COMBATTING EXTREMISM

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 BANGKOK 007014

SIPDIS

FOR R, P AND EAP/MLS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/08/2015
TAGS: EAID KDEM PHUM PREL KMPI KPAO TH
SUBJECT: COMBATTING EXTREMISM

REF: STATE 159129

Classified By: AMBASSADOR RALPH L. BOYCE: REASON: 1.4 (D)


1. (C) Summary: The ongoing insurgency in the southern three
provinces is the most significant manifestation of extremism
in Thailand. The problem is primarily ethnic and to some
extent separatist in its origin, rather than sectarian,
although international, radical Islam is having an effect,
building its influence through internet, media, and
education. Violence and extremist rhetoric in the south is
not directed, for the most part, at the US. Over the past
year, some of the violence has been directed at religious
symbols or individuals. The USG has a wide range of programs
to build tolerance and counter extremism and violence.
These programs are making a modest contribution, but the
problem will certainly be long-term and cannot be solved
without a more coherent and effective approach by the Thai
government. Although the Thai government has supported
efforts, such as the National Reconciliation Commission, that
could have a significant impact in lowering tensions in the
affected area, its inconsistent policies and periodic appeals
to nationalism undermine these efforts. End summary


2. (S) The problem of extremism in Thailand differs from
that in many of the other countries of the region. Between
5- 10 percent of the population of the country is Muslim,
with most of the rest Buddhist. The three southernmost
provinces of Thailand, which have a majority ethnic
Malay/Muslim population, are now the site of a serious
insurgency. This problem is primarily ethnic and to some
extent separatist in its origin, rather than sectarian,
although there appears to be an increasing effort by
separatists to try to stoke religious tensions, It is fueled
largely by historical, local grievances over perceptions of
unfair treatment by the Thai government, corruption, and
poverty. The often heavy-handed, response by the Thai
security forces to unrest has exacerbated the problem.
Historically, periodic unrest in the South was linked to
concerns typical of minority groups: unequal access to
state-funded benefits, the desire to maintain language/ethnic
identity, and, to some extent, a desire to redraw
colonial-era national boundaries -- in this case, to become
part of Malaysia or an independent sultanate. The current
unrest has its roots, to varying degrees, in these continuing
problems, but is also influenced by the newer phenomenon of
international, radical Islam. Some Thai Muslims returning
from study in the Middle East and South Asia are propagating
fundamentalist beliefs and advocating violence; the internet
and other media are connecting Thai Muslims to organizations
advocating extremism. While there is no evidence of direct
involvement by major international terrorist groups in the
insurgency, organizations such as Jemaah Islamiyah have
contacts with southern Malay Muslims and have attempted to
spread their ideology. The Thai government has not yet
formulated policies that adequately counter this new threat.


3. (SBU) The USG supports a number of programs to counter the
rise of extremism. The widest range of programs are funded
and managed by the Public Affairs Section, as detailed below:

American Corners: opened ACs in Pattani, Yala and Nakorn Sri
Thammarat; post regularly conducts DVCs with the three ACs in
the south; long term; in existence since 2004; audiences
primarily university students and faculty; effective as a
programming venue and for giving students additional
opportunities to learn more about the U.S.; audience size:
potentially thousands

Shared Futures: post is distributing 3,000 education
kits/book bags to students, and 1,200 sewing machines to
adult women, who will receive training by a local NGO in Nov.
2005; distribution ceremony for education kits included a
presentation on multi-culturalism in the U.S., including
Islam in the U.S. short term program July-Nov. 2005;
audiences primarily students for book bags and adult women
for sewing machines; effectiveness not yet assessed; audience
size 4,200

IV Program: 5 out of 28 participants in FY05 Muslim; 11 out
of 28 nominated participants in FY06 are Muslim; special IV
alumni conference in Pattani to discuss "Peaceful Change"
held in Sept. 2004; single country program (SCP) developed
for April 2006 on "Multiculturalism in the U.S." with 6
participants; long term; audience primarily adults who are up
and coming leaders in Thai society, and increasingly focused
on minorities in Thailand; very effective program at
countering misunderstanding about U.S. society and people;
audience size: 28 grants per year multiplier effect.

Fulbright: EAP/PD gave post $200,000 to pass to the
Commission for southern outreach; short term project -
2003-2005; audience primarily Muslim, or those living in
Muslim areas with a commitment to return there; Fulbright
very effective at creating long-term mutual understanding;
audience size: 4 grants multiplier effect

U.S. Speakers: post regularly sends U.S. speakers to the
south to lecture and hold discussions with academic and
community audiences; programs have included Dr. Dennis
Sandole on "Conflict Resolution"; Mr. Elmer Ransom on
"Peaceful Change"; Imam Rahmat Phyakul on "Muslim Life in
America"; Ms. Tayyibah Taylor introduced concepts of
pluralism and multiculturalism to students and community
activists; educated young Thai Muslim audiences about life as
an American Muslim woman and importance of religious freedom;
shared peaceful strategies for dealing with religious and
cultural diversity and how to strengthen civic tolerance;
short term programs with long-term impact; ongoing; audiences
include a wide spectrum of Thai society; effective at
supporting core MPP goals and objectives; audience size:
several thousand persons; tens-hundreds of thousands if
covered by media.

