"The negotiation plan is still a concept for a possible future solution and still has a long way to go. But some Thai authorities have already rushed to openly put some pre-conditions and caused confusion," Pulo's foreign affairs chief, Kasturi Mahkota, told The Nation yesterday.

Kasturi questioned whether the ruling military council behind the recent coup was sincere about establishing a dialogue with the separatist organisations. He pointed to the decision by president of the Privy Council, General Prem Tinsulanond, who shot down a proposal to permit Malay as a "working language" in the three southernmost provinces.

"As Thailand is now ruled by the junta, do they now have the real authority to act sincerely? Before staging the coup, why did their spokesman openly refuse to accept even the softest issue like a proposal of Malay as a working language?" Kasturi asked.

Pulo, one of the major separatist groups that emerged in the early 1970s to take up arms against the Thai state, said recently it would settle for something less than complete independence.

Kasturi said any dialogue with Bangkok "must be based on sincerity" with an acknowledgement that the problem is deep rooted in "history, colonisation, politics, injustice and oppression".

"This is a conflict about human rights abuse - the abuse of Patani rights by the Thais," Kasturi said.

"One must understand that if a peaceful solution is needed for solving the conflict, it has to be up to all of us whether to grab the chance - or continue to live in misery," he said.

His statement was in response to a recent admission by Army chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin that informal discussions had taken place between a Thai intelligence agency and members of the separatist organisation.

Several rounds of meetings were held on the Malaysian island of Langkawi after being arranged by former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed.

Don Pathan

The Nation