It is in the nature of Thai generals, notably those that have retired, to try to make themselves useful or significant, to try to say something out of nothing. Sometimes their empty speeches create complicated problems for the nation.

Retired general Wattanachai Chaimuenwong, a security adviser to Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, is one Thai general who fits the type. He suggested that Cambodian Muslims were part of the regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), which is supporting the insurgency in the deep South.

His statement prompted a strong reaction from Phnom Penh, with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen lashing out at the allegation, saying it was unacceptable. Hun Sen reminded the Thais that all people in power are the same: they love to find somebody to blame when they cannot find ways to solve a problem.

Deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled by Wattanachai's colleagues in the September coup, used to blame Malaysia for his failure to contain the violence. The general will remember when he was commander of the Third Army region, Thaksin shifted the blame to Burma for Thailand's failure to control narcotics along the border. 

"Because of their own weakness, they are now finding others to blame," the Cambodian prime minister said in public on Monday. This was embarrassing for diplomat Surasak Suparat, the minister councillor at the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh, who was present when Hun Sen made the statement.

Hun Sen told Surasak to take note and convey the message to Bangkok, adding that he had reached the point when he could not tolerate such allegations anymore.

It was not the first time Gen Wattanachai has made the allegation, but this time Cambodian foreign minister Hor Namhong stressed to Surasak - who was summoned to the ministry - that the issue was serious. The Cambodian minister demanded that the Thai government provide sufficient evidence to support the allegation.

Instead of giving details to back his statement, Wattanachai - like a cheap politician - shifted the blame to the media, saying he had never made such a comment and his words might have been misinterpreted.

"No foreigners are involved in the situation in the deep South," he told reporters when asked to respond to Hun Sen's reaction.

It is not abnormal for Thai leaders to put their foot in their mouths when trying to get off the hook, but it is abnormal for a general to claim the media misquoted him on the same issue twice within a brief period of time.

In fact, Thai authorities have kept a suspicious eye on the movements of Cambodian Muslims for a long time. Thai Immigration officials were instructed to block, or at least obstruct, Cambodian Muslims at the Poi Pet checkpoint into Thailand. Belongings have been searched and items such as medicines confiscated. In one case, monosodium glutamate was seized. Thai officials believe the southern militants use MSG to heal wounds.

Cambodia is home to some 200,000 Muslims, mostly ethnic Cham in Kompong Cham province. The Cham adopted Islam when the Champa kingdom traded with seafaring Persian merchants around the ninth century. When Vietnam defeated the Champa kingdom in the 14th century, the Cham population fled to Cambodia and assimilated with ethnic Malays who had made earlier contact with the Khmer kingdom. The Cham have spoken a Malay dialect since then. Many of them study Islam in Pattani.

Cambodian Muslims are no strangers to the deep South, as thousands of them have worked in the Pattani fisheries, as well as studied Islam there. But Thai security officials have been paranoid about them since the eruption of violence in the South at the beginning of 2004.

The root of this Thai paranoia lies in a Cambodian raid on a Saudi-financed school on the outskirts of Phnom Penh in 2003. The school was deemed a security threat and Phnom Penh expelled 28 foreign religious teachers and arrested three other teachers including two Thai Muslims.

Muhammad Yalaluding and Abdul Azi Haji Chiming, both from Yala province, received life sentences in December 2004 after being found guilty of helping JI plot a terrorist attack in Cambodia. They were arrested in the raid in May 2003 along with Egyptian, Esam Mohammed Khidr Ali, who was acquitted of the same charge due to lack of evidence.

However, the Cambodian allegation was not convincing. The raid on the school was staged for the then US secretary of state, Colin Powell, who was in Phnom Penh for an Asean meeting. There was no evidence to prove that Cambodian Muslims were a threat to any country. There was no record of their involvement in any violence.

Wattanachai's allegation has already put Thailand at risk of dispute with Cambodia. Diplomatic

fallout with Phnom Penh

is no fun at all: a single intentional or unintentional insult could cause chaos. The 2003 anti-Thai riot in Phnom Penh was a good example of that - and the lessons from it haven't been learned.

Supalak

Ganjanakhundee

The Nation