Policies of the Thai State towards the Malay Muslim South (1978-2010)
It was one of these landmark special programs at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand, on the top floor of the Maneeya Centre Building, in the upscale commercial heart of Bangkok, where Major General Pichet Wisaijorn was the exclusive guest speaker on that evening of November 2009. Many of the journalists, both Thai and Foreign, were present and Khun Roong and the other staff at the bar were working non-stop, dropping pizza here and glasses of dark beer there. Expectations were high. Pi...
Éditeur : Institut de recherche sur l’Asie du Sud-Est contemporaine
Lieu d’édition : Bangkok
Publication sur OpenEdition Books : 3 juillet 2018
ISBN numérique : 978-2-35596-004-8
DOI : 10.4000/books.irasec.833
Collection : Carnets de l’Irasec | 16
Année d’édition : 2011
ISBN (Édition imprimée) : 978-616-7571-00-3
Nombre de pages : 112
It was one of these landmark special programs at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand, on the top floor of the Maneeya Centre Building, in the upscale commercial heart of Bangkok, where Major General Pichet Wisaijorn was the exclusive guest speaker on that evening of November 2009. Many of the journalists, both Thai and Foreign, were present and Khun Roong and the other staff at the bar were working non-stop, dropping pizza here and glasses of dark beer there. Expectations were high. Pichet was the Fourth Army Region commander, which includes the three “problematic provinces” of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, plus a few unruly districts in the Songkhla province. Since 2003, thousands of people, rubber tappers, insurgents, traders, school teachers, civil servants, police officers, military personnel and some foreigners had been killed in a maelstrom of violence linked to what was officially called the “separatist insurgency” by the authorities as well as linked to the mafia culture prevailing in this region. The trafficking of women, drug peddling, extortion, smuggling of palm oil and cheap electronic items from Malaysia have always been rife in the deep South. This mafia culture is prevailing in many of Thailand's 77 provinces, but the total breakdown of law and order in the South makes it worse.
Many in the audience were thinking that General Pichet would deliver some answers to the most important questions which have puzzled journalists, businessmen and other residents for years: who leads the insurgency? What are their objectives? How the movement is structured, or is it even structured at all? What is the division of power between the Southern Border Provincial Administrative Committee, the armed forces, the local administration and the central government? Have there been any attempts to negotiate with the insurgents? But the presentation of Pichet was rather disappointing. What is the direction of their policy? Pichet repeated the royally endorsed recipe: khao chai, khao teung, pattana (“understand, reach out and develop”). With its supreme and unquestioned wisdom, this “magic formula” is supposed to throw the listeners in deep awe and reverence. But the mantra had long become a poor PR tool to answer the questions of journalists and diplomats on field visits in sam changwat pak tai, the three provinces of the South.
Sor Rattanamanee Polkla is a lawyer working in the Human rights field since 2001. Rattanamanee has been especially involved with justice issues in the Southern border provinces and is the coordinator of Community Resource Centre (CRC), an NGO based in Thailand which is a local partner of the Asian Human Right Commission (AHRC) based in Hong Kong. She graduated from the Faculty of Law at Thammasat University, Bangkok.
Arnaud Dubus has been working in Thailand since 1989 as a correspondent for Radio France Internationale, the French daily, Libération and the Swiss daily, Le Temps. Arnaud has been following the situation in Southern border provinces since 1993 and has written several Thai cultural books, among which are Armée du Peuple, Armée du Roi (with Nicolas Revise, Irasec/L’Harmattan, 2002) and Thaïlande. Histoire, société, culture (La Découverte, 2011).
Le texte seul est utilisable sous licence Licence OpenEdition Books. Les autres éléments (illustrations, fichiers annexes importés) sont « Tous droits réservés », sauf mention contraire.
Malaisie - Chine : une « précieuse » relation
David Delfolie, Nathalie Fau et Elsa Lafaye de Micheaux
2016
L'Or Blanc
Petits et grands planteurs face au « boom » de l’hévéaculture (Viêt Nam-Cambodge)
Frédéric Fortunel et Christophe Gironde (dir.)
2014
Le Soft power sud-coréen en Asie du Sud-Est
Une théologie de la prospérité en action
Hui-yeon Kim
2014
Investigating the Grey Areas of the Chinese Communities in Southeast Asia
Proceedings of the Symposium organised by IRASEC at the Hotel Sofitel Silom (Bangkok) on January 2005, 6th and 7th
Arnaud Leveau (dir.)
2007
State and Media in Thailand During Political Transition
Proceedings of the Symposium organized by the French Embassy, the German Embassy, the National Press Council of Thailand and Irasec at the Thai Journalist Association Building on May 2007, 23rd
Chavarong Limpattamapanee et Arnaud Leveau (dir.)
2007
Mekong-Ganga Cooperation Initiative
Analysis and Assessment of India’s Engagement with Greater Mekong Sub-region
Swaran Singh
2007
Malaisie - Chine : une « précieuse » relation
David Delfolie, Nathalie Fau et Elsa Lafaye de Micheaux
2016
L'Or Blanc
Petits et grands planteurs face au « boom » de l’hévéaculture (Viêt Nam-Cambodge)
Frédéric Fortunel et Christophe Gironde (dir.)
2014
Le Soft power sud-coréen en Asie du Sud-Est
Une théologie de la prospérité en action
Hui-yeon Kim
2014
Investigating the Grey Areas of the Chinese Communities in Southeast Asia
Proceedings of the Symposium organised by IRASEC at the Hotel Sofitel Silom (Bangkok) on January 2005, 6th and 7th
Arnaud Leveau (dir.)
2007
State and Media in Thailand During Political Transition
Proceedings of the Symposium organized by the French Embassy, the German Embassy, the National Press Council of Thailand and Irasec at the Thai Journalist Association Building on May 2007, 23rd
Chavarong Limpattamapanee et Arnaud Leveau (dir.)
2007
Mekong-Ganga Cooperation Initiative
Analysis and Assessment of India’s Engagement with Greater Mekong Sub-region
Swaran Singh
2007
Armée du Peuple, Armée du Roi
Les militaires face à la société en Indonésie et en Thaïlande
Nicolas Revise et Arnaud Dubus
2002
Armée du Peuple, Armée du Roi
Les militaires face à la société en Indonésie et en Thaïlande
Nicolas Revise et Arnaud Dubus
2002
Thaïlande. Le mythe de l'unité implose
Arnaud Dubus
Thaïlande. La tentation réactionnaire
Arnaud Dubus et Bruno Jetin
