US embassy cable - 05BANGKOK2062

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 002062 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP, EAP/BCLTV, INR/B 
PACOM FOR FPA (HUSO) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/15/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PTER, TH, Southern Thailand 
SUBJECT: THAILAND: SENIOR GOVERNMENT ADVISOR DISCUSSES THE 
SOUTH 
 
REF: A. BANGKOK 1817 
     B. BANGKOK 1528 
     C. 04 BANGKOK 7171 
     D. 04 BANGKOK 6647 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Ralph L. Boyce. Reason 1.4(d) 
 
1.  (S)  SUMMARY:  Ambassador and Poloffs met with Mark 
Tamthai, a prominent academic and senior advisor to the Thai 
National Security Council (NSC), to discuss RTG policy for 
southern Thailand.  He said the Thai government, 
acknowledging recent policy failures, is increasingly focused 
on the separatist violence in the deep South.  Tamthai 
discussed persistent rumors of U.S. involvement in the 
violence, and stated that he thought most forms of U.S. 
assistance would be counterproductive.  He listed six 
individuals he thought would have the credibility to refute 
allegations of U.S. involvement, saying the six are crucial 
for establishing a dialogue with southern Muslims.  Tamthai 
said that the recently announced National Reconciliation 
Commission (NRC) has become the central plank of RTG policy 
towards the south.  END SUMMARY 
 
2.  (SBU)  On March 13 Ambassador met with Mark Tamthai, a 
retired Chulalongkorn philosophy professor, and current Vice 
Chairman for Peace Strategy Resolution at the National 
Security Council to discuss RTG strategy and policy towards 
the south.  On March 14 Poloffs held an extended follow-up 
meeting with Tamthai.  As an advisor to the NSC, Tamthai has 
sometimes been a key influence on RTG southern policy and is 
currently working with former Prime Minister Anand to select 
members of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) for 
southern Thailand.  He is a well-known and respected figure 
both in policy circles and with non-governmental 
organizations interested in southern Thailand. 
 
FORGET BURMA; THE GOVERNMENT IS FOCUSED ON THE SOUTH 
 
3.  (C)  Tamthai said the troubled Muslim south has become by 
far the most important issue for the NSC.  He said the 
Council spends "95% of its time" working on ideas to deal 
with the southern problem.  This concentration on the South 
has dropped Burma to a much lower policy focus at the highest 
levels of the NSC and government.  As a consequence, Tamthai 
claimed, the Army has returned to being the primary 
institution continuing work on Thailand's "constructive 
engagement" policy with Burma. 
 
RTG SOUTHERN POLICY - SUCCESSIVE FAILURES 
 
4.  (C)  Tamthai has been involved in formulating strategies 
for southern Thailand for 6 years, going back to the second 
Chuan Leekpai administration.  He complained that the Thaksin 
administration had undone many of the effective policies put 
in place under the Chuan administration.  He said that the 
RTG needed to return to a focus on social development and 
coordinated security efforts, instead of just security. 
Tamthai described the Thaksin administration's policy over 
the past year as "disastrous," although establishment of the 
National Reconciliation Council (NRC) encourages him. 
 
NATIONAL RECONCILIATION COMMISSION 
 
5.  (C)  Tamthai confirmed that he will serve as a member of 
the National Reconciliation Commission which Prime Minister 
Thaksin has set up (after first ignoring the concept) to 
develop long-term solutions to the crisis (reftel B).  He is 
working with the NRC's designated Chairman, the highly 
respected former Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun, to fill 
out the 40-commission membership.  He noted that a surprising 
number of people want to serve on the NRC, but suggested that 
the Commission's high profile was attracting "people of 
influence" (a negative expression in Thai) more interested in 
promoting themselves than working on the South. 
 
6.  (C)  Tamthai said that Prime Minister Thaksin genuinely 
wants Anand and the NRC to succeed, and was looking for the 
Commission to come up with viable answers to the situation. 
He said the Prime Minister is aware that his policies to date 
have not worked in the South, but faces resistance to 
changing to a softer line from Thai security forces.  Thaksin 
is counting on Anand and the NRC to give him political cover 
to make policy adjustments.  Tamthai said the government is 
"pinning all its hopes on the National Reconciliation 
Commission." 
 
RUMORS OF U.S. INVOLVEMENT IN THE SOUTH - A SERIOUS CONCERN 
 
7.  (C)  Tamthai discussed persistent rumors of U.S. 
involvement in the violence in the deep South, noting that 
these rumors are widespread and widely accepted (reftel C). 
While he personally knows this is nonsense, he said many 
Muslim leaders in the South have convinced themselves that 
U.S. agents are directly encouraging militant Muslim youths 
in the region to commit violent acts in order to draw the 
Thai government deeper into the War on Terror.  Tamthai 
indicated that these speculations and rumors were of serious 
concern to the RTG because they are so widely circulated and 
believed. 
 
THE SIX MUSLIM LEADERS WHO CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE 
 
8.  (S)  Tamthai told the Ambassador he had identified six 
primary individuals whom he believed could be credible 
interlocutors in the South between the government and 
disaffected Muslim population.  Those six are: Abdul Rahman 
Abdul Samad - Chairman of the Islamic Council of Narathiwat 
Province; Waedueramae Maminchi - Chairman of the Islamic 
Council of Pattani Province; Abdulromae Jesae - Chairman of 
the Islamic Council of Yala Province; Nider Waba - President 
of the Islamic Religious Private School Association in the 
Southern Border Provinces; Aziz Yanya - Chairman of Pondok 
School Association in the Southern Border Provinces; and Dr. 
Ismail Lutfi Japagiya - Rector, Yala Islamic College. 
 
