Thai Embassy clarifies

I refer to the article of Thang D. Nguyen titled Thaksin can learn from Indonesia that appeared in the Aug. 25 edition of The Jakarta Post, making an analogy between problems in the southern provinces of Thailand and Aceh.

It is to my deep regret that the said article is not well balanced in presenting the facts and is based on emotional rather than logical analysis.

Therefore I feel obliged to clarify the points that may lead to public misperception in Indonesia about the situation in the southern provinces of Thailand and how the Thai government is addressing it.

We, Thai people, always believe that violence begets more violence. Therefore, the need for a peaceful solution to conflict is well embedded in the hearts and minds of Thai people to the extent that it has become their way of life.

The new round of violence in the southern provinces, which started in January 2004, is a result of a complicated mixture of factors. It is no secret that the area has been subject to a threat by separatists for quite some time, especially during the 1970s and 1980s.

To assume that the root cause of the problem in southern Thailand is a demand for independence is awfully wrong. The 70 percent turnout in the last general election in February 2005 in the five southernmost provinces clearly showed what the majority of people want.

The Thai government is fully committed to finding a peaceful solution and addressing the problem at its root cause, which lies in the lack of proper education, social injustice and uneven development.

With the aforementioned reasons, the analogy between Aceh and the southern provinces of Thailand is way off the mark and not based on complete facts. The supposedly analytical supposition that since "no individual or organization has claimed the leadership to represent the people of the south, unlike the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Aceh, it is doable that Bangkok can show willingness and ability to hold talks with representatives from the south" is so superficial to say the least.

It simply ignores at least two important facts that there is nothing like the south vs. Bangkok as suggested in the article and people in the south of Thailand, like other parts of the country, have their rightful representatives in parliament who work on their behalf.

JESDA KATAVETIN Minister Counsellor (Political Affairs) Royal Thai Embassy Jakarta