Embassy Speaker Program: post officers travel around
Thailand talking about some aspect of American life; CAO has
traveled extensively to regional universities, including the
Muslim south, to talk about "Study in the U.S., and American
Society and Values; short term programs; ongoing; audiences
include a wide spectrum of Thai society, but especially
youth; effective at promoting mutual understanding; audience
size: hundreds/thousands.

Ambassador,s Fund for Cultural Preservation: FY03 grant to
document and preserve southern textile patterns; FY04 grants
to document and preserve international influences on Islamic
religious architecture in southern Thailand; short tem
program; audiences include communities where preservation
takes place and those interested in Thai heritage; effective
at promoting mutual understanding; audience size: thousands.

Democracy Commission/Small Grants Program: small grants have
been given to local NGOs working in Muslim areas; projects
include translating the Thai constitution into Yawi,
promoting community radio, and helping teachers develop civic
education curricula; short term; audiences include a wide
spectrum of Thai society; effective at supporting indigenous
groups to combat extremism; audience size: hundreds/thousands.

Book Donations: collections of books with U.S. themes have
been donated to educational institutions in the south; long
term; audiences are primarily students; effective at
providing audiences with alternate information about the U.S.
and the outside world; audience size: thousands.

Publications: post translated the U.S. Bill of Rights into
Yawi and Thai and distributed to schools throughout the
south; post has distributed more than 8,000 copies of Thai
and Yawi versions of "Muslim Life in America" to mosques and
schools; post has translated and just distributed 5,000
copies of "The Rights of the People" in Yawi and Thai; long
term; audiences are primarily students, mosques and community
leaders in Muslim communities in Thailand; effective at
providing audiences with alternate information about the U.S.
and the outside world; audience size; thousands.

English Language Programs: 150 English language scholarships
have been given to Muslim high school students in the south;
English Language Fellows are assigned to Hat Yai and Nakorn
Sri Thammarat and conduct workshops in the south to improve
English teaching; grants have been given to high school
students to attend English camps; grants have been given to
teachers to attend seminars on English teaching; short term;
audiences are high school boys and girls in Muslim areas;
effective at giving disadvantaged youth a chance to begin
English language study, which will lead to other exchanges
and opportunities to communicate with Americans; audience
size: hundreds

Media: as part of a TV coop program, ITV carried a 12 part
series on "The Muslim Electoral Vote in America"; short term;
2004; audience is all sectors of Thai society, especially
Muslim areas; post is translating Shared Stories coop footage
from other countries about Muslim Life in American into Yawi
and providing tapes to Channel 11 Yala, the only station
broadcasting in the south in the local dialect, reaching
about 67% of all viewers; effective at introducing audiences
to Muslim life in America and enhancing understanding of the
U.S. ) reaching the very audiences we want to reach --
young, Yawi-speaking Muslims in the increasingly radicalized
south of Thailand; audience size: potentially hundreds of
thousands/millions

Cultural Presentations: August 2005 Jesse Dayton Band
performed at PSU Pattani music festival and Nakorn Si
Thammarat music festival to introduce audiences to American
cultural forms; Toni Blackman hip-hop group will come in Feb.
2006 and will perform at PSU Hat Yai; short term; audiences
are thousands of young Thai in urban and provincial areas;
effective at introducing Thai youth to various American
cultural art forms and giving them an opportunity to interact
with real Americans; audience size; thousands in person and
potentially millions when covered by media.


4. (SBU) USAID is also involved in administering several
programs (using ESF funds) to combat extremism.

Media training. The $500,000 project will expand and improve
objective media coverage of social and political developments
throughout Thailand, with particular attention to broader,
accurate coverage of minority concerns, regional
developments, and social conflict. This program is just
beginning; long term; audience size: hundreds directly
involved, with multiplier effect.

Civic Education. This $500,000 program will be implemented
through the Asia Foundation and will provide support to help
build citizen engagement in and commitment to moderate,
democratic values and institutions. The project will focus
on efforts in three key areas -- local government,
universities and Islamic schools. This project is just
beginning; long term; audience size: thousands.

Training for Security Forces
--------------


5. (C) The inability of the Thai security forces to counter
the insurgency without recourse to the excessive use of force
and human rights violations is one of the most intractable
problems in the South. Mistakes and abuses by the security
forces have led to probably hundreds of deaths and have
fueled the cycle of violence in the area. The police lack
the necessary skills to adequately investigate the scene of
insurgent attacks and correctly identify perpetrators. The
USG has several programs to address these shortcomings.

