Time to retire the anti-Malaysia rhetoric

Time to retire the anti-Malaysia rhetoric

Thepchai Yong, The Nation, Asia News Network/Bangkok

At the height of the war of words between the Thai and
Malaysian governments over the continuing insurgency in southern
Thailand a few weeks ago, two commentators of a popular radio
news program called Malaysia an "untrustworthy friend".

They openly accused our southern neighbor of deliberately
turning a blind eye to the terrorists, who they said were using
Malaysian soil as a sanctuary to launch attacks in Thailand.

In another TV program, two veteran commentators minced no
words in putting the blame for the violence squarely at the feet
of Malaysian politicians, indirectly accusing some of them of
working hand-in-glove with the insurgents.

While the general media coverage of the Thai-Malaysian stand-
off in the aftermath of the exodus of 131 villagers who fled from
Narathiwat into Malaysia in September was provocative, its anti-
Malaysian tone was hard to miss.

Members of the Thai public, therefore, should not be blamed if
they wake up every morning believing that Malaysia should be held
partly responsible for the next violent incident that hits the
region.

After all, who else would they listen to if not the political
leadership in Bangkok and the media? Fed up with two years of
unabated violence, Thai people are probably as eager as their
political leaders to try to find a target for their frustrations.

So all of a sudden, Thailand's historically most friendly
neighbor has been turned into a villain in the eyes of
"patriotic" Thais.

It was undeniably Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who set
the anti-Malaysian ball rolling with his harsh words toward our
southern neighbor, either out of frustration or because it seemed
good for domestic consumption.

Like in most other cases, Thaksin's words suddenly became
commands. Even diplomacy had to make way for political whim.

When Thaksin declared out-of-the-blue that the flight of the
131 villagers was part of a larger "sinister plan" to
internationalize the problems in southern Thailand, all normal
channels that had proved effective in dealing with Thai-Malaysian
border issues in the past became paralyzed.

Diplomats and government officials, both at the local and
national levels, who apparently understood the sensitivity
involved, chose to remain silent. Voices of reason and caution
suddenly were muzzled out of fear of offending the top political
leadership.

And those who did speak out only made things messier. Defense
Minister General Thamarak Isarangura, apparently in an attempt to
echo his boss' sentiment, created an uproar by accusing a former
Malaysian leader of being behind a plot to destabilize southern
Thailand.

Though Thamarak did not name names, it was obvious that he was
implicating former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Thamarak cited an intelligence report that claimed the former
Malaysian leader had chaired a recent meeting of core members of
a separatist movement at a resort hotel on Langkawi Island in
Malaysia, a meeting that resulted in a plan to further escalate
the violence in southern Thailand.

The intelligence report is not known to have been
corroborated, but its effect on the already fragile Thai-
Malaysian relations was not hard to predict. For some reason,
Thaksin made no attempt to disown Thamarak's remarks.

The war of words between the two neighbors escalated when
their foreign ministers jumped in. One called for a display of
"maturity" while the other demanded a show of more "sincerity".

Their trading of barbs made many wonder whether all these
years of neighborly friendship and cooperation amounted to
nothing.

Worse still, does it mean that the normal channels of
communication between the two countries no longer exist, forcing
them to talk through the media?

Thaksin, apparently desperate to mend fences with Malaysia,
quickly jumped at Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai's
quick visit to Kuala Lumpur last week, trying to paint it as a
breakthrough in the Thai-Malaysian impasse.

But the trip, in fact, was not in planned as a diplomatic
overture; it was necessitated by the death of Prime Minister
Abdullah Badawi's wife.

This week another deputy prime minister, Pol General Chidchai
Vanasatidya, will be visiting Kuala Lumpur in an effort to
resolve the plight of the 131 Thais living in Terengganu,
probably in a bid to find ways to end feelings of mistrust
between the two countries.

The fact that a visit to Malaysia by a deputy prime minister
is generating so much in the way of expectations only emphasizes
the fragile state of relations between the two neighbors.

Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon's announcement last
week that he was prepared "to let bygones be bygones" and was
looking forward to better relations with Malaysia was a much-
welcome sign.

For weeks, Kantathi himself had came under criticism for
allowing diplomacy to take a backseat in the stand-off.

Faced with the crisis in the South, Thailand has every reason
to expect understanding and close cooperation from Malaysia. Open
gestures of support from Kuala Lumpur for Thailand's efforts to
contain violence in the South will go a long way to convince the
Thai public of Malaysian sincerity.

For Thailand, the time for playing the patriotism card is
over. Thaksin should know that he needs Malaysian help if he is
to wage an effective fight against terrorism in the South.

Shooting from the hip is certainly no way to deal with the
neighbor whose cooperation is crucial.

And for Malaysia, "maturity" is not something that is
reflected only by words but also in how one treats one's
neighbor in time of troubles.