This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 001817 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP, EAP/BCLTV 
PACOM FOR FPA (HUSO) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/10/2014 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER TH
SUBJECT: THAILAND: TRT MPS BEGIN THEIR ENGAGEMENT IN THE 
MUSLIM SOUTH 
 
REF: A. BANGKOK 1775 
 
     ¶B. BANGKOK 1528 
     ¶C. BANGKOK 1008 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Robert Clarke. Reason 1.4 (d) 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Prime Minister Thaksin's select group of 
25 Members of Parliament (MP) from his Thai Rak Thai (TRT) 
party has begun the work he personally assigned them to 
assess and develop strategies for dealing with the Muslim 
South.  Two MPs told poloffs about their initial visit to the 
South and their intentions to work with local Muslims on 
southern discontent and violence and to provide Thaksin with 
honest assessments and possible solutions.  Meanwhile, daily 
violence in southern Thailand continued at a heightened level 
this past week.  End Summary. 
 
TRT MPS SAY THEY'RE LISTENING TO LOCAL CONCERNS AND WILL 
IDENTIFY LOCAL SOLUTIONS 
 
¶2.  (C)  PolOffs met with two of the Thai Rak Thai (TRT) MPs 
selected by Prime Minister Thaksin to work in the Muslim 
South on strategies to address the troubled situation (reftel 
B).  Deputy Secretary General of TRT Ekkhaphap Polsue, an MP 
from the northeastern province of Roi Et, confirmed that 
Thaksin had personally proposed the idea of sending the 25 
MPs to the deep South (one to each local district in Pattani, 
Yala, and Narathiwat provinces).  Ekkhaphap said he wasn't 
concerned about complaints sometimes heard, that the selected 
MPs are mostly from northern Thailand and that few have prior 
experience working with Muslims.  Ekkhaphap countered that 
northern MPs were chosen because they are perceived to be 
"unbiased" by southerners, and because of their experience 
dealing with the communist insurgency in the '70s. 
 
¶3.  (C)  Ekkhaphap reported that the parliamentary group's 
February 28 initial visit to the region had been successful, 
noting that he was already in regular contact with local 
district leaders.  He said he planned to travel to the south 
every two weeks to meet with local officials and build 
goodwill among the local populace.  His current assessment 
was that 80% of the violence is fueled by a general sense of 
injustice at the hands of the central government coupled with 
lack of educational and economic opportunities.  Ekkhaphap 
pointedly told poloffs that the southern situation was a 
domestic issue that Thailand could handle without outside 
assistance. 
 
¶4.  (C)  Pairote Suwunchawee, an MP from Nakhon Ratchasima 
province in northeastern, said Thaksin's establishment of the 
group of TRT MPs, along his sponsorship of a soon to be named 
National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) headed by former PM 
Anand Panyarachun; indicated that the administration was 
serious about trying to understand the complexities of the 
situation.  He said the government would listen to local 
concerns instead of simply relying on security measures. 
Pairote acknowledged that abusive police tactics and corrupt 
officials fueled local anger toward the central government, 
and said that increasing the military's presence could 
actually make the situation worse.  He said people in the 
south live in fear from both security officials and from the 
militants.  Pairote noted that since mid-2004 the violence 
has become increasingly indiscriminate in nature or directed 
towards Buddhist civilians (reftel C). 
 
¶5.  (C)  Pairote confided that the Prime Minister had two 
other reasons for selecting the 25 MPs to work in the south. 
Thaksin, he said, believes that Sawat Sumanysak (the 
government appointed central Islamic cleric for Thailand, or 
"Chularatamontri") simply does not have any credibility with 
southern Muslims and therefore cannot influence the situation 
away from violence.  Secondly, Thaksin is concerned that he 
is getting unreliable or inaccurate information from his 
security services so he wants trusted political operatives to 
give him honest assessments of what is happening on the 
ground. 
 
MEANWHILE, THE VIOLENCE CONTINUES 
 
¶6.  (U)  Last week, violence in southern Thailand continued 
in the familiar pattern of the past year.  Militants used 
improvised explosive devices in a March 4 attack that injured 
four policemen in a unit providing protection for teachers in 
Yala province.  Brazen shooting attacks continued on a daily 
basis throughout the far south.  A March 6 shoot-out in 
Narathiwat between police and a group disguised as 
fully-veiled Muslim women left 3 police and up to 3 militants 
dead. 
 
COMMENT 
¶7.  (C)  Comment:  The TRT MPs we spoke to appeared genuinely 
interested in working on the southern problem (which Thaksin 
has called his number one domestic issue).  They start with 
open and even sympathetic attitudes towards the Muslim 
population in the South.  However, it remains in doubt 
whether they can convert those attitudes into deeper 
assessments and then present them convincingly to the Prime 
Minister.  The initial visit to the South on February 28 of 
the TRT MPs was a media circus.  With press attention and 
genuine security concerns, it will be difficult for the MPs 
to earn the trust of and interact in depth with the local 
populace.  Still, it is hopeful that the MPs defined their 
task as listening to local concerns, acknowledged problems 
with some of the security services, and echoed the tone of 
the Prime Minister second inaugural address (reftel A) in 
which he spoke of educational and economic development for 
the south rather than increased security measures. 
BOYCE