Citizens or subjects?

One of the reasons Colombo and Jakarta succeeded in getting on the negotiating track with opposing forces has to do with the fact that they recognised the militants for what they are - insurgents who are challenging the legitimacy of the state. For them it's a conflict, not an issue of law and order.

The Thai authorities - whose wishy-washy stance, motives and conflicting agenda towards the deep South have prolonged the violence - think it is too costly politically to call the century-old resistance against Thailand's rule in the Malay-speaking region a conflict.

The vast majority of these officials have yet to come to terms with the fact that many of the Malay Muslims see themselves, rightly or wrongly, as colonial subjects.

By not accepting the conflict for what it is, Thai officials have opted for simplistic and shallow answers to explain the root cause of the problems. Distorted history and Islamic teaching, drug pushers looking to cash in on the disturbances, and so on - we have heard everything.

Moreover, these officials spend a great deal of their time and energy trying to convince the general public that they are on the right track, even if it means distorting the truth.

And so money is poured into the region to develop it; tens of thousands of troops are dispatched, not to mention their death squads; and free trips are provided to vulnerable young men from the region to see the glittering temples and big shopping malls in Bangkok. See, see, if you behave, you too can have the things we have - these kids are told.

But in reality, the problem is not that simple. The Thai public and the authorities continue to frame the problem in terms of us and them, Muslims versus Buddhists - and of course, there are "good" and there are "bad" Muslims.

And because the Thai authorities see the problem in back-and-white terms, it really eats them up when they can't figure out that the majority of the Malay Muslims stand silently with the militants fighting the government security forces. In fact, some of the attacks against government security forces are carried out in front of up to 60 onlookers, or roadside bombs are buried just metres from their front doors.

Bad citizens or colonial subjects? The answer largely depends on where one stands on the matter. The local residents may not agree with the militants' brutality. But it is obvious that they share the same sentiment towards the Thai state, thus explaining why they won't turn on the militants.