With Malaysia as the facilitator of the talks, the Thai government and MARA Patani, an umbrella body representing militant groups in southern Thailand, finally achieved progress with a ground-breaking agreement on the establishment of a “safety zone” (SZ) in one of the districts in the three southern provinces.
Head of Thai government peace negotiation panel, Gen Aksara Kerdpol said in an interview with Bernama here that the first and historic SZ would act as a pilot project before a similar zone would be implemented in other districts in southern Thailand.
“The pilot project (SZ) will not only focus on the issue of violence, but we will also be working on other problems, such as drugs, smuggling of goods and crime. There will also be development projects to meet people’s demand,” he said.
The former army general said the first SZ was just “months away” from being a reality with both sides working hard to ensure its realisation, which hopefully would pave the way for lasting peace in the resource-rich provinces.
Since 2004, the conflict in southern Thailand had claimed almost 7,000 lives, but violence and the number of deaths have been on a downward trend with 235 people killed last year compared to 309 in the previous year, according to an independent monitoring group.
The bloodiest year was in 2007 when 892 people died.
Aksara said the SZ would also have a “safety house” within the zone.
Bernama was made to understand that the safety house would act as the coordination centre for the SZ.
He declined to reveal the district which would house southern Thailand’s first SZ until “it is ready.”
His refusal could be related to an incident in Jok Irong, Narathiwat, in March 2016 where 50 well-armed men took over a hospital, sparking hours of intense gun battle with hundreds of soldiers and policemen.
The government claimed that the attack on the hospital, which was condemned by many parties, including United Nations agencies, was to commemorate the 56th anniversary of the founding of Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the largest and most well-equipped armed group in southern Thailand.
However, many quarters, including the local media, also believed the audacious storming of the district’s hospital by the heavily armed men was to torpedo attempts by the government to make Jok Irong one of the five planned SZs in the ongoing peace talks.
Zones face challenges from ‘inside and outside’
Meanwhile, the spokesman for MARA Patani, Abu Hafiz Al-Hakim, said in his latest statement which appeared in Deep South Watch website that the “light at the end of the tunnel” became clearer in early 2018 with both sides having achieved a significant breakthrough and striking a deal on SZ.
He said both sides agreed to resume peace talks following several months of silence which had given rise to speculation that the talks would collapse.
“This was realised by the JTT (Joint Technical Team) meeting on 7 February 2018 , whereby the team wrapped up the remaining issues of the SZ.
“It is just a matter of another two or three meetings ahead and both parties are ready to kick-start the SZ exercise in the agreed pilot district,” he said.
Despite the breakthrough on SZ, Abu Hafiz, who has become the public face of MARA Patani, also warned about the challenges facing the zone from both “inside and outside”.
“The anticipated sabotage from the opponents of the peace process and spoilers are not to be taken lightly,” he said, adding that non-governmental and civil society organisations would have significant roles in the SZ and would be part of the Joint Action Committee (JAC).
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