Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BANGKOK635
2006-02-02 09:56:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bangkok
Cable title:  

THAILAND: AMBASSADOR URGES ARMY TO USE RESTRAINT

Tags:  PGOV MARR PHUM PREL TH 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L BANGKOK 000635 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS MHIGGINS
OSD/ISA FOR JPOWERS
PACOM FOR FPA HUSO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/02/2016
TAGS: PGOV MARR PHUM PREL TH
SUBJECT: THAILAND: AMBASSADOR URGES ARMY TO USE RESTRAINT
IN THE SOUTH

Classified By: Ambassador Ralph L. Boyce. Reason 1.4 (a and d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L BANGKOK 000635

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS MHIGGINS
OSD/ISA FOR JPOWERS
PACOM FOR FPA HUSO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/02/2016
TAGS: PGOV MARR PHUM PREL TH
SUBJECT: THAILAND: AMBASSADOR URGES ARMY TO USE RESTRAINT
IN THE SOUTH

Classified By: Ambassador Ralph L. Boyce. Reason 1.4 (a and d)


1. (C) In a February 2 meeting with Royal Thai Army (RTA)
CINC GEN Sonthi Boonyaratklin, the Ambassador urged Thai
forces not to resort to extra judicial means while addressing
violence in Southern Thailand. Sonthi assured the Ambassador
that his forces would conduct themselves in accordance with
international law. Sonthi, who previously served as Deputy
Commander of the Southern Border Provinces Peace Building
Command, indicated that the RTA was again the lead agency in
addressing the South. He told the Ambassador that
cooperation among the RTA, Thai Police, and local governments
was improving and that RTG officials and other symbols of
Thai authority were able to move about in the region with
greater safety.


2. (C) Sonthi, a practicing Sunni Muslim from Patumthanee
north of Bangkok, agreed with the Ambassador's observation
that the Southern violence was driven by ethnic -- not
religious -- tension. He noted that the RTG must address
core grievances of the local citizens, improve the schools,
respect the local culture, and provide economic opportunity
if it is to succeed in the South.


3. (C) Sonthi contrasted the ongoing unrest with the
Communist insurgency of twenty or thirty years ago. He
suggested that an effective military policy would have to
separate the supporters of violence -- which he estimated to
make up no more than two percent of the population in the
three provinces -- from the vast majority of ethnic Malay
citizens in the area. He told the Ambassador that the
current advocates of violence in the South did not seem to be
as well integrated into local society as Communists had been
in village life in rural Thailand in the 1970s and 1980s.


4. (C) Echoing remarks made by other senior Thai, Sonthi
acknowledged that the security forces were drawing up names
of suspected insurgents but made clear that these lists were
not going to be used for extra-judicial killings. He said
that they were being prepared for law enforcement officials
to prosecute criminals within the Thai judicial system.

BIO NOTE


5. (C) Sonthi was relaxed and seemed interested in
developing a closer relationship with the Embassy. Sonthi is
a protege of Privy Counselor GEN Surayud Chulanont. He
served under Surayud as a battalion commander in the early
1990's when Surayud was head of the Special Warfare Command.
Sonthi is also a Prep School Classmate of NSC Secretary GEN
Winai Phattiyakul. Sonthi has only visited the United States
once previously. He has a reputation as an honest
professional who has risen to his present position based more
on merit rather than political connections. His hobbies
include horticulture and electronics. Unlike many Thai
officers, he enjoys reading and is interested in world events
and foreign affairs. He is not scheduled to retire until
September 30, 2007.
BOYCE