Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Tuesday cautiously acknowledged the suggestion by his Malaysian counterpart, Najib Raza, that the Malay-speaking region in the deep South be granted some form of autonomy as part of a strategy to bring an end to the ongoing violence.
Speaking to reporters after the Tuesday weekly Cabinet meeting, Abhisit said the policy of the Thai government was more or less in line with the need to acknowledge the special needs of the Malay-speaking region where nearly 4,000 people have been killed since January 2004.
Abhisit said he will discuss the issue about the conflict in the deep South with Najib during his upcoming visit to the restive region in December.
In an interview with Nation Channel over the weekend, Najib said Thailand should offer "some form" of autonomy to the region".
"You may not want to call it autonomy but there could at least be some form of involvement. It is Thailand's decision to consider how far such autonomy in the deep south should go, and Malaysia, as a neighbour, would not intervene in the matter," Najib was reported as saying.
Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said the Malaysian leader understands that the problem is Thailand's domestic affairs and vowed to cooperate with the country to solve the problem.
"Thailand is supporting this approach but it's not an independent region. It does not contradict the constitution, but instead allows more publi
--The Nation
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/10/27/regional/regional_30115348.php
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