Something to give the South

Granting such status to the predominantly Muslim region remains a taboo subject elsewhere in the country, the former academic acknowledges, but he sees no alternative.

"I am not proposing autonomy for the Deep South, but we need something unique for this unique region," Worawit says.

What he has in mind is a new ministry, backed by legislation to restructure the South's administration. It would handle all affairs in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, as well as in Songkhla's four mainly Malay-Muslim districts.

The provincial governors would become the new ministry's permanent secretaries, Worawit proposes, focusing primarily on development and education.

"Local participation is a key element, so existing administrative bodies like the Tambon Administrative Organisation would be under the new ministry," he says.

Bangkok would lose nothing in the transfer of responsibilities, he suggests, retaining control of security forces and budgeting.

What's in place now has failed to ensure the southerners justice and fair treatment, Worawit says.

"For example, the government allocates money for Buddhist activities, but the locals have to finance Islamic events by themselves."

The state has poured more than Bt100 billion into the region in the past five years, Worawit says, but it's all been spent on military operations to contain the violence. The residents rarely benefit.

More than 3,500 people have been killed in the Deep South since violence erupted anew in 2004. The authorities struggle to stem the bloodshed, but nothing has improved since the outset of the unrest.

The South has a different history and culture from the rest of the country, having been annexed by Siam more than a century ago. Bangkok has never been able to assimilate the region, with bouts of violence recurring intermittently as southerners seek self-rule.

Worawit says Bangkok must adopt a new line of thinking to tackle the problem. Its politicians are concerned about unity, but fail to understand that "unity is not uniformity".

Following his 1976 graduation from the University of Malaya with a PhD in social linguistics, Worawit spent decades helping his fellow southerners.

"I understand how important the language is, because people in my home province speak another dialect, not Thai," he points out.

While teaching at Prince of Songkhla University's Pattani campus, Worawit also worked within the community to improve local living standards. He set up the Ibnu Affan Savings Cooperative in 1992, which currently has 63,000 members and Bt600 million in capital.

The cooperative, he says with pride, gives his fellow Muslims a source of cash in accordance with Islamic principles. "Muslims cannot borrow or lend money with interest, so the cooperative is the proper approach."

It has since expanded, with Worawit chairing the southern network of Islamic savings cooperatives.

Worawit offers it as an economic model by which the central government could help the people of the Deep South.

"Don't worry so much about territory and the separatists," he recommends. "Look at the people. Develop the people in accordance with their way of life, culture and religion."

Worawit resigned from his university to enter politics, contesting last year's Senate race. He was elected with a promise to use his office to advocate special administrative status for the South, but soon discovered how daunting his mission would be.

It's not easy to change the administrative structure, he notes, with the military dominating the Internal Security Operation Command, which controls an annual budget of around Bt7.5 billion.

"But the military should admit that its approach over the past five years has failed," Worawit says. "Why not try another way?"