A failure to learn from past mistakes

Pravit Rojanaphruk, The Nation, Asia News Network/Bangkok

How does one make sense of the latest executive decree giving Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra near-absolute power to "solve" the ongoing separatist violence in the deep South and Bangkokians' 72-percent rate of approval for the measure in the latest Abac poll?

Support for the highly controversial and unconstitutional decree -- allowing for the detention of anyone for 30 days without a warrant, phone taps, a ban on demonstrations, news censorship and more -- is proof that Thaksin and Bangkokians (and maybe other Thais) see eye-to-eye on a range of issues.

It's also proof that a majority of Thais have learned nothing from the past, especially when it comes to conflicts in the predominantly Thai-Malay Muslim southern provinces.

People in the deep South who are not separatists want democracy and greater decentralization, if not autonomy. The government's latest answer is the new dictatorial executive decree. But this is nothing new.

"The principles of democracy in Siam claim to provide equality and freedom . . . In Pattani, democracy such as this appears not to have arrived and is unknown by the Malays in Pattani," wrote Ibrahim Syukri, the pen name of a 1950s Thai-Malay government official, in the book History of the Malay Kingdom of Pattani.

Earlier, in 1948, a list of seven demands was presented by local Malays, including rule by a local leader, only to be disregarded by Bangkok, who then embarked upon a brutal crackdown.

This latest government move and the public's support are almost natural consequences of the failure to understand past mistakes.

Although journalists and associations like the Thai Journalists' Association (TJA) decry the government's new powers, newspapers and the public have long censored themselves when it comes to matters related to violence in the deep South.

With the new decree and absolute power, the government may eventually crush the insurgents. Future generations of disaffected Thai-Malay Muslim youths will likely emerge unless the root causes are addressed.

Syukri's book quoted a Western female journalist for The Straits Times of Singapore, who five decades ago wrote, "Malays are often summarily shot without further investigation or mysteriously disappear without leaving a trace or further reports."

A climate for possible similar repression has reappeared with the new emergency powers.

As the conflict continues, with more than 800 deaths over the past 18 months, a real change of attitude is needed now more than ever. Thais should bear in mind that even without this new power of censorship, most citizens have already censored their ability to feel empathy towards local Malay Muslims. It's time to look beyond the narrow paradigm of their own nationalistic history and help find a permanent solution to the issue.

Society as a collective whole has a responsibility to help resolve conflict and not leave matters in the hands of only one man, or even a few.