US embassy cable - 05BANGKOK3203

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 003203 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/BCLTV, S/CT. 
PACOM FOR FPA (HUSO) PACOM -- PLEASE PASS TO MARFORPAC 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/11/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PTER, TH, Southern Thailand 
SUBJECT: THAILAND: DEALING WITH CONSPIRACY THEORIES ABOUT 
U.S. INVOLVEMENT IN SOUTHERN VIOLENCE 
 
REF: A. BANGKOK 2062 
 
     B. 04 BANGKOK 8629 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Ralph L. Boyce. Reason 1.4 (d) 
 
1.  (S)  SUMMARY:  As separatist violence escalates in 
Thailand's deep South, USG officials must deal with the 
persistent and perhaps widening perception in the Thai public 
that the United States is fomenting the violence for its own 
purposes.  When traveling in Thailand's southern provinces, 
Embassy officers frequently encounter such notions even among 
otherwise rational interlocutors.  Recently, the slander has 
gained greater prominence, including outside the South and 
Muslim communities, because irresponsible journalists and 
politicians repeat it in the national Thai media.  Concerned 
about the impact of such rumors, a National Security Council 
(NSC) advisor has quietly proposed to the Ambassador that he 
meet with prominent southern Muslims leaders to dispel them. 
NSC is vetting the idea with Prime Minister Thaksin.  The 
rumors, which would be laughable under less serious 
circumstances, are pervasive enough that they should be kept 
in mind when considering USG programs for the South.  END 
SUMMARY 
 
PERSISTENT THEORIES THAT THE U.S. IS BEHIND THE SOUTHERN 
VIOLENCE... 
 
2.  (C)  During regular reporting trips to southern Thailand, 
Emboffs are routinely pressed about U.S. intentions in the 
region, with clear suggestions that the U.S. is behind the 
violence there.  For example, journalists "ambushed" our 
newly arrived RSO, on a familiarization tour of the South, 
insinuating his visit was evidence of U.S. "involvement" in 
the region.  Every disparate scrap of news is threaded into 
the questions as "evidence."  The arguments usually are 
variations on two conspiratorial themes: 1) the U.S. Military 
is inciting Muslims to violence in order to justify 
establishing bases in the region; 2) the CIA is funding the 
insurgents in order to justifying an expanded U.S. presence 
in the region for the Global War on Terror. 
 
THE MEDIA AMPLIFIES THE RUMORS... 
 
3.  (C)  These assertions have begun to get national 
attention because of irresponsible, sensationalist 
journalists.  Distorted versions of the rationale behind the 
RSO's visit were given widespread airtime, far beyond what 
they warranted (reftel B).  Recently one of the most 
persistently anti-American of the conspiracy minded 
journalists tried to drag the Ambassador into the debate 
about who is behind southern violence.  In a March 28 
editorial in the daily "Matichon" newspaper, Taweesak 
Butratan characterized the mere arrival in Thailand of 
Ambassador Boyce as evidence of a plan to directly involve 
the U.S. in the South and expand our influence throughout 
Southeast Asia. (Note: Matichon has a daily circulation of 
over 150,000; and is targeted at an educated, middle-class 
readership. End Note) 
 
POLITICIANS JOIN IN... 
 
4.  (C)  Some politicians have used the allegations for cheap 
publicity or to grind ideological axes.  Perayot Rahimmula, a 
new Democrat Party (DP) MP and ex-academic specializing in 
Islamic issues -- and a former close contact of the Embassy 
-- argued during an April parliamentary debate that the CIA 
is involved in the southern situation and is trying to create 
the conditions necessary to justify U.S. intervention. 
Perayot said he also supported earlier comments in Parliament 
by Bangkok Senator Sophon Suphaphong -- a member of the 
recently establish National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) 
-- who suggested that the Pentagon orchestrated recent 
bombings in the South in order to pave the way for the U.S. 
to seek UN approval for intervention to Thailand. 
 
SOME RTG OFFICIALS CONCERNED ABOUT THE RUMORS 
 
5.  (S)  Recent conversations with Thai NSC officials 
indicate that some RTG officials are concerned about the 
potential impact of these rumors.  In March, Dr. Mark 
Tamthai, a senior NSC advisor, told the Ambassador that 
senior officials in the RTG have discussed the allegations of 
a U.S. hand in the South, noted that the stories are widely 
believed, and are eager to dispel them (reftel A).  The 
rumors hurt the bilateral relationship and the Thaksin 
Administration fears being painted as facilitating 
behind-the-scenes U.S. activities in the South.  Tamthai 
proposed that the Ambassador speak with six prominent 
Muslim-Thai leaders and directly deny rumors of American 
involvement in the violence in southern Thailand.  Tamthai 
said that such a meeting would require political approval at 
the "highest levels" (i.e., Prime Minister Thaksin). 
Subsequently, Somkiat Boonchoo, Director of the Bureau of 
Strategic Studies at the NSC, told Poloff that the NSC is 
drafting a proposal to hold such a meeting.  Somkiat 
confirmed that Prime Minister Thaksin himself would be asked 
to sign off on the proposal. 
 
COMMENT - IMPACT OF BAD PERCEPTIONS MUST BE WEIGHED IN 
PROGRAM DESIGN 
 
6.  (C)  COMMENT: The allegations that the U.S. is fomenting 
violence in the South are widely believed in southern 
Thailand, and a few irresponsible and opportunistic 
politicians and conspiracy-minded journalists are helping to 
spread them throughout the country.  Despite the ridiculous 
nature of the rumors, they must be factored in whenever the 
USG considers offering the RTG assistance and civilian and 
military programs geared towards the South. Clever 
propagandists among those who wish us ill, or those who are 
willing to believe anything, are too ready to misinterpret 
USG programs -- no matter how innocuous or well intentioned 
-- as evidence of more sinister purpose.  The RTG is 
sensitive to the political impact of the allegations about 
U.S. activities, and has made clear its reluctance to accept 
assistance in the South, or to be linked to programs that 
might exacerbate internal tensions. END COMMENT 
BOYCE