Voices from People to the Peace Negotiation Table: Lessons and experiences of sustainable peace building in the southern border provinces 2022-2025

in the region even in the peace process, such as people without nationality, vulnerable women, widows, PWDs people, PWDs women, minorities and other groups, youth groups, ex-combatants from insurgent groups, and victims of torture. This meeting war organized to listen to ever participant’s voice about their needs in order to create genuine peace based on participation of everyone. It is also intended to be a space for exchanges between researchers and those who work for vulnerable people in the field, and to provide understanding about the peace process for the southern border provinces to enhance participation of local communities and vulnerable people. There were 60 participants in this meeting, namely researchers conducting researches on vulnerable groups from Prince of Sonkla University, members of Kampong Takwa community, leaders of civil society who worked for vulnerable children, and vulnerable women in communities, representatives from the provincial Islamic committee in the southern border provinces. Asst. Prof. Aruneewan Buaniau, acting deputy president in charge of research and social mission, Pattani Campus, delivered a lecture and presented a research result in the theme of “Knowledge about importance of vulnerable groups in the southern border provinces in peace building. Vulnerable people’s group in the southern border provinces and importance of peace building In conducting the project about vulnerable people in the region, Prince of Songkla University, Pattani Campus conducted field works for gathering data following Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council, especially group of people in poverty with annual income less than 100,000 baht. The data were collected in 12 districts. The data collection and data processing were intended to solve problems that requires every subject, especially science in order to create products, resources and added values, or sociology. There were collaborations with outside agencies, such as Non-formal 149

and Informal Education Centers in the region. Moreover, this work involved collaborations with local government agencies to include this project into the working plan for seeking real solution. This project took 3 years. During the 3 years of implementation, the first year was spent for the survey of people in poverty in the name of the project called “Project for knowledge about vulnerable people in the southern border provinces, building peace in the region, a case study of research project for local development” with objectives to reduce poverty and enhance equality in Thailand by conducting a case study in Pattani Province. In 2020, which is the second year of the project, a research project for local development in order to reduce poverty and development of equality in Thailand, a case study in Pattani Province, the second phase was conducted. In 2021, an integrated local development project via collaboration for total and precise solutions to poverty problems, a case study in Pattani Province was conducted in 2022. On this day, the goal of the activities is to exchange knowledge, and present data about vulnerable people and households found in the research, as well as the results of survey and data analysis, with the hope that this should be learning experiences from the researchers, communities, practitioners from the networks, and also experiences from other countries. This is also collaboration to exchange data and deliver assistances systematically. Definition of vulnerable people and vulnerable households According to the definition of the National Economic and Social Development Council, vulnerable people are those who need to depend on others, unable to express their own thoughts or make their decisions freely. They can be divided 150

into the following categories, namely 1) those who have higher risks than ordinary people, such as pregnant women, elderly people, single fathers, single mothers, etc. 2) those who are handicapped, such as PWDs, people with psychiatric problems, child patients, people with deteriorated brains, bedridden patients, 3) those who have enough freedom to make decisions, such as children and youth, prisoners, conscripted soldiers, 4) those who are deprived of opportunities, such as homeless people, and beggars. Vulnerable households are those households with little income and there are people who depend on other peoples help, such as families with small children, single mothers, elderly people, and PWDs people. They are divided in to several categories as follows: 1) Households with little income and have problems about living places. 2) Households with annual income less than 100,000 baht. In order to fulfil basic needs, vulnerable household are those have annual income of less than 65,000 baht or monthly income of less than 5,400 baht. 3) Households with small income and in the circumstances that requires assistance. 4) Households that have elderly people but do not accept the allowance for PWDs people or elderly people, and in the circumstances that requires assistances and cares. Apart from that, this project conducted field works in Yaring District where there are the largest number of families in poverty in Pattani Province. There are three sub-districts, i.e. Laem Pho Subdistrict, Bang Pu Subdistrict and Taliai Subdistrict. 151

