Suvarnabhumi separatist threat

 10 july 2006

Recently the nation was shocked to hear of an outrageous plot to undermine the integrity of the nation. “These people want to create a state within a state,” said one minister who asked not to be named. “These people are challenging the first article of the Constitution which says Thailand is an indivisible Kingdom. They want to carve out a state as large as Phuket, with 300,000 people, and Thailand’s new airport.” He recalled that the prime minister had vowed not to allow “one square inch” to be taken away.

Interviews with terrorism experts, who asked for their names to be withheld, revealed that this is the work of a shadowy group which goes by the name of the Suvarnabumi Liberation Front (SLF). An anonymous academic, who claimed to be studying this movement, said “these people speak a language which is not Thai, and practise a religion which is not Buddhism. The fact they are using the name Suvarnabhumi, believed to be a state which existed in the region before the rise of Siam or Thailand, shows they claim a separate history which they believe is older and grander than that of Thailand.” According to some reports, the movement has covertly been running adverts on Thai television, talking about Suvaranabhumi, and showing a land where gold is everywhere – under the water in streams, stuck in holes in trees, encrusted on leaves, even blowing about in the air. The academic believes this indicates the SLF is a millenarian movement recruiting followers by telling them that everyone will be rich in the new state. “Their religion seems to be pure greed. Their language is doublespeak.” Legal authorities say their main ambition is to escape from the law of the land.

A senior police figure, who withheld his name, claimed the leaders of the movement were “no more than common bandits.” He reported that they had already been involved in looting the airport project which was so aptly named “realm of gold,” and now wanted to seize the area wholesale. He believed all the talk about religion, language, and history was just smokescreen. “Some of these people have been involved in drug-running, tax evasion, shady offshore investments, and other crimes. They are very dangerous.” The police general revealed that they had information a key figure had recently flown round the world talking to influential figures. “At one time we believed they had a government-in-exile in Finland.” According to other reports, the movement is actively trying to raise support in China.

The terrorism expert said that the movement had come under increasing pressure lately and was in danger of splintering into factions. “This seizure is a desperate move to prevent the movement falling apart. Unless the top leader can promise the others buckets of gold, his position is in trouble. That’s why they have come up with this plan.”

An army spokesman was quoted as saying that their intelligence had been tracking this movement for some time. “They seem to work in small cells. The real leader is in the background. He just pays others to do his work.”

A retired general said, “This is pure separatism. It must be stopped. If we allow this to succeed, next year it will be Khorat, then Chiang Mai, then Ubon, then….”

In another report, the Cabinet yesterday approved in principle a draft bill to establish the three southernmost provinces of Yala, Narathiway, and Pattani as a special administrative zone. Initally, the area will be run by a governor appointed by a prime minister chaired panel. After a few years, this governor will be replaced y an elected mayor and council.

The government spokesman said this area has special needs which will be difficult to meet without a new structure to oversee development. The head of the Local Administration Department said this new administrative unit will have more freedom than other local bodies. He insisted it would be run in a democratic way.

According to reports, the new administrative zone will have its own taxation. Foreigners will be able to visit without visas.

A deputy interior minister dismissed criticism of this plan, “What the ministry is doing is for the good of the nation, and other parties need to stop making it an issue.”

All the above seems nonsense. But really it’s not. The facts, attitudes and statements are all true. Just the locations have been swapped.

How come any attempt to suggest some change in the administrative arrangements for the southern provinces brings out all the worst fetishism about the nation, while the government itself can initiate similar arrangements for 522 square kilometres on the edge of the capital? How can some people claim that it’s impossible to talk about “autonomy” for the far south because there is not a suitable word in Thai for the concept? (Try: special administrative zone.) Why does even a suggestion to use Malay as a “working” language get twisted into a proposal for a new “official” language in order to justify opposition?

Why is government so scared of some administrative adjustment in the south? This has been the main demand of the political moderates in the region for over half-a-century. Why does government not see such a concession as a way to win over the moderates, rather than driving them to side with the extremists? Why do politicians prefer to whip up crude nationalist settlement against a minority, rather than finding ways to make the minority  more comfortable as members of the nation?