Thailand will continue its policy of negotiating for peace in southern Thailand despite expressing frustration that the Barisan Revolusi Nasional Melayu-Patani (BRN) did not show up at the last scheduled negotiations in Kuala Lumpur.
Maj Gen Pramote Prom-in, a deputy commander of the 4th Army, told reporters on Tuesday that the latest dialogue took place in Malaysia's capital on March 14-17 to further develop a technical framework for the Joint Comprehensive Plan towards Peace (JCPP). This resulted from meetings on Feb 21-23 between the Thai government and the BRN, the main Thai separatist group in the far South.
"Our technical team were in Kuala Lumpur for the meeting but BRN representatives did not show up. We tried to make progress on the peace talks, but they didn't come," he said.
This prompted Gen Wanlop Rugsanaoh, head of Thailand's Peace Dialogue Panel, to fly urgently from Thailand to Kuala Lumpur to meet with Malaysian facilitator Gen Zulkifli Zainal Abidin in a bid to help submit the JCPP guideline to the BRN during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.
He said Gen Zulkifli explained that the BRN missed the appointment due to several reasons, including the appointment of a new leader to oversee their negotiating team.
"We still have time for technical teams to hold meetings before the JCPP framework starts in July. The next official meeting between our Peace Dialogue Panel and the BRN is scheduled for June if everything goes as planned," said Maj Gen Pramote.
He said Thailand will follow the roadmap, such as scrapping the Emergency Decree on Public Administration by 2027.
Troops in the southernmost provinces have been gradually withdrawn in line with the road map, which will see only soldiers from the 4th Army Area remain, he said. In the meantime, authorities will work to strengthen the capacity of village defence volunteers, police officers, rangers and local people.
However, local authorities maintained they could not scrap all road checkpoints if they hoped to guarantee the safety of local people.
