Thailand will continue its policy of negotiating for peace in southern Thailand despite expressing frustration that the Barisan Revolusi Nasional Melayu-Patani (BRN) did not show up at the last scheduled talks in Kuala Lumpur.
The latest dialogue took place in the Malaysian capital from March 14-17 to further develop a technical framework for the Joint Comprehensive Plan towards Peace (JCPP). It followed meetings held from Feb 21-23 between the Thai government and the BRN, the main separatist group in the far South.
“Our technical team were in Kuala Lumpur for the (March) meeting but the BRN representatives did not show up. We tried to make progress on the peace talks, but they didn’t come,” Maj Gen Pramote Prom-in, a deputy commander of the 4th Army, told reporters on Tuesday.
Gen Wanlop Rugsanaoh, the head of Thailand’s Peace Dialogue Panel, subsequently flew to Kuala Lumpur to meet with Malaysian facilitator Gen Zulkifli Zainal Abidin. His aim to submit the JCPP guidelines to the BRN during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, which runs until April 20.
He said Gen Zulkifli explained that the BRN missed the appointment due to several reasons, including the appointment of a new leader to oversee their negotiating team.
“We still have time for technical teams to hold meetings before the JCPP framework starts in July. The next official meeting between our Peace Dialogue Panel and the BRN is scheduled for June if everything goes as planned,” said Maj Gen Pramote.
He said Thailand would follow the roadmap, such as scrapping the Emergency Decree on Public Administration by 2027.
Troops in the southernmost provinces have been gradually withdrawn in line with the road map, under which only soldiers from the 4th Army Area would remain, he said. In the meantime, authorities will work to strengthen the capacity of village defence volunteers, police officers, rangers and local people.
However, local authorities maintain that they cannot scrap all road checkpoints if they hope to guarantee the safety of local people.
Low-level separatist violence has simmered in the three border provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala for decades but it entered a new phase in 2004, and the emergency decree was first invoked in July 2005. It has since been renewed every three months without fail.
From 2004 to March 31 last year, a total of 7,344 deaths and 13,641 injuries have been linked to violent incidents in the three provinces, according to the monitoring group Deep South Watch.
