Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05BANGKOK4778
2005-07-26 09:19:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bangkok
Cable title:  

THAILAND: VISIT TO FAR SOUTH JULY 18-19

Tags:  PGOV PREL PTER TH 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 004778 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP, EAP/BCLTV, INR
PACOM FOR FPA (HUSO)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/20/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER TH
SUBJECT: THAILAND: VISIT TO FAR SOUTH JULY 18-19

REF: A. BANGKOK 4697


B. BANGKOK 1008

Classified By: DCM Alexander A. Arvizu. Reason 1.4 (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 004778

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP, EAP/BCLTV, INR
PACOM FOR FPA (HUSO)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/20/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER TH
SUBJECT: THAILAND: VISIT TO FAR SOUTH JULY 18-19

REF: A. BANGKOK 4697


B. BANGKOK 1008

Classified By: DCM Alexander A. Arvizu. Reason 1.4 (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: On July 18-19 Poloff and DRL/PHD Foreign
Affairs Officer Vanessa Golding visited the far southern Thai
provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Songkhla. Officers
heard widespread concern that the deteriorating security
situation is increasing tension between the Buddhist and
Muslim communities and that Buddhist Thais, including large
numbers of teachers, continue to leave the region. Several
of our interlocutors believe the militant groups are
attempting to draw international attention to the situation
in the South by making Islam a more central part of the
conflict. Many local observers believe the government's
newly issued security decree will only further alienate the
local population and complain that RTG security forces seem
increasingly afraid to act against them. END SUMMARY


2. (C) Poloff and visiting DRL/PHD Foreign Affairs Office
Vanessa Golding traveled to the far southern Thai provinces
of Narathiwat, Pattani, and Songkhla July 18-19 as part of
the Embassy's ongoing effort to monitor the continuing
violence plaguing the Muslim majority region. Officers met
with: Abdulkarim Gali, Vice Chairman of the Narathiwat
Islamic Committee; Dr. Ibrahim Narongraksakhet, Professor of
Islamic Studies at Prince of Songkhla University (PSU); Dr.
Chidchanok Rahimmula, Professor of Political Science at PSU;
Songkhla Deputy Governor Suthep Komonphamon; Somphong
Chutansuan, Chairman of the Law Society of Thailand for the
southern region; and Niphon Bunyamani, Member of Parliament
from Songkhla who is from the opposition Democrat Party.

SITUATION CONTINUES TO DETERIORATE


3. (C) Our interlocutors were uniformly gloomy about the
overall situation in the South. Abdulkarim Gali, from the
Narathiwat Islamic Committee, said the security situation in
the South is deteriorating daily. Songkhla Deputy Governor
Suthep Komonphamon agreed about the deteriorating security
situation. He lamented the significant drop in tourism in
Songkhla province, noting hotel occupancy rates are down 70

percent. Suthep was one of many of our interlocutors who
said that the daily acts of violence had become a "cycle" of
revenge killings involving Muslim militants and RTG security
forces.

BUDDHIST AND MUSLIM COMMUNITIES - RELATIONS GETTING WORSE


4. (C) Rising tension between the Buddhist and Muslim
communities in the South was a central focus of discussion
with many of our interlocutors. Opposition MP Niphon told us
he is concerned with the possibility of more overt communal
violence between the Buddhists and Muslims. Professor
Ibrahim commented that the gap between the Buddhist and
Muslim communities continues to widen in the South.
Professor Chidchanok agreed, saying that while many Muslims
feel persecuted, the Buddhist community often blames the
government for offering "unfair concessions" to Muslims while
failing to protect Buddhists from militant attacks. She is
worried that some Buddhists in the South, feeling
increasingly isolated, will take "matters into their own
hands" and begin to attack Muslims. Chidchanok claimed that
some Buddhist monks have been encouraging members of their
communities to take up arms to defend themselves. Deputy
Governor Suthep also expressed serious concern about the
potential for a backlash by Thai Buddhists in the South.

TEACHERS LEAVING THE SOUTH


5. (C) As with past trips to the South, we heard numerous
reports of growing numbers of Buddhist Thais leaving the
region, especially from Narathiwat province. PSU Professor
Chidchanok noted that PSU, a highly regarded university, had
seen a number of student transfers to the PSU Hat Yai Campus,
or to other universities in Thailand even further north. In
apparent confirmation of recent press reports, we heard
several anecdotal accounts of teachers attempting to leave
their posts in the South. Abdulkarim Gali said the continued
departure of teachers from the South was complicating the
Islamic Committees' efforts to work with the government on
education reform initiatives. Deputy Governor Suthep noted
that 300 teachers from Songkhla have requested transfers from
the province. He said that Buddhist teachers have been
receiving threatening leaflets and are living in fear.
(NOTE: In subsequent conversations in Bangkok, Ministry of
Education of Education (MOE) officials confirmed to Emboffs
that they had received approximately 3,000 transfer requests
from teachers in Narathiwat, Yala, Pattani and four districts
of Songkhla. MOE officials would not say how many teachers
had actually left the region. END NOTE)

MILITANTS USING ISLAM TO "INTERNATIONALIZE" CONFLICT?


