Tom yum kung claim too hot for Malaysia
Thai Muslims cook dishes popular among Malaysians at a tom yum kung restaurant in Malaysia yesterday. The eateries are under close watch after Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said they were being extorted to help fund the southern insurgency.
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Prime Minister Surayud Chula-nont's claim that "tom yum kung" restaurants had been pressured into funding insurgents in the far South was too hot to swallow in Malaysia, where officials and local Muslim leaders lashed out yesterday. They said the allegation was baseless, would harm the Thai business - and not help to bring peace to the strife-torn zone.
"It is very imaginative of him. But it is absolutely baseless. These restaurants are owned by Malaysians and Thais," Malaysia's Deputy Security Minister Fu Ah Kiow, was quoted in the New Straits Times as saying. Prime Minister Surayud said on Tuesday that militants had collected money from tom-yum-kung stalls and restaurants across the border through blackmail and demands for protection fees - and channelled it to separatists in the deep South. Malaysian officials demanded the Thai government show proof to back up the allegation. "If this is true, we will investigate. But they must come to us with information first," another junior security minister, Johari Baharom said. Mr Husam Musa, finance and economic planning committee chairman in the northeastern Kelantan state that borders Thailand, also rejected the claim. "I think the stall operators, who are mainly Thai Muslims, will only be sending back money to their families and not for the purpose alleged by Surayud," he said. Interior Minister Aree Wongsearaya defended the premier, saying that not all "tom yum kung" restaurants in Malaysia were involved in funding insurgent activities. "I don't think the prime minister meant that all 'tom yum kung' restaurants were involved in the financing [of militants]. It is likely that he meant some of them," Aree said. "I believe that PM's statements on the matter were accurate as he had discussed them with Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi before. Therefore his statements were not surely baseless as claimed," the minister said. Local Muslim leaders in the three southernmost provinces said the prime minister's statement contained unclear information. They feared the remarks may harm the business and Muslim workers. The Thai restaurant business in Malaysia generated income for many people who sent the remittance home, said Kusdi Kubaha, deputy chairman of the Pattani Muslim Association. Nimu Makajeh, former deputy chairman of Yala Provincial Islamic Committee, said the prime minister should give more accurate information about who was involved in funding the violence at home so people could challenge those involved directly. Abdulaji Awaesumae, president of the Narathiwat Tourism Business Association, said the premier's statement would create trouble for Thai restaurants as Malaysian authorities might want to keep a much closer eye on them. Dr Waemahadee Waedaoh, a member of the National Legislative Assembly from Narathiwat, said he would raise the issue in parliament today and suggest setting up a panel to look into the matter.
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