Thailand Tries to Win Hearts and Minds of Southern Muslim

Across Southern Thailand’s four largely Muslim populated provinces the Thai Army has deployed some 30,000 troops aimed at quelling the five year old Islamic insurgency. A further 30,000 civil volunteers, rangers and police have also been deployed.

Across the provinces of Pattani, Yala, Songkhla, and Narathiwat there is a climate of fear and uncertainty.

Over the years, the military has been accused by human rights groups of heavy-handed crackdowns and allegations of abuse. These have led to deep animosity and distrust among the local largely Muslim communities. Rights groups have called for the government to take action. Emergency powers in the South have given the army wide powers and immunity.

Development projects

Since 2006, the Thai military has sought to steer a course towards winning hearts and minds within local Muslim communities. The government has spent over three billion dollars to boost the economy and security in the South.

Lieutenant General Pichet Wisaijorn, the Fourth Army Commander, is currently overseeing the program led by the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC).

Pichet says the aim is to work with local communities.“It’s a question of trust,” he says. “Now today we have been able to create trust with the people. We have constant conversations and dialogue with the people. So in this respect we have substantially tackled the problem.”

In Pattani province the military has set up a training center, leading to hundreds of people gaining the skills to improve crop yields, oversee fish ponds, raise chickens and produce organic fertilizer aimed at reducing costs. Colonel Attadet Mattanom, an ISOC spokesman in southern Thailand, hopes the programs will improve local economies and ease sectarian violence.

“In this area we try to look after the local (Muslim) people here which are the majority of the population. They have a sufficient way of living – we try to make it more complete. If they have sufficient to live they live according to their religion; then they think they are happy enough.”

Presence of Thai military

But others raise questions over the policy including the stationing of high levels of military in the region. Surachart Bamrungsuk, is a professor in politics at Chulalongkorn University. He says for the Thai military a counter insurgency strategy is a new approach.

“When you’re talking about winning the hearts and minds it’s not easy because every unit will have its own way of thinking. For me it would be better if we accept counter insurgency – a need to win at the people level – so the concept of winning hearts and minds would be applicable to the Thai Army.”

He says the army is now involved in that process of readjustment. But Angkhana Neelapaichit, chairperson of rights organization, the Working Group on Justice for Peace, says local people need to have more influence over the projects being undertaken.

“I suggest every project must be from the grass roots people, not only from the bottom-up but from the top down because we should have people participation. We should ask the people what they want to do; not what we want to do for them but what they want so we should ask the people.”

The Thai Government is moving to place more civilian control over development in the South. A new body will come under the control of the Prime Minister’s office. A government spokesman says he was confident the military would support the new measures.

Author: Ron Corben(Bangkok)
Editor: Grahame Lucas