Human Rights training for military. Since late 2004, post
has been cooperating with the Defense Institute of
International Legal Studies (DIILS) so that military training
programs (JCET, IMET, and Counternarcotics) include more
comprehensive human rights training for military forces
before they deploy to the South. This program is too new to
assess yet, but we believe that, in general, additional human
rights training for the security forces is a good investment.
Long term; audience size: thousands

Forensics. ILEA (International Law Enforcement Academy)
provides training in post-blast investigation. NAS is
preparing to increase support for forensics training for
police and expects to have a larger training program in place
by the end of 2005. Short term; audience size: dozens.

Thai Government Efforts
--------------


6. (C) The Thai government has undertaken efforts to combat
extremism in the South. The most prominent was the
establishment of the National Reconciliation Commission,
which includes over forty prominent Thais (including ethnic
Malay Muslims),led by a well-respected former Prime
Minister. Members of the group are preparing a report making
recommendations for government policies to address unrest in
the South; many have also written newspaper articles
otherwise participated in the public debate over the best
responses to the current unrest. The government has
increased development funding to the affected regions. It
has, in recent years, worked with the Ministry of Education
and the local religious schools to ensure that students are
taught the national curriculum, receiving comparable
education to students in other parts of the country. Many
religious schools receive financial support from the RTG.


7. (S) However, RTG statements and policies are
inconsistent. The government alternates between statements
emphasizing reconciliation and those emphasizing the need to
punish communities that support insurgents, or urging the
military to take a harder line. In 2005, the security forces
have not repeated the mistakes that led to a large number of
ethnic Malay Muslim casualties at the Krue Se Mosque and
following the demonstrations at Tak Bai in 2004, but some of
the unsolved killings in the region are committed by security
forces, according to credible evidence. Tensions between
Thai Buddhists and ethnic Malay Muslims are high in the
affected areas, and there is strong anti-Muslim feeling
throughout Thailand as a result of bloody insurgent attacks,
including the murder of monks and other innocent civilians.
The appeal to nationalism by some in the government,
including the Prime Minister, exacerbates this problem.

NGO activities
--------------


8. (C) Thailand has an active community of non-governmental
organizations, both indigenous and international. Many are
seeking ways to contribute to building understanding and to
improving the RTG's overall respect for human rights, which
will be a key element in addressing many of the grievances of
the minority in the South. No NGO is spearheading a large,
effective response to extremism; there is a patchwork of
local efforts, the impact of which post is not in a position
to assess. The embassy is aware of the following groups and
individuals from the ethnic Malay Muslim community that we
believe can have positive influence in that community.
Groups:
1) academics in universities with large Muslim populations
2) Santichon Islamic School
3) Thai Muslim Women,s Foundation of Thailand
4) Thai Muslimah Volunteer Group
5) Tha-It Suksa Islamic School
6) Ramkhamhaeng University Muslim Student Club
7) Thammasat University Muslim Student Club
8) Dhurakijpundit University Muslim Student Club
9) Saas-sanu-patham Islamic School, Pattani
10) Attakeya Islamic School, Narathiwat
11) Friends of Thai Muslim Women, Pattani
12) Provincial Islamic councils
13) Prince of Songkhla University (PSU)

Individuals:
1) Mr. Prasert Massaree, Director, Santichon Islamic School
2) Ms. Wallapha Neelaphaijit, Chair, Islamic Centre of
Thailand
3) Ms. Khunying Saengdao Siamwalla, President, Thai Muslim
Women Foundation of Thailand
4) Dr. Chaiwat Sata-anan, Faculty of Political Science,
Thammasat Univ
5) Prof. Arin Sa-idi, head, American Studies Program, PSU
Pattani
6) Prof. Bordin Waelateh, Faculty of Humanities and Social
Sciences, PSU Pattani
7) Dr. Ismail Alee; Director, College of Islamic Studies,
PSU Pattani
8) Dr. Surin Pitsuwan; Member of Parliament and former
Foreign Minister
9) Prof. Suchet Mahrem, Vice President, Yala Rajabhat Univ
10) Mr. Worawit Baru, Vice President, PSU Pattani
11) Mr. Matsukee Daka, teacher, Saiburee Wittaya Islamic
School, Pattani
12) Mr. Phaisan Toryib, school manager, Attarkiah Islamiah
School, Narathiwat
13) Ms. Fatima Waesama-air, principal, Jariya Islam
Suksa-anusorn School, Pattani
14) Mr. Praman Mooktaree, Central Islamic Comittee of
Thailand and Secretary of the Chiang Mai Islamic Committee.
15) Ahmad Somboon Bualuang, former PSU Professor and
current National Reconciliation Committee member.

BOYCE