BANGKOK, 27 December 2004 — The Thai premier’s attempt to shift blame onto Malaysia and Indonesia for his failure to quell a Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand was a blunder that threatened regional ties, analysts warned.
Thaksin Shinawatra’s administration had often stressed that mounting separatist violence in the south that has left more than 560 people dead this year was fueled in part by Muslims returning radicalized from study overseas. But when he stated in a weekly radio address on Dec. 18 that Thai militants were training across the border in the jungles of Malaysia, and had received inspiration from extremists in Indonesia, he stirred up a hornets’ nest. “It was a huge breach of diplomatic etiquette for the prime minister, who should not make such comments in public,” said Phuwadol Songprasert, a lecturer in regional relations at Bangkok’s Kasetsart University.
“Such comments have made both the Malaysian and Indonesian governments unhappy” and could damage their ties with Thailand, he told AFP.
Kuala Lumpur, which has detained some 80 alleged militants of the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) extremist network, bristled at Thaksin’s words, with Premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi denying the charge and expressing disappointment Thaksin did not use diplomatic channels to air his view. Jakarta called on Thaksin to explain his allegations and threatened to lodge an objection. Ironically, Thaksin invoked an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) covenant of noninterference in the affairs of its 10 members, when he threatened to walk out of last month’s ASEAN summit if it broached the topic of Muslim unrest in his country. Most ASEAN states are to some degree battling local insurgencies, yet no other regional leader in recent years has so bluntly broadened the blame for such unrest to foreign soil. “When you make mistakes and you can’t contain something inside your own country, you therefore try to externalize the problem,” said Sen. Kraisak Choonhavan, who chairs the Thai Senate’s Committee on Foreign Affairs. Thaksin backed off from the comments, claiming they had been distorted by the media. But the damage was done. “The prime minister insists on these shoot-from-the-hip statements and instead of doing things to call for collaboration he has been accusing people. It’s a big blunder,” the senator added. Analysts said dragging Malaysia and Indonesia into the debate was aimed partially at bolstering domestic support ahead of Thai elections set for Feb. 6.
The ploy could backfire on the regional stage, where Thaksin has long positioned himself to assume the mantle of Southeast Asian statesman after the departure of Malaysia’s longtime Premier Mahathir Mohamad.
Religious sensitivities in the region have heightened since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States and as governments team up with Washington in the global war on terrorism.
