Peace talks expected to resume next week

The government is expected to resume peace talks with groups believed to be behind the southern unrest on Sept 2. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha would not comment on the reports yesterday.

Asked to confirm if the government now planned to resume talks with Mara Patani, the umbrella body representing separatist movements in the deep South, Gen Prayut simply said he and officials were working on a tentative schedule.

Gen Prayut added he didn’t want to pay much attention to that, as only mutual sincerity would result in progress. No side should exploit the violent situation to rush the peace talks to make the other side accept proposals that will only lead to new problems, he said.

“Once again, these are peace talks, not negotiations. A negotiation normally involves fights, while this [the southern unrest] deals with manslaughter cases claimed to be the work of this or that group.”

The peace talks consist of two parts: A, formal peace talks, and B, talks with groups which disagree on Part A, said Gen Prayut. The peace talks weren’t activities directly between the government and the insurgent groups but the Thai peace talks team and the insurgents. He added Mara Patani was in Part B. Gen Prayut said he didn’t want the talks split into too many groups, so he had asked them to find ways to merge into one before talks resume.