9.  (C)  (NOTE:  Embassy officers have met with all six of 
these leaders.  Of them, Dr. Lutfi Japagiya is the most 
controversial.  He admits to having met with the Jemaah 
Islamiyah (JI) leader Hambali prior to Hambali's 2003 arrest 
in Thailand but denies that he is a JI or Hambali supporter. 
Lutfi is building a large and modern facility in Yala to 
house Yala Islamic College (reftel D).  He also openly admits 
that he receives funding for the College from Gulf-based 
charities, but maintains that he has no choice other than to 
take that money because the Thai government and other donors 
are not willing to fund his educational enterprise.  END NOTE) 
 
10.  (S)  Tamthai asked the Ambassador to take a direct role 
in refuting allegations of U.S. involvement in the violence, 
indicating the NSC was very concerned about how the rumors 
take on a life of their own.  Tamthai suggested that the 
Ambassador meet with the six Muslim leaders he had identified 
to personally assure them that the U.S. was not involved in 
fomenting the violence.  Tamthai said that if these leaders 
received this message directly from the U.S. Ambassador they 
would return to their constituencies and refute the 
allegations.  He agreed that the Ambassador should avoid 
personally traveling to the region, suggesting the NSC could 
arrange a meeting in Bangkok.  Ambassador agreed to a 
meeting, stipulating that he required the full prior support 
of the RTG.  Tamthai said he would followup on the request. 
 
U.S. ASSISTANCE IN THE SOUTH, THANKS BUT NO THANKS 
 
11.  (C)  When queried about possible fruitful ways the USG 
might assist with the south, Tamthai was clear in his view 
that he could not think of direct programs there that would 
be welcome and not counterproductive.  Tamthai used a Thai 
expression "ya chak seuk khao baan," a common Thai idiom 
similar to "don't air your dirty laundry," but which 
literally translates into "don't bring the enemy into your 
home," to describe a common attitude in the RTG on this 
issue.  He said the feeling was that if Thailand were to 
allow the U.S. to openly provide assistance that would draw 
in "outside" forces, not currently involved, to 
counter-balance the U.S.  Tamthai said that visible U.S. 
involvement in activities in the geographic deep South, 
however well intentioned, could exacerbate the problem by 
reinforcing allegations that the U.S. is behind the violence. 
 American moral support for the Thai government is 
appreciated, but direct involvement is not, Tamthai said, 
adding "this is something we must do ourselves, and we don't 
need outside help." 
 
12.  (C)  Tamthai did suggest that the U.S. should continue 
to work with the Thai military outside the South to develop 
professionalism, especially among the officer corps.  Tamthai 
extended this idea to suggest the U.S. expand training for 
the military and work with both the military and police 
academies.  There are good officers, he said, but the Thai 
security forces need to develop more uniformly professional 
services.  He also noted that human rights training which is 
legalistic does not meet the need for training on how to 
respect human rights concerns in operational situations. 
 
OTHER POLICY APPROACHES 
 
13.  (C)  Tamthai also identified "cultural reform" and 
developing better understanding between the Buddhist and 
Muslim communities as the keys to a long-term solution in the 
South.  He outlined some of the new policy approaches the RTG 
was implementing to address these themes.  The NSC has a 
pilot project with 250 mosques to create community based 
"self-help" projects.  Tamthai said that the RTG would like 
to expand these "self-help" projects to all 1,400 mosques in 
the far south by next year.  The NSC is also working on a 
joint project in conjunction with Mahidol University and the 
Ministry of Culture titled, "What does it mean to be Thai?" 
Princess Sirindhorn will help launch the project, which aims 
at developing tolerance between the Buddhist and Muslims 
communities. 
 
14.  (C)  Tamthai said he was concerned that frustrated 
security forces will resume "disappearing" suspected 
militants or resorting to tactics than punish areas 
collectively in the South if policy failures continue.  He 
described the mentality as "it's better to punish someone who 
is innocent than to let a guilty one get away." 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE - MARK TAMTHAI 
 
15.  (SBU)  Born in Brooklyn, New York on August 20, 1947, 
Tamthai obtained a BS in Mathematics and Physics from the 
University of Washington.  He received a MS and Ph.D. in 
History and Philosophy of Sciences from Indiana University. 
He began his academic career as a Mathematics lecturer at 
Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Sciences before moving 
to the Philosophy Section in the Faculty of Arts.  He was 
Chief of the Philosophy Section when he stepped down from his 
position at Chulalongkorn in 2003.  His other affiliations 
are:  Board Member of the Institute of Religion and Culture 
at Payap University; Vice Chairman for Peace Strategy 
Resolution at the National Security Council; and Chairman of 
the Thailand Association of Philosophy and Religion.  Mark's 
sister-in-law is the noted political rights activist, 
academic, and ex-Democrat Party MP, Dr. Phutsadi Tamthai. 
His father was a member of the Seri Thai or "Free Thai" 
movement that fought the Japanese occupation during WWII. 
BOYCE