Prime Minister Thaksin and the Southern Development : National News Bureau of Thailand

Prime Minister Thaksin and The Southern Development

By: Opas Sevikul
English Translation: Sirinthip Sitabutr and Nannapat Thongsuk

There have been problems of civil unrest in the Three Southernmost Provinces for over a Century.

“… This situation looks the same as that which happened 100 years ago. If a comparison was made between reports presented to His Majesty King Rama VI in the past, and the current ones, similarities would be found, however, the situation today is more complicated, because of political involvement, vested interests, misunderstanding, small groups of people, secessionism and dual nationalities…”

The above excerpt from the speech of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra made during the “Prime Minister Thaksin Talks to the People” Programme broadcast on April 3rd, 2004, reflects that the unrest in the three southernmost provinces has been in existence for no less than 100 years, and originated from the differences in languages, religions and cultures. People living in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat provinces are mostly Malayu natives. Melayu is their mother tongue which is used in everyday speech and is related to their culture and tradition. Their religion is Islam, which has become the charter of their life and made them different from people in other provinces. With slow development in the southernmost region, poverty has arisen, leading to misunderstanding and unrest. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra mentioned the problem in his “Talk to the People” radio programme on May 1st, 2004.”

“…Poverty is a weakness which allows other complications to develop. Influential groups, drug gangs and those engaged in contraband goods and other vices have tried to influence locals. They tried to instil a secessionist ideology in people, using it as a shield to instigate unrest against the government…”

Royal Advice to Solve the Southern Problems
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is confident that nobody understands Thailand better than His Majesty the King, who has travelled to every inch of the nation to provide assistance to suffering people. His Majesty knows where the problems are and how to solve them. The Prime Minister said His Majesty had showed concern about mounting violence in the Kingdom’s Muslim-dominated South and had constantly granted an audience to the Prime Minister to report on the situation. Mr. Thaksin said in his Talk to the People radio programme on April 28, 2004 that:

“… (His Majesty) is concerned over the situation in the South. His Majesty told me that when He travelled to the risky remote areas, he met villagers and tried to know and understand them. Through that approach, His Majesty learned their problems and helped them in their development which had satisfied them. I conveyed His Majesty’s concept to the Cabinet and asked them to adopt the royal philosophy, which is to know the people, understand them and join them in the development…”

The Policy on Peace Promotion in the Three Southernmost Provinces
The Government has adopted His Majesty’s advice as its major policy to solve the unrest problem in the three southernmost provinces. And to really “reach the people” of different religions, languages and cultures, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has issued a Prime Minister’s Office order No. 68/2547, entitled the Policy to Promote Peace and Happiness in the Three Southern Border Provinces, in which the government will promote cultural and traditional identities of the region, as well as their religions and languages. The government will promote the education of people in the localities, and will respect their cultures, traditions and religious faiths. Everybody will be given freedom to hold any religion, faith and lifestyle.

Educational Development to Promote Religious Knowledge and Employment
Thai Muslims in the three southernmost provinces mostly send their children to pondok schools, a private institute providing Islamic education, and schools that teach both religious and general subjects. To lift the standards of such schools, the government will support them by promoting the teaching of Islam as well as general and occupational subjects. The approach is expected to eradicate illiteracy and poverty. On this issue, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told Thais during his weekly Talk to the People’s radio programme on May 1st, 2004 that:

“…People in the three southernmost provinces are poor. The pace of development in the area is slower than neighbouring Malaysia, causing villagers to cross the border for jobs. Some families have many children. Some allow their children to study only in Islamic teaching schools, depriving them of the opportunity to learn vocational subjects or other fields. Children are unable to find jobs after completing schools, leaving them in chronic poverty.

Sustainable Economic Development
As for the economic problem, which is the important one, the government has set up a policy to bring peace into the 3 southernmost provinces. The policy emphasises on developing the economy in the long run, upgrading living standards, developing communities, and integrating governance. The government will provide job opportunities and career training so that local people will be able to make a living. At the beginning, the government will focus on careers by hiring 100,000 employees from the 3 southernmost provinces.

Moreover, there will be career training courses such as raising cattle and selling Chinese deep-fried dough sticks or Cakoi (Pa Tong Ko in Thai and Yu Tiao in Chinese). The government will use His Majesty the King’s Royal idea about the sufficient economy as a guideline to develop the community security. There are 78 projects for the development of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala. These projects include education, career development, transportation, public health, the safety of life and assets, as well as the prosperity in the local area, as mentioned by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on his radio programme on April 10th, 2004.

Urgent Projects According to the Southern Border Development Strategy

“… The Cabinet has agreed with the plan, which involves the 78 urgent projects according to the southern borders development strategy during 2004 to 2005, with a budget of 9 billion baht. I have to explain to the people in the other provinces that the 3 southernmost provinces are connected to the Malaysian border. The development of the 3 provinces is far behind the development of Malaysia. Therefore, there is a big difference in their development. We have to urgently develop the area so that there will be no differences. If there are no differences, there will be more understanding in various problems and the economy will be better. Therefore, people will be able to live a better life and be happier.”

Transfers of Civil Servants with Unsuitable Performance
Another major problem which has caused the violence in the 3 southernmost provinces is the fact that civil servants have been acting unsuitably against the Thai Muslim people, because of the diversity in languages, religions, and cultures, as well as wrong doing for benefits and corruption. These long accumulated problems are the reasons why people do not want to cooperate with government officials. Moreover, they consider these people as enemies and try to attack them. But, presently these problems are being solved according to the policies to bring peace to the 3 southernmost provinces. The government will eliminate the conditions and causes which lead to local people feeling separated and unequal. The causes include the diversity in races, religions, feelings of being taken advantage of, and differences in social status. The government will eradicate corruption, influential people, and all illegal businesses.

Moreover, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said in his radio programme on May 1st, 2004 that ineffective and unsuitably behaving civil servants who always take advantage of the local people will be transferred from the 3 southernmost provinces. The decent civil servants who can get along with local people will replace them.

“… Those who are not ready, or bad, will be replaced with decent and brave ones. Government officials stationed in the 3 southernmost provinces must be ready to work, ready for the challenges, and ready to help the people to recover from poverty".

The Government will follows His Majesty The King’s Advice to Solve the Problems in the 3 Southernmost Provinces; the Problems Will Soon Be Eliminated
With his determination to solve the problems in the 3 southernmost provinces, namely Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been working with the direction of His Majesty the King’s Royal idea to access, understand, and develop. The Prime Minister has assigned all government officials to coordinate and cooperate for the problem solving, using a 10 billion baht budget for the 78 projects. It is obvious that the problems in the 3 southernmost provinces will soon be eliminated.

The local people will live better lives. Living will be peaceful and safe. The 3 southernmost provinces will become the important centre for tourism and industry of the country. Since the people have elected this government to rule the country, it is the government’s duty to foster peace in the country, to allow people to live happily as disclosed by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on his radio programme on April 10th, 2004.

“… The government came from people; therefore, the government will have to do everything so that people can live peacefully. If there are any un-peaceful situations, the government must solve them. The reasons must be discussed. If an un-peaceful situation happens because of criminals, then the law must take action. If it is because of a misunderstanding in policy, then we have to talk…”