Thailand must realise that Malay Muslims are a different people with different traditions, if it ever hopes to bring the insurgency to an end
The idea of giving the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre (SBPAC) some claws and teeth has moved one step closer to reality now that the Cabinet has endorsed a draft proposal to give this body legislative backing.

This past Tuesday the Cabinet endorsed the draft law that would, among other things, permit SBPAC to have access to state funding instead of having to turn to the military-run Internal Security Operation Command (Isoc).

Over the past five years the government has spent Bt119 billion on development and security in the deep South where insurgency related violence has claimed more than 3,500 lives over the period. The money largely went into the hands of the military.

According to benchmarks from the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), the past five years have been nothing but a failure. The people of the deep South are just as insecure as they were five years ago when this wave of violence picked up and continued full swing. Moreover, the per capita income in the area has been on a decline. The only success Isoc can claim is in its drug-rehabilitation programmes for which it managed to win the cooperation of the locals.

The aim was to win the hearts and minds of the local Malay Muslims so they would not side with the insurgents. That, too, failed because violence has continued unabated in front of their very eyes. Also, few have stepped up to point out the culprits.

Perhaps if we look at the ongoing violence as a conflict, instead of looking at it in the strict context of law and order, and acknowledge that the Malay Muslims in the three southernmost provinces have legitimate grievances, our scope of thinking would expand tremendously. More creative and sophisticated ideas could very well surface and be put forward for further discussion.

If the past five years tell us anything, it is that our ideas have not been sophisticated enough despite all the rhetoric about the need to understand and be more sensitive to the Malay Muslims. We have mistaken our good intentions as policy and wrongly assumed that the government's "generosity" will win the Malays in the deep South over to the Thai side.

Perhaps the problem is not about poverty or development. Perhaps the word human dignity has to find its way into the discourse. After all, the Malays of the deep South are people with an entirely different set of cultural and historical narratives that set them apart from the rest of the country. Unless we acknowledge that, closing this disturbing chapter and moving on as a nation could be extremely difficult.

Local Malay Muslims in the deep South may not agree with the kind of brutality that this new generation of insurgents have been carrying out, but one can't deny the fact that they share the same sentiment towards the Thai state. Historical mistrust continues to prevail and there is no indication that another Bt119 billion allocated for the next five years will change their minds.

In the proposed legislation, the SBPAC will report directly to the Office of the Prime Minister. The centre's secretary-general will be appointed by the prime minister and will hold the same ranking as a ministry's permanent secretary.

The proposed law says the secretary-general should come from the Interior Ministry. But why we are limiting ourselves to just one ministry is still a mystery.

The idea of having an assembly of advisers from various sectors is good in principle, but it is difficult to say at this point in time whether these representatives will reflect the needs and desires of people at the grassroots level.

Like other associations, this assembly could very well become a playground for the local rich and the political elite. But then again, we shouldn't get bogged down by all these fancy names and labels. Let's see this new legislation for what it is - taking development money away from the military and giving it to civilians, or at least making it possible for civilians to have direct access to it.

Moreover, the proposed legislation is one step towards the return of civilian supremacy in the highly contested region. It should be welcomed.

However, more has to be done in terms of keeping the military in check. For far too long, the military has been given a free rein to do what it wants in the deep South despite the fact that, according to government's benchmarks and indicators, they have failed to deliver the goods and services.