Malaysia could play a ‘vital role’ in mediating the conflict between Thailand’s army and Muslim separatists – but will the junta allow it?
- Over the past 15 years, a violent conflict in Thailand’s southernmost provinces has claimed more than 7,000 lives
- But analysts are hopeful that neighbouring Malaysia can help the country achieve a resolution to the war between the insurgents and the army
But analysts are still hopeful that a resolution to the long-running insurgency is in sight – and they are pinning their hope on Malaysia’s role in the talks.
After he returned to power last year, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed expressed his commitment to the peace process and appointed former police chief Abdul Rahim Noor – who played a role in ending the country’s communist insurgency in 1989 – as representative in the Thai peace talks.
The war affects a region that spans the Thai provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala – as well as Songkhla to a lesser extent.
It was an independent Muslim sultanate that was formally annexed by Buddhist-majority Thailand at the turn of the 20th century. In 2004, simmering ethnic tensions escalated into full-blown conflict as a result of long-running centralisation policies, local administrative changes and a war on drugs that hit the region particularly hard.