Chavalit causes a stir

Peua Thai's Gen Chavalit is in the far South to promote his proposal for some form of autonomy for a 'Pattani City' - sparking instant political controversy, harsh accusations and denials.

Puea Thai Party chairman and former prime minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh on Tuesday travelled to the deep South on Tuesday, saying he would attempt to restore peace in the violence-plagued region - a visit that sparked immediate controversy.

Gen Chavalit said he would meet community leaders in the three southern border provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala and four districts in Songkhla province where martial law is enforced.

He planned to discuss how best to end the southern insurgency with representatives of civil society groups.

He said he would explain his proposal for an autonomous Pattani City, and ask for their input.

Gen Chavalit denied his proposal for a form of autonomy for the lower South was ''traitorous'', as Democrat Party spokesman Thepthai Senpong claimed.

"I understand Mr Thepthai's concern but I would like to assure him that my intentions in addressing southern issues are good," he said. "The government is not on the right track at the moment."

He said the Pattani City proposal was only an idea and he would listen to the people's views on it.

Gen Chavalit earlier invited 2006 coup leader Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, former Pattani senator Den Tomeena, Matubhumi Party MP Areepen Udonsin, Puea Pandin Party MP for Narathiwat province Jeaming Tohtayong and Democrat MP for Narathiwat Waemahadee Waedaoh to join him on his southern trip.

Gen Sonthi, a former national army chief, and Mr Areepen both declined the invitation.

Gen Sonthi said later that he had made prior commitments.

He did not agree with giving the lowewr South a form of self-rule. That was not what people in the far South wanted, he said.

"At least 90 per cent of the local leaders, along with the provincial governors and district chiefs, are Muslims, and the current type of administration is already ideal for the region," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said Thailand is a single state and therefore cannot be divided.

Gen Chavalit was simply taking the political offensive by promoting the idea, he said, and called on the former prime minister to refrain from causing public confusion or otherwise damaging the country.

Yala Mayor Pongsak Yingchoncharoen also opposed the idea, saying that it was unlikely to end the continuing violence in the region.

The decentralisation of power by the government was already greater than in many other countries in Asia, Mr Pongsak said, adding that each area in the country already has its own self-governing administration.

"The important issue, rather than setting up Pattani City, is to encourage the public to have more say in selecting good leaders to govern their areas," Mr Pongsak said. "Establishing Pattani City would not guarantee that the southern violence would end since the insurgents have not said they will stop creating unrest once they have an autonomous region."

Democrat MP for Narathiwat Jeh-arming Tohtayong said Gen Chavalit's proposal would lead to further social division in the lower South.

“The establishment of Pattani City would be the starting point for a big mistake. The problem of southern unrest stems from injustices inflicted when Gen Chavalit was the prime minister [in 1997],” Mr Jeh-arming said.

Deputy Interior Minister Thaworn Senneam said the idea was just a political ploy to get Gen Chavalit's name in the news.

“It is not possible and it would not lead to an end of the violence in the three southernmost provinces as claimed,” Mr Thaworn said. He called Gen Chavalit’s highly touted trip to the far South "a show, a desperate bid to grab media attention by an old man who had failed in politics."

However, former Pattani senator Den Tohmeena supported the idea said it could bring a real change to Pattani.

"This would show local people that there is a sincere desire to give them a bigger role in running their own affairs,” Mr Den said.

If the proposal was implemented and proved a success then it could be expanded to Yala and Narathiwat provinces, he said.

An adviser to the Young Muslim Association of Thailand, Abdullorsish Tadein, supported the idea of a semi-autonomous zone in the lower South, as it is in line with demands of local organisations and civil sector groups.

“It could be called a special administrative zone because calling it Pattani City could meet strong opposition,” Mr Abdullorsish said, adding that the governor of the zone should also be elected, as in Bangkok and Pattaya.

He said unrest resurfaced in the far South in 2004 and the situation had not improved in the five years since so the government must show the courage needed to change the situation.

Gen Chavalit's idea was just to decentralize state power to local communities in deep South, as the people there had never had real governing authority, he said.

Puea Thai spokesman Prompong Noppariot complained that the government was twisting and misrepresenting the proposal for a self-governing Pattani City.

Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyuth did not propose the southernmost border provinces to be made an independent or autonomous state called Pattani City, as claimed by people in the government.

The Puea Thai chairman meant only the setting up of a special administrative area, similar to Pattaya City, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and Chiang Mai City.

As a former senior military officer and former prime minister, it was unthinkable that Gen Chavalit would support an idea that would divide the country, he said.

In the morning, a paramilitary ranger with a special unit providing security for teachers was seriously wounded by a roadside bomb in Pattani, police said.

The bomb was wrapped in a Thai national flag and placed on the side of a village road in tambon Sai Thong of Pattani’s Mai Kaen district and exploded when Corp Prakasit Napongthong stopped to examine the package. He was rushed to a local hospital.

