B. BANGKOK 1528 ¶C. BANGKOK 1008 Classified By: Political Counselor Robert Clarke. Reason 1.4 (d) ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Prime Minister Thaksin's select group of 25 Members of Parliament (MP) from his Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party has begun the work he personally assigned them to assess and develop strategies for dealing with the Muslim South. Two MPs told poloffs about their initial visit to the South and their intentions to work with local Muslims on southern discontent and violence and to provide Thaksin with honest assessments and possible solutions. Meanwhile, daily violence in southern Thailand continued at a heightened level this past week. End Summary. TRT MPS SAY THEY'RE LISTENING TO LOCAL CONCERNS AND WILL IDENTIFY LOCAL SOLUTIONS ¶2. (C) PolOffs met with two of the Thai Rak Thai (TRT) MPs selected by Prime Minister Thaksin to work in the Muslim South on strategies to address the troubled situation (reftel B). Deputy Secretary General of TRT Ekkhaphap Polsue, an MP from the northeastern province of Roi Et, confirmed that Thaksin had personally proposed the idea of sending the 25 MPs to the deep South (one to each local district in Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat provinces). Ekkhaphap said he wasn't concerned about complaints sometimes heard, that the selected MPs are mostly from northern Thailand and that few have prior experience working with Muslims. Ekkhaphap countered that northern MPs were chosen because they are perceived to be "unbiased" by southerners, and because of their experience dealing with the communist insurgency in the '70s. ¶3. (C) Ekkhaphap reported that the parliamentary group's February 28 initial visit to the region had been successful, noting that he was already in regular contact with local district leaders. He said he planned to travel to the south every two weeks to meet with local officials and build goodwill among the local populace. His current assessment was that 80% of the violence is fueled by a general sense of injustice at the hands of the central government coupled with lack of educational and economic opportunities. Ekkhaphap pointedly told poloffs that the southern situation was a domestic issue that Thailand could handle without outside assistance. ¶4. (C) Pairote Suwunchawee, an MP from Nakhon Ratchasima province in northeastern, said Thaksin's establishment of the group of TRT MPs, along his sponsorship of a soon to be named National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) headed by former PM Anand Panyarachun; indicated that the administration was serious about trying to understand the complexities of the situation. He said the government would listen to local concerns instead of simply relying on security measures. Pairote acknowledged that abusive police tactics and corrupt officials fueled local anger toward the central government, and said that increasing the military's presence could actually make the situation worse. He said people in the south live in fear from both security officials and from the militants. Pairote noted that since mid-2004 the violence has become increasingly indiscriminate in nature or directed towards Buddhist civilians (reftel C). ¶5. (C) Pairote confided that the Prime Minister had two other reasons for selecting the 25 MPs to work in the south. Thaksin, he said, believes that Sawat Sumanysak (the government appointed central Islamic cleric for Thailand, or "Chularatamontri") simply does not have any credibility with southern Muslims and therefore cannot influence the situation away from violence. Secondly, Thaksin is concerned that he is getting unreliable or inaccurate information from his security services so he wants trusted political operatives to give him honest assessments of what is happening on the ground. MEANWHILE, THE VIOLENCE CONTINUES ¶6. (U) Last week, violence in southern Thailand continued in the familiar pattern of the past year. Militants used improvised explosive devices in a March 4 attack that injured four policemen in a unit providing protection for teachers in Yala province. Brazen shooting attacks continued on a daily basis throughout the far south. A March 6 shoot-out in Narathiwat between police and a group disguised as fully-veiled Muslim women left 3 police and up to 3 militants dead. COMMENT ¶7. (C) Comment: The TRT MPs we spoke to appeared genuinely interested in working on the southern problem (which Thaksin has called his number one domestic issue). They start with open and even sympathetic attitudes towards the Muslim population in the South. However, it remains in doubt whether they can convert those attitudes into deeper assessments and then present them convincingly to the Prime Minister. The initial visit to the South on February 28 of the TRT MPs was a media circus. With press attention and genuine security concerns, it will be difficult for the MPs to earn the trust of and interact in depth with the local populace. Still, it is hopeful that the MPs defined their task as listening to local concerns, acknowledged problems with some of the security services, and echoed the tone of the Prime Minister second inaugural address (reftel A) in which he spoke of educational and economic development for the south rather than increased security measures. BOYCE