6. (C) Dr. Ibrahim Narongraksakhet from PSU explained about
the changing nature of the conflict in the South. Ibrahim
noted that historically the resistance of southern Muslims to
Thai central authority had been more nationalistic than
religious in nature. Ibrahim said that militants are
working, and often succeeding, in trying to turn the conflict
into a cause for "Jihad" in order to force the larger Muslim
population into the conflict. Professor Chidchanok agreed
that the militants are trying to make Islam the central
feature of the conflict. She noted that in recent propaganda
the militants have given added emphasis to calls for the
creation of the "Islamic Republic of Pattani," vice the
"Republic of Pattani." She said that the hard core of
separatist are not fundamentalist, but see the use of Islam
as a tool to rally the Muslim population and create further
psychological separation from the rest of Thailand. She
warned that the separatist groups are becoming closer
ideologically, and operationally. (NOTE: Chidchanok claimed
that the separatist groups in the South have created a new
overarching separatist coordinating body known as the "Dewan
Pemperbasan Patani" (DPP or "Assembly for the Liberation of
Pattani") that aims to unite the many different ideological
and operational separatist groups. She claims that the DPP
has created a formal training course for indoctrinated youths
called the "D-10" and that students must commit a violent act
as part of the "final exam." END NOTE)


7. (C) During several of our meetings we were cautioned
that the militants are trying to draw international attention
to the situation by committing dramatic incidents -- most
recently an increased number of beheadings. Deputy Governor
Suthep opined that pervasive rumors of U.S. involvement in
instigating the violence in the South are being spread by the
militants as part of their strategy to broaden the conflict.


NEW SECURITY LAW - NOT WELL RECEIVED


8. (C) The Emergency Decree approved by the cabinet on July
15 imposes emergency rule in the provinces of Narathiwat,
Yala and Pattani. While the Bangkok press has focused on the
potential impact the new law will have on civil liberties,
most of our interlocutors in the South saw the new law as
driving another wedge between an already disaffected
community and the central government. Abdulkarim Gali said
local Muslim leaders are worried the decree would lead to
even more abuses from government security forces. Opposition
MP Niphon Bunyamani agreed, also expressing concern that the
new law would further alienate the local populace. Somphong
Chutansuan, Chairman of the Law Society of Thailand for the
southern region, said many Muslims view the new Emergency
Decree as confirmation that the government is focused on
force instead of compromise. Professor Ibrahim agreed,
warning that the new security law will not only further
alienate local Muslims from the rest of Thai society, but
will further isolate the South economically by discouraging
investment and tourism.


9. (C) Even local government officials, like Deputy
Governor Suthep, are reluctant to endorse the decree. Suthep
said that "officially" he supported the new Emergency Decree,
but privately acknowledged to us that he was very concerned
about the impact the law would have in the South. He said
that extremists would view the law as a "declaration of war"
against the Muslim community. Suthep worried that militants
will use the law as another recruiting tool to rally sympathy
and support from the international Muslim community.

THAI SECURITY FORCES - AFRAID TO ACT?


10. (C) We heard numerous reports that Thai security forces
are not actively patrolling or are failing to respond
immediately to insurgent attacks, making the civilian
population feel even more isolated and adding to the growing
sense of lawlessness in the region. As with our previous
visits to the region, we noticed most checkpoints were only
nominally manned with police and soldiers hunkered down
behind sandbags. Deputy Governor Suthep explained that the
police and military are hesitant to respond to reports of
attacks out of fear of secondary bombs or ambushes. Suthep
is concerned that the outright hostility between local Muslim
villagers and security forces are making Muslim areas
effective "no go" places for RTG officials, and that security
forces, sent to conduct a search or investigation in Muslim
villages, will often withdraw to avoid the possibility of
violent confrontation. Professor Ibrahim suggested that the
July 14 Yala attacks had been a message to the government
that "we (the militants) can strike wherever, whenever we
want." Professor Chidchanok said that local government
officials feel overwhelmed by the situation and that some
believe the South has become uncontrollable.

COMMENT


11. (C) In the far South most local residents do not cite
separatism as the central cause of the violence afflicting
their region. Southerners want the violence to stop so they
can go about their lives -- the vast majority, as best we can
tell, don't want a separate state. Most southern Muslims do
want the government to "atone" for an accumulated list of
grievances, respect their culture and schools, and stop what
they see as the daily "injustices" committed by security
forces -- but they don't support radical separatist or
Islamist ideals. However, it appears that a small group of
committed militants is framing the parameters of the debate,
even though they are hardly representative of the desires of
the vast majority of Muslims in the South. Combined with the
continued flight of non-Muslims, the growing alienation among
the larger Muslim populace with the central government is
making the national reconciliation effort significantly more
difficult.


12. (C) Of growing concern is the fact that the climate of
fear and mutual distrust between the Buddhist and Muslim
communities risks creating a cycle of violence that could
take on a life of its own. Since the level of violence in
the far South began to seriously escalate in January 2004,
the fighting has largely centered on attacks by militants on
Thai security forces and symbols of the Thai regime
(especially schools),followed by heavy-handed responses from
Thai security forces. This extended period of violence has
created a widespread feeling of fear, isolation and anger in
both the Buddhist and Muslim communities, and has the
potential to expand the violence between the communities.
END COMMENT
BOYCE