Thai troops will soon embark upon peacekeeping duties in Sudan; will the lessons they learn there help to end our own southern conflict?
This coming July some 800 military personnel from Thailand will be heading to Sudan to take part in a one-year peacekeeping mission in the trouble-plagued Darfur region. Thailand will be the only Asian country to take part in this mission, but one thing that the Thai armed forces have in their favour is their past success in East Timor.
The definition of success was based on the fact that the Timorese villagers liked the Thai soldiers - but not because of the enemy they took out of action. And why wouldn't the villagers like these men? They were digging fishponds and teaching them how to grow vegetables. Meanwhile, Australian and New Zealand troops were on the front line facing the bullets.
In Sudan, the Thai troops will be hosted by a government whose president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir has just announced that the civil war in Darfur is over. Bashir, who is wanted by the World Court for crimes against humanity, made the statement moments after signing a cease-fire agreement last Wednesday with one of the warring factions. Somehow he conveniently overlooked that other groups were still fighting his government even as he signed the deal. Day long clashes in West Darfur last Wednesday displaced about 100,000 people and forced the French aid group Medecins du Monde to suspend operations. So much for the peace deal.
According to the UN, the estimated death toll in the seven-year Darfur conflict is more than 300,000. Bashir's government in Khartoum claims the number is about 10,000.
In Afghanistan, Thai peacekeeping troops were confined to the Bagram Airbase, where they built runways for helicopters and planes from the coalition forces. A handful who strayed off the camp did so with fake UN logos on their vehicle. For the Darfur mission, the Thai troops' main responsibilities are to provide security in designated areas as well as protection for UN officials providing food assistance. Some reports say the Thai military will be helping work on a peace deal.
It wouldn't be a bad idea, actually, as these men could then apply what they have learned to the conflict in the deep South, when they return to Thailand.
They would understand the importance of mediation, the need for a third party - an honest broker to facilitate the peace process - and perhaps come to the realisation that the Thai military is part of the problem, not part of the solution, in the deep South. It is hoped that they will gain a better understanding of rules of engagement, and that shoot to kill is not a benchmark for success. How much the general public likes you, however, is. Given the fact that the Thai public is indifferent to the plight of the Malays in the South, an enlightened military winning some measure of approval in the South shouldn't be so difficult.
In Sudan, Thai troops will be seeing Muslim rebel groups fighting a Muslim government. Through this, it is to be hoped the simplistic view of "good Muslims" and "bad Muslims" in the deep South will no longer hold water. It's not about the southern militants being taught a false history or embracing "wrong" Islam. It's about the Patani Malays not embracing a national identity and historical narrative that isn't theirs. Thailand is going to have to learn to live with this, like it or not.
Thailand is facing an ethno-nationalist conflict in the Malay-speaking South. It has not degenerated to a religious level as yet, but this doesn't mean the political context cannot evolve from nationalism to jihadism, where the banner for the struggle is for Islam and not just for the Malay historical homeland.
The setting in the Malay-speaking South is Islamic but the conflict is not about Islam. But when troops beat to death people like Imam Yapa Kaseng - given his religious credentials and his position as a cleric - it just makes it easier for the anti-state actors to put a religious spin on things. If Bangkok continues to turn a blind eye to the culture of impunity within the military, don't be surprised if sooner or later some jihadists from abroad come knocking on our door. What will we say then? "You're embracing the wrong Islam"?
