| Publication |
2010.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Over 4000 people have died since 2004 in a violent conflict affecting Thailand's Malay-majority southern border provinces, Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, and four districts of neighbouring Songkhla. Offering some form of autonomy or substantive decentralization to this troubled region might seem like an obvious response to the violence, but the topic has remained largely taboo until recently. Autonomy is seen by Bangkok in essentially pre-Cold War terms, as the thin end of the wedge, which could prefigure an unravelling of the unitary state crafted during the time of King Chulalongkorn. Nevertheless, in recent years a number of senior figures from different positions in Thai society have voiced support for alternative governance arrangements for the deep South. These have included Dr Prawase Wasi, one of the architects of the 1997 constitution, former prime minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, former interior minister Chalerm Yubamrung, and a number of academics. Their proposals range from full autonomy for the deep South to a national project of regionalization, as well as the creation of a new ministry to oversee the area. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has offered mixed messages on the subject but has indicated sympathy for some form of decentralization. This article argues that despite the controversial nature of such proposals, there is a slowly emerging consensus around the need for a political solution to the conflict. In other words, Thailand is moving towards a post-Cold War understanding of autonomy as a means of preserving rather than undermining the nation state.
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