Lessons Thailand can learn from Indonesia

Lessons Thailand can learn from Indonesia

Don Pathan, The Nation, Asia News Network/Bangkok

For another eight weeks or so, the government of Indonesia
will be taking security even more seriously than usual.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, speaking at a
recent gathering of newspaper editors from Asia and Europe
organized by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said there was
something unusual about this time of year -- it's a period when
terrorists tend to carry out their hideous acts here in the
world's fourth most populous country.

Although there is no specific threat that brought this about
warning, according to the International Crisis Group's Sidney
Jones, Susilo may have been looking at the pattern of recent
attacks.

The Bali bombings occurred in October 2002, then the Marriott
Hotel in Jakarta was hit in August 2003, and the Australian
Embassy bombed in September last year.

While there is a tendency for people to connect events and
anniversaries and make speculation, what is important, Jones
said, was the need to underscore that terrorist bombings in
Indonesia have been taken place because perpetrators found the
opportunity to do so -- not because they were trying to peg them
to a certain date.

Certainly, Indonesia has come a long way since the Bali
bombings and its progress since then has had more to do with the
change of attitude and mindset, than speculation linking events
to dates.

Over the past three years, Indonesian authorities have reached
out to their counterparts in Australia for technical assistance
and advice, and shared information with fellow ASEAN countries.

Jakarta has also arrested more than 200 terrorists on
Indonesia soil, putting a big dent on the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI),
a jihadi group whose goal is to carve out an Islamic state in the
world largest Muslim country, which is known for its religious
tolerance.

The downside is that Indonesia's successes are not matched in
other states, such as Thailand, where violence in the three
southernmost provinces has claimed more than 800 lives since
January last year.

Jones said while it was understood that violence in Thailand's
Muslim-majority South was a local issue, there was still the
possibility that international groups like JI or al-Qaeda could
try to exploit the situation, especially if the government of
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is perceived to be pitting
Buddhists against Muslims.

Nationalism, one must note, has long been Thaksin's favorite
card when it comes to dealing with just about everything -- from
rounding up political points to handling the violence in the
South.

International terrorist experts have pointed to Mindanao in
the south of the Philippines, where JI and al-Qaeda have
exploited decades of civil war between local Muslim groups and
Manila over control of resources.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, one of the three separatist
movement in the south of the Philippines, has decided to turn its
back on JI recruits training in its camps, as it's become clear
that having links with major terrorist groups has become more of
a liability than an asset, Jones said.

However, many Indonesians were still trying to get to
Mindanao, she said because they think it may be safer.

Here, it's now 20 months since scores of Thai Muslims
insurgents raided a weapons depot at an army base in Narathiwat,
and made off with more than 300 weapons.

A smaller group raided a quarry in Yala the following month,
taking with them tonnes of explosive. But Thai security agencies
have made little headway in cracking the organizational structure
of the insurgents.

Efforts to win the hearts and minds of local residents,
meanwhile, appear to have taken a backseat following an exodus of
131 villagers across the border to Malaysia.

The villagers feared retribution from the government for
protesting about the shooting last week of a local imam, who they
believe was killed by a government agent.

Instead trying to manage the situation diplomatically with
Malaysia, Thaksin lashed out at reporters and threw the blame on
the fleeing Muslims.

Violence could have been contained and resolved if local
people would just decide to work with state agencies and finger
the insurgents, he said.

The fact that local communities have for the past month heeded
insurgents' demands to shut down their businesses on Fridays
should be enough to show Thaksin that the people no longer trust
the state to protect them.

While the government may have reason to dismiss outside help
for the time being, the continuing attacks should be enough to
convince the PM that he is in serious need of a new mindset --
the kind that has brought success in Indonesia.

But Thaksin has continued with his black-and-white approach,
seeing the ongoing killing as a simple issue of law and order.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior National Security
Council officer said that JI members have entered the country to
try to recruit insurgents into their network in return for taking
on their goal of turning the lower part of Southeast Asia into an
Islamic state.

The fact that Thai Muslim insurgents here turned down the
offer suggested that the agenda is still very much a local one.

But as Jones noted, the Thai government's current course of
action could prove to be a disaster on its own.