Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday said his government would use development aid rather than aggressive security measures to tackle an escalating insurgency in the country’s Muslim south.
In his weekly TV address, Abhisit said money would be invested in the region’s tourism, rubber, palm oil and fisheries industries to raise living standards and counter attempts by militant groups to derail the government’s peace efforts.
“Thailand is a unity country under the same Constitution, which needs some privileges, such as economic developing programs, to save people from [a] poor living,” Abhisit said. “The development programs will range from tourism to farming, including rubber, palm oil and fisheries projects.”
Abhisit did not say how much money would be invested or give a timeframe for the implementation of the projects.
Nearly 3,500 people have been killed in violence since 2004 in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat provinces near the Malaysian border, which provide 10 percent of the rubber output of Thailand, the world’s biggest producer.
The violence has intensified in recent weeks, with 27 people killed and more than 50 injured over the last nine days. The victims have ranged from teachers, soldiers and Buddhist monks to Muslims praying in a mosque.
Previous Thai governments have tried “hearts and minds” campaigns to tackle the unrest, offering development aid and even free cable TV, but nothing has worked.
Abhisit said there would be no “iron fist” approach to ending the violence and he urged people to prevent rebels from creating rifts between Muslims and the region’s minority Buddhists.
Analysts say aggressive security crackdowns, arbitrary arrests and reports of torture and extrajudicial killings have alienated the local population and aided recruitment of young, disaffected Muslims by rebel groups.
“I insist that the government will not resort to violence,” Abhisit said. “I believe that we are on the right track by using development programs as our mechanism to solve this problem.”
Mystery surrounds who is behind the unrest in the deep south, which was once part of an independent Malay Muslim sultanate until annexed by Buddhist Thailand a century ago.
No credible group has stated its aims or claimed responsibility for the near daily gun, bomb and arson attacks.
BEYOND WASHINGTON: Although historically the US has been the partner of choice for military exercises, Jakarta has been trying to diversify its partners, an analyst said Indonesia’s first joint military drills with Russia this week signal that new Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto would seek a bigger role for Jakarta on the world stage as part of a significant foreign policy shift, analysts said. Indonesia has long maintained a neutral foreign policy and refuses to take sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict or US-China rivalry, but Prabowo has called for stronger ties with Moscow despite Western pressure on Jakarta. “It is part of a broader agenda to elevate ties with whomever it may be, regardless of their geopolitical bloc, as long as there is a benefit for Indonesia,” said Pieter
US ELECTION: Polls show that the result is likely to be historically tight. However, a recent Iowa poll showed Harris winning the state that Trump won in 2016 and 2020 US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris courted voters angered by the Gaza war while former US President and Republican candidate Donald Trump doubled down on violent rhetoric with a comment about journalists being shot as the tense US election campaign entered its final hours. The Democratic vice president and the Republican former president frantically blitzed several swing states as they tried to win over the last holdouts with less than 36 hours left until polls open on election day today. Trump predicted a “landslide,” while Harris told a raucous rally in must-win Michigan that “we have momentum — it’s
TIGHT CAMPAIGN: Although Harris got a boost from an Iowa poll, neither candidate had a margin greater than three points in any of the US’ seven battleground states US Vice President Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live (SNL) in the final days before the election, as she and former US president and Republican presidential nominees make a frantic last push to win over voters in a historically close campaign. The first lines Harris spoke as she sat across from Maya Rudolph, their outfits identical, was drowned out by cheers from the audience. “It is nice to see you Kamala,” Harris told Rudolph with a broad grin she kept throughout the sketch. “And I’m just here to remind you, you got this.” In sync, the two said supporters
Pets are not forgotten during Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrations, when even Fido and Tiger get a place at the altars Mexican families set up to honor their deceased loved ones, complete with flowers, candles and photographs. Although the human dead usually get their favorite food or drink placed on altars, the nature of pet food can make things a little different. The holiday has roots in Mexican pre-Hispanic customs, as does the reverence for animals. The small, hairless dogs that Mexicans kept before the Spanish conquest were believed to help guide their owners to the afterlife, and were sometimes given
RSS