This report, which has gone through four different drafts, will make us humble and accepting of cultural diversity and the concept of multiple stakeholders. It hopes to create better understanding of the majority Muslim population in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat as well as the Buddhist population in the rest of the country. It is, it says, imperative for the latter group to understand the complexities that have caused the conflict and hardship in the South.

The report offers a long-term doable solution for the troubled southern provinces, where a total of 1,175 people have been killed in the past two years, but its recommendations are applicable to other parts of the country as well. To be effective, these national reconciliation plans must take place at individual, structural and cultural levels.

Since its establishment last March, the NRC's problem-solving initiatives have been evolved around nine principles which call for truth disclosure; practice of accountability, forgiveness and increased intra-faith dialogue plus nonviolent ways to end conflicts.

The remaining three ideas were innovative and challenging. It calls for a recognition of painful memories and history including the use of power of imagination and risk-taking that will strengthen the bond of different faiths.

One way is to widen space for memory and history of Thai-Muslims to ensure their contributions are properly treated and recorded. The other is to resolve future problems with imaginative power that acknowledges local wisdom and human resources of every stake holder.

Finally, the report says that the element of risk taking must be instilled in the national reconciliation framework. That way mutual trust could be constructed.

One month after the commission became operational, the commission moved quickly to tell the truth as it happened a few weeks after its establishment. Though the government refused to disclose two reports on incidents at the Krue Se mosque in Pattani on April 28, 2004, and in Tak Bai district of Narathiwat on October 25, 2004, the NRC took the unprecedented step last April of releasing these reports, which were widely reported by the media.

The disclosure quickly led to compensation for victims of the violence, regardless of who they were, with a Bt250-million fund allocated for the purpose. This healing process is important for future foregiveness within various communities.

Following the declaration of emergency powers in the three southernmost provinces last July, the NRC came out with 14 short-term measures to improve confidence in the troubled region. The government by and large accepted the NRC's recommendations including the proposal to use forensic science in the investigation of reported killings and a ban on firearms in conflict areas by civilians except police officers.

Unfortunately, the current political crisis has dominated newspaper headlines in the past few weeks, leaving the situation in southern Thailand, which has not improved, without continuous close scrutiny. Instead, the media has zeroed in on political squabbling between Thaksin and civil-society organisations. Therefore, the release of this remarkable report must be timed carefully or else it could be diluted by political turmoil. At the moment, it has not yet been decided when the report would be released.

In addition, some of the NRC recommendations such as amnesty programmes, using Malay as a working language, setting up Islamic courts and several new legislative measures will increase the rights of communities to manage their resources and livelihood based on their religious beliefs. They will have positive impacts on trust building.

The NRC also supports the establishment of a Centre of Strategy for Peace in the Southern Border Provinces, an improved version of the now defunct Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre. Either a civilian or a member of the military, selected by the committee for a four-year term, will head the centre. Its main objectives will be to promote solidarity among various communities and civil-society organisations and ensure the rule of law and the administration of justice, including the authority to remove corrupt officials in the provinces.

To allow all stakeholders in the South to take part in decision-making, the NRC recommends the creation of a new independent body, the Southern Border Provinces Development Council, with a secretariat and an independent budget to oversee issues affecting the livelihoods of the southerners.

It will be interesting to see how the NRC report treats the issue of insurgency, which many political pundits believe is behind the conflict. This sector is still under discussion among the comission's members.  NRC chairman Anand Panyarachun has said that he does not give much weight to a separatist insurgency as there is a handful of persons who subscribe to this approach. He views the insurgents as one of many contributing factors to the violence.

Since this is a very sensitive issue involving national sovereignty, decentralisation and provincial administration as mandated in the Constitution will be used to tackle this problem.

Clearly, the contents of the 83-page report and the prevailing political circumstances of the day will determine how the NRC recommendations will be received and subsequently implemented.

Kavi Chongkittavorn