In a public statement, Malay separatist group described the recent series of goodwill gestures by Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont as "a new round of Siamisation" aimed at turning ethnic Malays into Thais at the expense of their own cultural identity.

"Just as the Koreans do not want to be the Japanese, so the Malays cannot be supplanted by the Thais. A better remedy for the old wound is for the Thai government to signal that it is prepared to pave the way for instituting selfdetermination instead of merely the SBPAC [Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre], and demonstrate a sincere effort to bring peace and harmony so as to inculcate true love and understanding among the people," Pulo said.

"In their bid to bring peace and reconciliation to the Pattani Malay region, the Thais are applying the same old tactics of "Siamisation" by trying to reintroduce their old winning policies against the Communists and spreading persistent rumours of plans to install Shariah courts like those in Malaysia or Indonesia and to give permission to teach the Malay language in local schools, as if the Pattani Malays were immigrants begging for social equality and justice, like immigrants in neighbouring countries," Pulo said.

It described the SBPAC was a "poisonous bait" and "a neocolonial style office that only serves the purpose of delivering the deceitful propaganda of the Thais themselves."

"If this is what the core command in Bangkok has in mind, then the Thais are merely exposing their naive side to the world, showing their lack of understanding about the root cause of the problem. Ignoring all facts in raising the legacy of unlawful claims is a mild form of ethnic cleansing."

Pulo said Thailand has succeeded in the past in persuading Communists to lay down their arms, but the same policy would not work with the Malays, who it said had resisted the state policy of assimilation for more than 100 years.

The Nation