Thai FM rules out autonomy for restive south

Thai FM rules out autonomy for restive south

Shino Yuasa and Rene Slama, Agence France-Presse/Bangkok

Thailand on Monday ruled out any form of autonomy for its Muslim- majority south and said there was no evidence that foreign terror groups linked to al-Qaeda were involved in the region's unrest.

In an interview with AFP, Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon rejected an appeal for self-rule made last week by the separatist Islamic group the Patani United Liberation Organization (PULO).

"We're not a federal system. Autonomy in that sense is something that is not part of our system," he said.

"It's a unified system that we have. We don't have the concept of autonomy within our constitution," Kantathi said.

Asked if any foreign extremists from Indonesia, Malaysia or elsewhere with links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network were involved in the unrest, the minister said: "We have no indication so far."

"Of course, people know one another sometimes. But there is no indication of any foreign terrorism involvement in the situation," he said, adding that the trouble in the south was "an internal problem in Thailand."

"There have been attempts by certain people to use violence and then try to bring religion down as justification. But what is clear is that it's not a problem of religion. It's a problem of certain groups of people using violence and then getting people confused by bringing religion."

Violence in the three Muslim-majority provinces of mainly Buddhist Thailand has killed more than 1,000 people since January 2004 and has proved to be one of the toughest challenges for Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thaksin on Monday ordered local officials to instal sirens at Buddhist temples throughout the south to help protect monks as he made a two-day visit there.

"All Buddhist monks as well as abbots can use the signal to alert security forces to any emergency. Monks and laymen at temples will also be allowed to carry walkie talkies," he told some 3,000 devotees in Narathiwat.

Authorities blame the almost daily attacks in Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces on Islamic separatist militants, organized criminals and local corruption.

"The situation in the southern part of Thailand has been with us actually for a long time. Sometimes it's warm, sometimes it's a bit hot and sometimes it's calm. There is a separatist movement," the foreign minister said.

Critics say Thaksin's heavy-handed approach is making the 22- month conflict harder to resolve but Kantathi said the government must maintain law and order.

A military solution in the south is "not a number one option," the foreign minister insisted.

But "there are certain groups of people using violence. When they use violence, of course like any society, police and military must protect people so they have to maintain law and order."

Last week the Islamic militant group PULO said the conflict could degenerate into a war between religions unless Bangkok grants the region self-government.

PULO was active in the 1970s but had splintered and largely disintegrated by the mid-1990s. Some of its remaining leaders live in exile in Europe.

Muslims in Thailand make up for just 4 percent of the population of 63.5 million and live mostly in the three southernmost provinces bordering Malaysia.

Many are ethnic Malays who speak a dialect called Yawi. They are culturally closer to Malaysia and there is a widespread belief that Thailand discriminates against them because they are Muslim.

But the foreign minister said Bangkok fully respects the Muslims in the south.

"The Thai government fully respects Muslim community. Within the constitution and our policy, it is clear that we want Muslim Thais to live happily and in peace with Buddhist Thais with due respect for cultural differences and religious differences," Kantathi said.