Cambodia Mulls Resource Transparency Initiative

VOA Khmer recently spoke with specialists in the field of natural resource management in developing countries and learned that Cambodia is not alone in struggling to use natural resources to benefit its citizens. The resource curse, where natural riches fail to help the poor, is a worldwide scourge, the global experts told VOA Khmer in numerous interviews. Below is Part Nine of the original VOA Khmer weekly series, airing Sundays in Cambodia.

Cambodia is considering application to the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative, despite heavy criticism of its handling of natural resources so far, an official says.

Cambodian People’s Party Lawmaker Cheam Yeap said the initiative could help provide expertise in the field, “with adequate experiences in managing oil and gas.”

The Oslo-based Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative is a non-profit organization that helps country’s manage their natural resources.. In 2002, Britain’s then-premier Tony Blair announced the concept of the initiative at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The initiative focuses on transparency and accountability in managing oil and gas and requires companies to publish payments to host governments. So far, 30 countries, including five in Asia, have implemented the program.

“If the government officials and parliamentarians are interested in applying for EITI, we welcome that,” Sam Bartlett, Asia director for the group, told VOA Khmer. “We are ready to support those stakeholders in any way so that they can adapt the EITI to the challenges in Cambodia.”

Bartlett noted, however, that Global Witness, which has issued two reports critical of the government that are banned in the country, is a member of the transparency initiative’s board.

Cheam Yeap said, were Cambodia to decide on the initiative, it were defer decisions to the board.

“If Global Witness is still angry, or wants revenge on the Cambodian government, or Cambodia, it’s not a surprise, because we’ve had some sorts of conflict in the past,” he said. “If Global Witness is on the board and is still angry with Cambodia, let the EITI board of directors decide.”

Global Witness has been campaigning against illegal logging in Cambodia since 1995. Over the last three years, Global Witness has issued two reports, “Cambodia’s Family Trees” and “Country for Sale,” severely criticizing the government for mismanaging natural resources, claiming Cambodia’s elites are able to diversify their commercial interests to reap all forms of the country’s assets. (The government denies these reports.)

Eleanor Nichol, a Global Witness campaigner, told VOA Khmer in an interview in Washington that the group’s goal was not to publish anti-government material, but the truth inevitably affected a few officials.

“It’s not anti-government information,” Nichol said. “But what happens is, actually, that it tends to point back to members of the Cambodian government, because they tend to be using their positions of power to exploit their country’s natural resources. So, inevitably over the period of time, it has brought us into a conflictual relationship with the Cambodian government.”

Cambodia needs to consider not only EITI, but also overall governance of natural resources, she said.

“They also need to look at the way in which concessions have been allocated and who the concessions have been allocated to in order to ensure that the best deal has been obtained for Cambodia and its citizens,” she said.

Mam Sambath, chairman of the newly established Cambodians for Resource Revenue Transparency, supported transparency attempts, saying the initiative would provide information to the public, informing the decision-making process.

The transparency initiative also comes with financial support to build government and civic capacity, perform outreach work to companies, and coordinate work through different organizations and agencies, Bartlett said.

Both Indonesia and East Timor have committed to the initiative, while the Philippines and Vietnam are both considering how it could fit into their regulations.

Thais Protest Over Soldiers on Border

VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
02 November 2009

Nearly 500 Thai protesters gathered in front of the Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok Monday to protest the presence of Cambodian troops near Preah Vihear temple. Soldiers from both countries have been entrenched along the border since July 2008.

The protest follows remarks from ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra that he would not accept exile status from Cambodia. Prime Minister Hun Sen angered Bangkok last week by announcing he would welcome Thaksin in Cambodia without abiding by an extradition treaty.

The protesters demanded that Cambodian troops leave the area around Preah Vihear temple, which they claim belongs to Thailand.

Koy Kong, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called the demand “illegal.”

“Cambodia cannot accept the demand by Thai protestors,” he said.

Meanwhile, officials said Monday that Thaksin’s statements were likely to cool the ongoing war of words between leaders of the two countries.

“Thaksin showed his support for the Bangkok government,” by declining Hun Sen’s exile invitation, said Kem Sokha, head of the opposition Human Rights Party.

“If Thaksin makes asylum in Cambodia, it degrades the Thai government,” he said. “So, Thaksin does not want to degrade the Bangkok government in the name of the nation. Thaksin thinks of the national interest more than his personal interest.”

Yim Sovann, a spokesman for the Sam Rainsy Party, said Thakisn’s declining to come to Cambodia would “avoid an uncomfortable feeling between the ruling parties of Cambodia and Thailand.”

However, Ny Chakrya, chief investigator for the rights group Adhoc, said Thaksin may also want to keep his political options open. Were he to seek political asylum in Cambodia, he would not be allowed to participate in politics in Thailand. “So he decided not to go to Cambodia.”

Thaksin lives in exile and faces a two-year jail term on charges of corruption if he returns to Thailand.