Democrats to up their efforts in the far South

Pheu Thai Party chairman Chavalit Yongchaiyudh tried on Monday to win the hearts of locals while on a tour to push his idea to make the three southern provinces a special autonomous administrative zone, which he called "Nakhon Rat Pattani".

Thepthai Senpong, spokesman of the Democrat Party leader, gave a press conference after the party called MPs from five southern provinces to consider Pheu Thai's latest move. The meeting agreed they could easily lose support of people in the far South because it was a sensitive spot in which locals' allegiance swayed with political sentiment.

Given that Pheu Thai had had support in the deep South, the Democrats felt they needed to lift their performance and respond to people's needs and wishes in order to maintain their support.

Thepthai said MPs agreed to work with the government and coordinate with neighbouring countries to get their cooperation to solve problems in the strife-torn region.

Chavalit began his visit to the deep South yesterday even though his idea to grant a form of self-rule, dubbed Nakhon Rat Pattani, drew flak.

Hundreds of red shirts lined up to welcome Chavalit on his arrival in Songkhla, the starting point to travel on to the three southern provinces.

In circulating his proposal on Monday, Chavalit insisted he did not condone any plans for sedition and secession.

He said he wanted self-rule to be within provisions of the Constitution. The objective was to allow Muslim residents, which constitute the majority in the three southernmost provinces, not to feel marginalised like second-class citizens.

Leading figures on the deep South issues, such as former senator Den Tohmeena and former coup leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, declined to join Chavalit on his tour.

Den said even though he viewed Chavalit's proposal "worth a try", as all other efforts had failed, he was too busy to take the trip.

Muslim leaders in Yala voiced caution and said they would prefer to thoroughly review the proposal, as they feared hasty decisions might lead to more confusion.

Gen Sonthi Boonyaratklin, former head of the Council for National Security, dismissed Chavalit's idea to make the deep South a special administrative zone. He said he believed more than 10 million Muslims in the country disapproved the idea, as it did not respond to the needs of people in the deep South or others across the country.

"More than 90 per cent of local leaders there [already] are Muslims. The current administrative system is the best. If we set up a special administrative system, Thai Buddhists, who account for 20 per cent of the people there, would not like it and this would cause conflicts,'' he said.

Sonthi said to solve conflicts in the region, one authoritative figure, who could be a minister or vice minister, must be empowered to solve problems so that policies, methods and solutions were aligned in the same direction. He recommended a special department under Defence, or the Interior or the Foreign Ministry, be established to oversee and manage problems there.

"The problems there must be solved in a speedy manner and hit to the point. The minister in charge must bring matters for discussion in the Cabinet to arrive at solutions quickly," he said.