THAILAND: SENIOR GOVERNMENT ADVISOR DISCUSSES THE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 002062 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EAP, EAP/BCLTV, INR/B PACOM FOR FPA (HUSO) E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/15/2015 TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER TH SUBJECT: THAILAND: SENIOR GOVERNMENT ADVISOR DISCUSSES THE SOUTH REF: A. BANGKOK 1817 ¶B. BANGKOK 1528 ¶C. 04 BANGKOK 7171 ¶D. 04 BANGKOK 6647 Classified By: Ambassador Ralph L. Boyce. Reason 1.4(d) ¶1. (S) SUMMARY: Ambassador and Poloffs met with Mark Tamthai, a prominent academic and senior advisor to the Thai National Security Council (NSC),to discuss RTG policy for southern Thailand. He said the Thai government, acknowledging recent policy failures, is increasingly focused on the separatist violence in the deep South. Tamthai discussed persistent rumors of U.S. involvement in the violence, and stated that he thought most forms of U.S. assistance would be counterproductive. He listed six individuals he thought would have the credibility to refute allegations of U.S. involvement, saying the six are crucial for establishing a dialogue with southern Muslims. Tamthai said that the recently announced National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) has become the central plank of RTG policy towards the south. END SUMMARY ¶2. (SBU) On March 13 Ambassador met with Mark Tamthai, a retired Chulalongkorn philosophy professor, and current Vice Chairman for Peace Strategy Resolution at the National Security Council to discuss RTG strategy and policy towards the south. On March 14 Poloffs held an extended follow-up meeting with Tamthai. As an advisor to the NSC, Tamthai has sometimes been a key influence on RTG southern policy and is currently working with former Prime Minister Anand to select members of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) for southern Thailand. He is a well-known and respected figure both in policy circles and with non-governmental organizations interested in southern Thailand. FORGET BURMA; THE GOVERNMENT IS FOCUSED ON THE SOUTH ¶3. (C) Tamthai said the troubled Muslim south has become by far the most important issue for the NSC. He said the Council spends "95% of its time" working on ideas to deal with the southern problem. This concentration on the South has dropped Burma to a much lower policy focus at the highest levels of the NSC and government. As a consequence, Tamthai claimed, the Army has returned to being the primary institution continuing work on Thailand's "constructive engagement" policy with Burma. RTG SOUTHERN POLICY - SUCCESSIVE FAILURES ¶4. (C) Tamthai has been involved in formulating strategies for southern Thailand for 6 years, going back to the second Chuan Leekpai administration. He complained that the Thaksin administration had undone many of the effective policies put in place under the Chuan administration. He said that the RTG needed to return to a focus on social development and coordinated security efforts, instead of just security. Tamthai described the Thaksin administration's policy over the past year as "disastrous," although establishment of the National Reconciliation Council (NRC) encourages him. NATIONAL RECONCILIATION COMMISSION ¶5. (C) Tamthai confirmed that he will serve as a member of the National Reconciliation Commission which Prime Minister Thaksin has set up (after first ignoring the concept) to develop long-term solutions to the crisis (reftel B). He is working with the NRC's designated Chairman, the highly respected former Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun, to fill out the 40-commission membership. He noted that a surprising number of people want to serve on the NRC, but suggested that the Commission's high profile was attracting "people of influence" (a negative expression in Thai) more interested in promoting themselves than working on the South. ¶6. (C) Tamthai said that Prime Minister Thaksin genuinely wants Anand and the NRC to succeed, and was looking for the Commission to come up with viable answers to the situation. He said the Prime Minister is aware that his policies to date have not worked in the South, but faces resistance to changing to a softer line from Thai security forces. Thaksin is counting on Anand and the NRC to give him political cover to make policy adjustments. Tamthai said the government is "pinning all its hopes on the National Reconciliation Commission." RUMORS OF U.S. INVOLVEMENT IN THE SOUTH - A SERIOUS CONCERN ¶7. (C) Tamthai discussed persistent rumors of U.S. involvement in the violence in the deep South, noting that these rumors are widespread and widely accepted (reftel C). While he personally knows this is nonsense, he said many Muslim leaders in the South have convinced themselves that U.S. agents are directly encouraging militant Muslim youths in the region to commit violent acts in order to draw the Thai government deeper into the War on Terror. Tamthai indicated that these speculations and rumors were of serious concern to the RTG because they are so widely circulated and believed. THE SIX MUSLIM LEADERS WHO CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ¶8. (S) Tamthai told the Ambassador he had identified six primary individuals whom he believed could be credible interlocutors in the South between the government and disaffected Muslim population. Those six are: Abdul Rahman Abdul Samad - Chairman of the Islamic Council of Narathiwat Province; Waedueramae Maminchi - Chairman of the Islamic Council of Pattani Province; Abdulromae Jesae - Chairman of the Islamic Council of Yala