The beleaguered leader showed his true colours - that he does not care about improving the situation in the strife-torn deep South. It is an open secret that he has exploited the conflict in the region to his own advantage all along.

We sympathise with NCR chairman Anand Panyarachun and his 48-member commission who painstakingly put together the report on the conflicts in southern Thailand. Admirably, they made it a point to come up with a well-balanced report that also contains doable recommendations. The report is the first of its kind in Thai history to explore ways to heal a centuries-old conflict through reconciliation, peace and justice.

Their work however amounts to nothing if it does not change old mindsets that have allowed the conflict to remain unresolved and fester.

The saddest part of the report's release was that upon its release, the very same mentality that the report seeks to eliminate reared its ugly head and shot down several of the recommendations that deserve serious consideration.

The first item that surfaced for debate - the proposal that Malay be used as a working language - was quickly rejected. The report spells out clearly that the language issue is crucial for promoting understanding and dialogue between the Malay-speaking region and the rest of the country. Being multilingual should be seen as an asset, not as a threat to national security.

Disappointingly, comments from some conservative leaders intentionally distorted the contents of the report to suggest that Malay would be promoted as a second official language. Such a distortion of facts causes widespread concern and negative reactions from those in some quarters who fear that the idea would help strengthen the Malay identity at the expense of social integration.

Beyond that, the report is generally bold and imaginative, if not also a little romantic. It challenged the widely held notion that Thai society is monolithic with a narrowly defined sense of "Thainess" that also happens to respect and tolerate cultural diversity. In fact, we are not as tolerant as we think we are.

This report, if concerned authorities care enough to read it, has challenged the conventional line of thought about our society. It also helps us better understand our own society and how we can work together to heal centuries-old wounds in the deep South.

Indeed, the conflict in the South is more than daily violence that gets headline treatment in the papers. It is a reflection of the fractious nature of Thai society, which is not at peace with itself. We need to work towards a peaceful and prosperous future where people of diverse cultures, in all part of Thailand, can live together happily.

To achieve this, even predominantly Muslim Thais of Malay descent in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, who tend to stick together in a clannish social environment, should open up more and interact with fellow Thais who belong to other religious faiths. They should also participate more actively in the political, social and economic life of the country.

Anand was right in saying that there is no hope that Thaksin will take this report seriously. That explains why the rest of government organisations remain cool to the recommendations. But such a genuine effort should not be wasted because any sensible government in the future would certainly look into some of the worthy recommendations in this report and put them into practice. It is better to have a government that truly believes in reconciliation and peace to implement the report than having a demagogic one pretending to care.