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Published on February 22, 2008

Interior Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung made a reckless proposal when he said a special administrative zone should be established in the predominantly-Muslim southern provinces as part of the government's effort to restore peace in the strife-torn region. It was obvious the idea was not well thought out, as the minister failed to provide any further details when asked to clarify.Under the Constitution, Thailand is a unitary and indivisible nation state governed by central, provincial and local administrations. There is no legal basis for the designation of special zones similar to China's Xinjiang Special Administrative Region. The only way to make such a thing happen is for Chalerm to convince the Samak government to initiate an amendment to the country's highest law, to allow the creation of a new form of government designed specifically for the region.

Both Chalerm and the government will have a hard job to explain why a special administrative region is needed when the Constitution guarantees equal rights for all citizens regardless of gender, ethnicity or religion.

Successive governments have tried to make Muslim Thais of Malay descent in Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and Songkhla provinces feel more at home in this country, which is as much theirs as any other Thai citizen's. Why would Chalerm want to impose a sense of separateness by setting up a special administrative region there?

This half-baked idea will not improve the government's chances of success in combating the insurgency by Islamic militants/Malay separatists, who are bent on sowing the seeds of hatred among southern Muslims and the rest of our society. Worse, it could play into the hands of religious extremists and armed separatists who want to alienate southern Muslims from mainstream society and make them abandon the long-standing tradition of peaceful coexistence with people of other faiths.

It may well be true that the government needs more time to convince southern Muslims that Thai society as a whole has no intention of forcing them to assimilate at the expense of their Malay identity and way of life; that we are sincere in offering to right the wrongs done to them in the past, including discriminatory treatment and insensitivity to their cultural heritage.

The government now stands ready to assist southern Muslims, to help them develop their communities and raise standards of living so they can participate in political, economic and social life on an equal footing with other Thais. Surely, southern Muslims don't really need special privileges or special treatment to feel good about themselves.

Muslim calls for the expansion of Sharia laws to cover other aspects of life in addition to family laws must be considered carefully by the government. However, it must be remembered that Buddhists form 20 per cent of the population in the troubled region and they have every right to live in peace and harmony alongside their Muslim neighbours. Some devout followers of Islam want strict and extensive enforcement of religious laws, but they must still submit to the law of the land and not infringe on the rights of other Muslims who may disagree.

The proposed special administrative region is not a panacea for the problem in the South. What is happening in the region is that the reconciliatory process between Muslims and mainstream society is being scuttled by violence perpetrated by the Islamic militants/Malay separatists. More than 2,700 people have been killed since the outbreak of the insurgency in January 2004. Innocent people, including community leaders, school teachers and ordinary citizens - Muslim as well as Buddhist - have been brutally murdered by insurgents. Acts of terrorism are spiralling out of control.

Poorly trained and incompetent military and police have done a shoddy job of combating the insurgency over the past four years. They have failed to win the confidence and support of the local people, who have been intimidated by the insurgents. Without the support of the local people, the security forces do not have good intelligence with which to fight the insurgents.

Chalerm must spend more time trying to find a better, all-round solution to the complicated southern question instead of making off-the-cuff remarks for the sake of saying something. This only exposes him as being a dim-witted, shallow politician.

The Nation