Province; Nider Waba - President of the Islamic Religious Private School Association in the Southern Border Provinces; Aziz Yanya - Chairman of Pondok School Association in the Southern Border Provinces; and Dr. Ismail Lutfi Japagiya - Rector, Yala Islamic College. ¶9. (C) (NOTE: Embassy officers have met with all six of these leaders. Of them, Dr. Lutfi Japagiya is the most controversial. He admits to having met with the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leader Hambali prior to Hambali's 2003 arrest in Thailand but denies that he is a JI or Hambali supporter. Lutfi is building a large and modern facility in Yala to house Yala Islamic College (reftel D). He also openly admits that he receives funding for the College from Gulf-based charities, but maintains that he has no choice other than to take that money because the Thai government and other donors are not willing to fund his educational enterprise. END NOTE) ¶10. (S) Tamthai asked the Ambassador to take a direct role in refuting allegations of U.S. involvement in the violence, indicating the NSC was very concerned about how the rumors take on a life of their own. Tamthai suggested that the Ambassador meet with the six Muslim leaders he had identified to personally assure them that the U.S. was not involved in fomenting the violence. Tamthai said that if these leaders received this message directly from the U.S. Ambassador they would return to their constituencies and refute the allegations. He agreed that the Ambassador should avoid personally traveling to the region, suggesting the NSC could arrange a meeting in Bangkok. Ambassador agreed to a meeting, stipulating that he required the full prior support of the RTG. Tamthai said he would followup on the request. U.S. ASSISTANCE IN THE SOUTH, THANKS BUT NO THANKS ¶11. (C) When queried about possible fruitful ways the USG might assist with the south, Tamthai was clear in his view that he could not think of direct programs there that would be welcome and not counterproductive. Tamthai used a Thai expression "ya chak seuk khao baan," a common Thai idiom similar to "don't air your dirty laundry," but which literally translates into "don't bring the enemy into your home," to describe a common attitude in the RTG on this issue. He said the feeling was that if Thailand were to allow the U.S. to openly provide assistance that would draw in "outside" forces, not currently involved, to counter-balance the U.S. Tamthai said that visible U.S. involvement in activities in the geographic deep South, however well intentioned, could exacerbate the problem by reinforcing allegations that the U.S. is behind the violence. American moral support for the Thai government is appreciated, but direct involvement is not, Tamthai said, adding "this is something we must do ourselves, and we don't need outside help." ¶12. (C) Tamthai did suggest that the U.S. should continue to work with the Thai military outside the South to develop professionalism, especially among the officer corps. Tamthai extended this idea to suggest the U.S. expand training for the military and work with both the military and police academies. There are good officers, he said, but the Thai security forces need to develop more uniformly professional services. He also noted that human rights training which is legalistic does not meet the need for training on how to respect human rights concerns in operational situations. OTHER POLICY APPROACHES ¶13. (C) Tamthai also identified "cultural reform" and developing better understanding between the Buddhist and Muslim communities as the keys to a long-term solution in the South. He outlined some of the new policy approaches the RTG was implementing to address these themes. The NSC has a pilot project with 250 mosques to create community based "self-help" projects. Tamthai said that the RTG would like to expand these "self-help" projects to all 1,400 mosques in the far south by next year. The NSC is also working on a joint project in conjunction with Mahidol University and the Ministry of Culture titled, "What does it mean to be Thai?" Princess Sirindhorn will help launch the project, which aims at developing tolerance between the Buddhist and Muslims communities. ¶14. (C) Tamthai said he was concerned that frustrated security forces will resume "disappearing" suspected militants or resorting to tactics than punish areas collectively in the South if policy failures continue. He described the mentality as "it's better to punish someone who is innocent than to let a guilty one get away." BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE - MARK TAMTHAI ¶15. (SBU) Born in Brooklyn, New York on August 20, 1947, Tamthai obtained a BS in Mathematics and Physics from the University of Washington. He received a MS and Ph.D. in History and Philosophy of Sciences from Indiana University. He began his academic career as a Mathematics lecturer at Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Sciences before moving to the Philosophy Section in the Faculty of Arts. He was Chief of the Philosophy Section when he stepped down from his position at Chulalongkorn in 2003. His other affiliations are: Board Member of the Institute of Religion and Culture at Payap University; Vice Chairman for Peace Strategy Resolution at the National Security Council; and Chairman of the Thailand Association of Philosophy and Religion. Mark's sister-in-law is the noted political rights activist, academic, and ex-Democrat Party MP, Dr. Phutsadi Tamthai. His father was a member of the Seri Thai or "Free Thai" movement that fought the Japanese occupation during WWII. BOYCE