Nitya discussed the separatist violence in the South with his Filipino counterpart Alberto G Romulo at the fourth round of the Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) at the Foreign Ministry.

"The key to success for the Philippines are the three 'Es': education, employees and entrepreneurs," Nitya said after the meeting.

The idea is similar to His Majesty the King's strategy of the three pillars of understanding, reaching out and development that he advised Thai authorities to use in dealing with the situation in the South, Nitya said.

The Philippines' education system allows for madrassa Islamic educational institutes, which teach both secular and religious curricula, he said.

Thailand's South has Islamic boarding schools, known locally as pondok, which have been accused of teaching only an Islamic curriculum and being breeding grounds for militants.

The Philippines central government had reached and broken peace agreements with the largest Muslim separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), several times since 1975. MILF was formed in the 1960s to fight for the independence for the southern portion of the island of Mindanao.

Malaysia had always played a significant role in mediating peace deals between Manila and MILF, said Nitya, who recently returned from a visit to Malaysia during which Kuala Lumpur offered to help Thailand to ease the situation in the troubled provinces.

The latest peace deal between MILF and the Philippines government was reached on March 13 when Manila offered the group self-determination. The offer is unprecedented as the predominantly Christian country had never before conceded such intensive rights of self-rule to Muslims.

Though the circumstances in Thailand are different, some of the Philippines' experience could be shared and adapted to find solutions to the South, Nitya said.

At the JCBC, the two ministers also discussed cooperation in various fields including military, international crime, terrorists and energy security, he said.

On the security front, separatism, extremism and terrorism pose serious threats to regional security and stability. The two countries need to strengthen their coordination and cooperation under a bilateral framework by undertaking measures in intelligence sharing, enhancement of capacity building and exchange of best practices between security and defence agencies, he said.

Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Nation