VZCZCXRO0485
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHBK #0139 0201023
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 201023Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY BANGKOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5696
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 9363
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 3912
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 5444
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 4898
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2082

UNCLAS BANGKOK 000139 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS, PRM/ANE 
GENEVA FOR RMA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF SMIG PHUM TH BM
SUBJECT: THAI GOVERNMENT REACTS QUICKLY TO CRITICISM OF 
ROHINGYAS "BOAT PEOPLE" TREATMENT, PROMISES INVESTIGATION 
 
REF: BANGKOK 124 
 
 ¶1.  (SBU) In a January 19th meeting with local human rights 
activities, Royal Thai government (RTG) Prime Minister 
Abhisit Vejjajiva responded to international press criticism 
of treatment of Rohingyas "boat people" entering Thai 
territory. Recent press reports by the South China Morning 
Post and BBC have accused Thai military units of assembling 
any encountered Muslim Rohingyas on an island off the coast 
near Ranong,  and forcing them to board unpowered vessels 
which are then towed out to sea with insufficient food and 
water.  PM Abhisit pledged an investigation to determine if 
any human rights violations had been committed by the local 
Royal Thai army southern command, which is embroiled in an 
anti-insurgency effort against Malay Muslim separatists in 
the deep south. 
 
¶2. (SBU)  According to a NGO participant in the meeting, the 
Prime Minister noted that Thailand would uphold its 
obligations under the UN Convention Against Torture. (Note: 
Thailand is not a party to the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees 
or any of its protocols.) RTG Foreign Minster Kasit Piromya, 
traveling to restive Pattani Province near the Thai-Malay 
border, told reporters on January 19th that the accusations 
were being taken "very seriously."  Post MFA contacts 
confirmed press reports that preparations are being made for 
FM Kasit to meet later this week with Bangkok-based 
diplomatic missions from Burma, Bangladesh, Indonesia, 
Malaysia and India, to explain Thai policy towards the 
sea-bound Rohingyas and discuss the problem; before becoming 
Foreign Minister in late December, Kasit had identified 
migration as a transnational issue on which Thailand needed 
to engage its neighbors more intensively.   Some of the "boat 
people", who cross from Burma's Northern Rakhine state into 
Bangladesh to board vessels bound for Malaysia, have instead 
ended up in the Andaman Islands (India) and Aceh Province, 
Indonesia in the past month. According to NGO reports, 
several hundred are missing from at least one vessel 
encountered by the Indian coast guard off Port Blair in the 
Andaman Islands. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Public assurances from the Thai military have been 
quick as well, rebutting accusations of mistreatment.   On 
January 19th, Army Commander General Anupong Paochinda 
released a public statement that: "Rohingya refugees have not 
been tortured by Thai soldiers as was reported by foreign 
media."  According to the statement, "military officials have 
been firmly instructed to treat the refugees based on the 
given legal procedures."  The specific accusations that Thai 
military units towed Rohingyas' unpowered vessels out to sea 
with insufficient food and water were not addressed in the 
statement, however.  In a January 17th telephone conversation 
with RefCoord, local army commander Colonel Manat Khongpan 
acknowledged that Thai army units visit beached boats 
carrying Rohingyas, provide food and water, and instruct them 
to depart from Thai territory  However, Colonel Manat flatly 
denied that the Thai military towed vessels out to sea, or 
that any deaths had occurred as a result of the "push back" 
policy.  Manat agreed to provide a briefing on the details of 
the Thai policy towards Rohingyas boat people in the southern 
port city of Ranong on January 22nd. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Comments. 
           -------- 
The rapid, high-level response by the new Democrat Party-led 
government to the Rohingyas "boat people" issue - coming 
quickly on the heels of Amnesty International's report 
critical of RTG policy in the south (Reftel) - is a welcome 
change from the often flat-footed reactions and denials from 
recent administrations.  PM Abhisit, FM Kasit and top army 
leader Anupong all have said the right things initially, 
promising an evaluation of the push-back policy and adherence 
to basic human rights standards. Verifiable detail on actual 
implementation of Thai policy towards the vulnerable 
sea-farers and to what happened in recent weeks in the 
Andaman is scarce, however.  Post hopes to have a clearer 
idea of what is happening on Thai territory and its 
territorial waters in the Andaman Sea after the briefing by 
the local commander on January 22nd.  Post will report any 
further information immediately. 
 
JOHN