VZCZCXRO1489
OO RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHCHI #0184/01 3550624
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O P 210624Z DEC 09
FM AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1229
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 1321

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 CHIANG MAI 000184 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, NSC FOR WALTON 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  12/21/2019 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PINR PTER TH MY
SUBJECT: SOUTHERN THAILAND:  READOUT ON ABHISIT-NAJIB, LOCAL 
EMPOWERMENT 
 
REF: A. BANGKOK 3171 (More on Malaysian Angle) 
     ¶B. BANGKOK 3104 (Najib's Visit) 
     ¶C. CHIANG MAI 171 (Skeptical Army Leadership) 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000184  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Mike Morrow, CG, ConGen, Chiang Mai. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
----------------------------- 
 
Summary and Comment 
 
----------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶1. (S)  During a joint visit to southern Thailand by the Thai 
and Malaysian Prime Ministers, PM Abhisit reportedly raised with 
PM Najib - indirectly - RTG concern over official Malaysian 
pressure on Malaysia-based insurgent leaders involved in secret 
peace talks with the RTG.  In a post-Najib-visit meeting with 
staff, one participant reported that Abhisit also said he would 
welcome a proposal by the insurgents for greater local 
empowerment in the deep South, provided it allowed for Buddhists 
to coexist freely with the Muslim majority there.  The structure 
and specifics of local empowerment will likely be pursued in the 
next round of talks, which are not currently scheduled but could 
take place as early as mid-January. 
 
 
 
¶2. (S)  Comment:  Time will tell whether Abhisit's roundabout 
private message to Najib will ultimately ease pressure by its 
security organs on Malaysia-based insurgent leaders involved in 
the secret talks with the RTG.  On the issue of granting a 
greater local voice in governance in the deep South - long on 
the table as an essential element for ending the conflict there 
- a great deal of work lies ahead for both sides to turn 
current, politically loaded buzzwords like "autonomy" into 
specific proposals for administering local governments, courts, 
schools, and other civic institutions.  End Summary and Comment. 
 
 
 
------------------------------------------ 
 
Abhisit Confronts Najib - Sort Of 
 
------------------------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶3. (S)  Consul General met December 18 in Chiang Mai with Mark 
Tamthai, Director of Payap University's Institute of Religion, 
Culture and Peace and RTG point-man for secret talks with 
southern insurgents facilitated by the Henri Dunant Centre 
(HDC).  Tamthai provided brief updates on developments since 
Malaysian PM Najib's December 8-9 visit to southern Thailand 
(Refs A and B) and the latest round of talks in Manila in early 
November (Ref C). 
 
 
 
¶4. (S)  Tamthai had recently returned from a December 16 meeting 
in Bangkok with PM Abhisit during which Tamthai and (unnamed) 
others had sought a readout from Abhisit on his discussions with 
Najib during their joint visit to the South.  In particular, 
participants wanted to know what Abhisit, in private discussions 
with Najib, had said on the vexing issue of official Malaysian 
pressure on Malaysia-based insurgent leaders involved in the 
secret dialogue.  According to Tamthai, Abhisit said he had 
raised the matter indirectly by saying that while the RTG saw 
the insurgency as an internal Thai matter, it appreciated any 
steps by the GOM to facilitate RTG efforts to address the 
problem.  Tamthai expressed to us some unease with the broad and 
vague formulation that Abhisit chose to use, but added that 
Najib probably understood what Abhisit was driving at since the 
matter of GOM meddling had been raised the week before with 
aides to Najib during a trip to Kuala Lumpur by an Abhisit envoy 
(Ref A).  As for how Najib would respond to Abhisit's roundabout 
request, Tamthai said "we'll see." 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
Advancing the Local Empowerment Concept 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000184  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
 
¶5. (S)  Another topic reportedly discussed during the December 
16 internal meeting was the concept of granting a greater local 
voice in governance in the South as an essential element to 
ending the conflict.  According to Tamthai, Abhisit said he 
supported local empowerment as long as it left space for 
Buddhists to coexist freely in the Muslim-majority South, and 
would be willing to consider a specific proposal from the 
insurgent leaders.  Tamthai noted to us that public momentum was 
building across Thailand for greater local empowerment in the 
South and was being openly and regularly discussed in workshops 
and academic fora.  He added that various civil society 
organizations and Southern student groups were circulating in 
the deep South to solicit the general public's thoughts on local 
empowerment.  He believes the time is ripe for the RTG to 
comment publicly on the matter, and expressed disappointment 
that Abhisit did not do so during his tour of the South with 
Najib. 
 
 
 
¶6. (S)  Tamthai sees local empowerment as a leading agenda item 
for the next round of secret talks, which he hopes will take 
place in mid-January.  He wants to push the insurgent 
representatives to develop a proposal, but admitted that to date 
they have given little thought to the structure and details that 
would follow their frequent calls for "autonomy."  Tamthai would 
like to see the next round of talks produce a "tasking" to the 
dialogue's nascent academic Study Group (Ref C) to hammer out 
the details of a local empowerment proposal for administering 
the three southernmost provinces. 
 
 
 
------------------------------- 
 
CBMs:  Little Movement 
 
------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶7. (S)  Tamthai gave brief updates on several 
confidence-building measures that have long been on the table 
during the secret talks: 
 
 
 
--  June 8 mosque attack investigation.  Continued lack of 
progress continues to frustrate Abhisit greatly.  (Note:  to 
date, only one arrest warrant has been issued, and no arrests 
have been made). 
 
 
 
--  Prisoner release.  The highly complex royal pardon route has 
been dropped.  Tamthai is now exploring whether an amnesty 
provision in a recent Cabinet-approved measure on security in 
four districts in Songkhla province could be extended to the 
three provinces where the insurgency is focused, and then 
applied to the prisoners in question.  He cautioned that this 
would be a lengthy process at best. 
 
 
 
--  Ceasefire.  On-again off-again plans for a ceasefire are on 
again.  Tamthai reported that the insurgent participants in the 
secret dialogue are working on declaring a unilateral ceasefire 
for a finite period over a broad area.  Should this come to 
realization, he said the RTG would need to prepare an 
appropriate response in the form of its own unilateral steps, 
such as a partial troop withdrawal. 
 
 
 
¶8. (U)  This cable was coordinated with Embassy Bangkok. 
MORROW