Members of civil society have joined discussions
on efforts for peace-building in the deep South of Thailand and have looked
into the peace process over the past year.
The discussions were part of the “Peace Media
Festival,” organized by the Network of Civil Society in Southern Thailand at
Prince of Songkla University’s Faculty of Communication Science on 27 and 28
February 2014.
At the Peace Media Festival, the “Insider
Peace-builders Platform (IPP),” which comprises members of many sectors of
society, presented a policy paper entitled “How can the peace process be taken
forward?” The paper is a result of six-month-long discussions by the IPP forum,
which was held to increase the effectiveness and inclusiveness of the peace
process in southern Thailand. It was also intended to help strengthen the peace
dialogue between the Thai government and the Patani Malay movement and to
increase the people’s participation in quelling the southern violence.
The policy paper cited the signing of the
“General Consensus on Peace Dialogue Process” on 28 February 2013 as an
important turning point of efforts to resolve conflicts in the deep South. The
document was signed by the Thai government, represented by the National
Security Council, and the most powerful resistance movement group, National
Revolutionary Front, or BRN. The document came into existence with the active
support of the Malaysian government, which acted as a facilitator.
In order to improve the peace process for the
southern border provinces, IPP proposed that the two dialogue partners, the
National Security Council and BRN, as well as the Malaysian facilitator,
consider establishing peace secretariats, with a small number of professional
staff, who are encouraged to interact and communicate with each other regularly
to work toward a common understanding of the challenges ahead.
It urged the two dialogue partners to consider
changing the nature of the talk from dialogue to peace negotiation with a
mutually endorsed mediator. Besides, the process should include observers and
witnesses, who could be representatives of neighboring countries or
international organizations recognized by both partners.
Civil society organizations, academics, and
members of the media, both national and local, were urged to collectively
explore how to improve public awareness of the peace process. In order to
promote peaceful coexistence in a multicultural society, it is vitally
important to open political space for people from all walks of life,
particularly the minority Buddhist Thais, to express their opinions and
concerns vis-à-vis the peace process.
IPP called for the establishment of a Peace
Resource Center in order to provide all parties and stakeholders with knowledge
about the “state of the art” of peace processes, so that they may learn the
best practices and most effective methods. Another objective is to create a
“safety net” by inviting people from all stakeholder groups to contribute to
inclusive solutions and monitor the peace process.
IPP also proposed that community-based peace
committees be established in order to raise awareness and provide knowledge of
the overall peace process among local people. The committees will also create a
local dispute mechanism to prepare for future conflict transformation.
A “Council for People’s Dialogue” was also
proposed. It will function as a common space where all groups and stakeholders
may express their views and discuss related issues.
(thailand.prd.go.th)