Lessons Thailand can learn from Indonesia<\/p>\n
Don Pathan, The Nation, Asia News Network\/Bangkok<\/p>\n
For another eight weeks or so, the government of Indonesia
\nwill be taking security even more seriously than usual.<\/p>\n
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, speaking at a
\nrecent gathering of newspaper editors from Asia and Europe
\norganized by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said there was
\nsomething unusual about this time of year -- it's a period when
\nterrorists tend to carry out their hideous acts here in the
\nworld's fourth most populous country.<\/p>\n
Although there is no specific threat that brought this about
\nwarning, according to the International Crisis Group's Sidney
\nJones, Susilo may have been looking at the pattern of recent
\nattacks.<\/p>\n
The Bali bombings occurred in October 2002, then the Marriott
\nHotel in Jakarta was hit in August 2003, and the Australian
\nEmbassy bombed in September last year.<\/p>\n
While there is a tendency for people to connect events and
\nanniversaries and make speculation, what is important, Jones
\nsaid, was the need to underscore that terrorist bombings in
\nIndonesia have been taken place because perpetrators found the
\nopportunity to do so -- not because they were trying to peg them
\nto a certain date.<\/p>\n
Certainly, Indonesia has come a long way since the Bali
\nbombings and its progress since then has had more to do with the
\nchange of attitude and mindset, than speculation linking events
\nto dates.<\/p>\n
Over the past three years, Indonesian authorities have reached
\nout to their counterparts in Australia for technical assistance
\nand advice, and shared information with fellow ASEAN countries.<\/p>\n
Jakarta has also arrested more than 200 terrorists on
\nIndonesia soil, putting a big dent on the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI),
\na jihadi group whose goal is to carve out an Islamic state in the
\nworld largest Muslim country, which is known for its religious
\ntolerance.<\/p>\n
The downside is that Indonesia's successes are not matched in
\nother states, such as Thailand, where violence in the three
\nsouthernmost provinces has claimed more than 800 lives since
\nJanuary last year.<\/p>\n
Jones said while it was understood that violence in Thailand's
\nMuslim-majority South was a local issue, there was still the
\npossibility that international groups like JI or al-Qaeda could
\ntry to exploit the situation, especially if the government of
\nPrime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is perceived to be pitting
\nBuddhists against Muslims.<\/p>\n
Nationalism, one must note, has long been Thaksin's favorite
\ncard when it comes to dealing with just about everything -- from
\nrounding up political points to handling the violence in the
\nSouth.<\/p>\n
International terrorist experts have pointed to Mindanao in
\nthe south of the Philippines, where JI and al-Qaeda have
\nexploited decades of civil war between local Muslim groups and
\nManila over control of resources.<\/p>\n
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, one of the three separatist
\nmovement in the south of the Philippines, has decided to turn its
\nback on JI recruits training in its camps, as it's become clear
\nthat having links with major terrorist groups has become more of
\na liability than an asset, Jones said.<\/p>\n
However, many Indonesians were still trying to get to
\nMindanao, she said because they think it may be safer.<\/p>\n
Here, it's now 20 months since scores of Thai Muslims
\ninsurgents raided a weapons depot at an army base in Narathiwat,
\nand made off with more than 300 weapons.<\/p>\n
A smaller group raided a quarry in Yala the following month,
\ntaking with them tonnes of explosive. But Thai security agencies
\nhave made little headway in cracking the organizational structure
\nof the insurgents.<\/p>\n
Efforts to win the hearts and minds of local residents,
\nmeanwhile, appear to have taken a backseat following an exodus of
\n131 villagers across the border to Malaysia.<\/p>\n
The villagers feared retribution from the government for
\nprotesting about the shooting last week of a local imam, who they
\nbelieve was killed by a government agent.<\/p>\n
Instead trying to manage the situation diplomatically with
\nMalaysia, Thaksin lashed out at reporters and threw the blame on
\nthe fleeing Muslims.<\/p>\n
Violence could have been contained and resolved if local
\npeople would just decide to work with state agencies and finger
\nthe insurgents, he said.<\/p>\n
The fact that local communities have for the past month heeded
\ninsurgents' demands to shut down their businesses on Fridays
\nshould be enough to show Thaksin that the people no longer trust
\nthe state to protect them.<\/p>\n
While the government may have reason to dismiss outside help
\nfor the time being, the continuing attacks should be enough to
\nconvince the PM that he is in serious need of a new mindset --
\nthe kind that has brought success in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
But Thaksin has continued with his black-and-white approach,
\nseeing the ongoing killing as a simple issue of law and order.<\/p>\n
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior National Security
\nCouncil officer said that JI members have entered the country to
\ntry to recruit insurgents into their network in return for taking
\non their goal of turning the lower part of Southeast Asia into an
\nIslamic state.<\/p>\n
The fact that Thai Muslim insurgents here turned down the
\noffer suggested that the agenda is still very much a local one.<\/p>\n
But as Jones noted, the Thai government's current course of
\naction could prove to be a disaster on its own.<\/p>",
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