Data of the communities 1) In-depth socio-economic database. 2) Data analysis at the household level, enhancement of local development mechanism in Pattani Province. 3) Models to solve poverty, designing tools for developing the pilot case study in the region. 4) Synthesizing research data and developing policy proposals. Data analysis methods 1) Where are the poor? 2) Why are they poor? Using questionnaires and TP map, processing data about households and residences, analyse of 5 dimensions. 3) How can they get out of poverty? Sending fast assistance, helps for vulnerable people, development of vocational skills, long term planning. 5 dimensions of sustainable life This is a tool to analyse data on financial capital, physical capital i.e. house or conditions of place of living, social capital, capital of personal abilities, educational and health capital, natural and resource capitals. The result of the data on income or economy is not bad, because Pattani has natural resources, but social capital is not much. The survey results of households in poverty in Pattani found that among 17,191 households, dimension 1, human capital has value of 1.81 (difficult to live), dimension 2, physical capital has value of 3.10 (enough to live), dimension 3, financial capital has value of 2.13 (difficult to live), dimension 4, natural capital has value of 2.69 (enough to live), dimension 5, social capital has value of 1.55 (difficult to live). 152

For the interpretation of the points from the survey, average point of 1.00 to 1.75 indicates living condition of poor people that is hard to live. Average point of 1.76 to 2.50 indicates living condition of poor people that is difficult to live. Average point of 2.51- to 3.25 indicates living condition of poor people that is able to live, and average point of 3.26-4.00 indicates living condition of poor people that is good. This is a group in a condition which lacks basic conditions for sustaining daily life. People in this condition must be urgently brought to the welfare system. This is a group in a condition which has basic needs for daily life, but requires urgent actions for earning living that is sufficient for the continuation of life. This is a group that have basic capitals for sustaining life, but still not enough to survive safely. If any changes happen in their life, there should be immunity and upgrading of their level of life to escape from this level.This is a group which has immunity against various risky changes, with different kinds of capitals that are enough to make a plan for future for themselves or their families. Level 1 Hard to live. Level 2 Difficult to live. Level 3 Enough to live. Level 4 Good living.Most of the sample groups in Pattani are at Level 2, i.e. difficult to live, because they have no saving. This is followed by Level 3, enough to live, but trying to finding a way to earn living. According to the overall analysis, they are in a difficult situation. This means that the networks providing helps increase trust and ability in collaboration, including becoming members of formally 153

established group with regulations and other control. They do not have many controls over social capital, and this is an important factor in building strength in communities. Human capital and financial capital are at poverty level. These capitals are factors that affect poverty in households in Pattani Province. The average number of family members in a house hold is 5.60 people, while the average number for families in poverty is 4.44 people. Most members of families in poverty have finished primary education, i.e. 32.24 percent, and lower than the primary level. They do not continue their study, and this in turn cause them to drop off in the education system. In terms of occupation, an interesting finding is that the majority, 31 percent are general labours, followed by 18 percent of those who are engaged in agriculture or farming. The households have more members who are able to work than those who need care. Therefore, among the group of workers, the level of income is the lowest of 700 baht per month. At least there is one family member with health problems, PWDs or chronic diseases who are not bedridden, and they receive some helps from the state, in the form of the allowance for new-born babies, old-people’s allowance, allowance for PWDs or state welfare card. The research found that in the database of poor families in Pattani province, there are 40 household in the level of hard life, and they need urgent supports and have to find ways of earning money urgently. Those who have tough life in Pattani province are mostly elderly people, and they need to depend on others. Their houses even do not have restrooms, and they have health problem, intellectual difficulties or PWDs, and due to old age, they cannot work for earning living. Poverty spreads over generations, and this reflects the situation of the people in this region as follows: 1) Lack of financial security. Most families in poverty over generations have no saving, in debt, with lower educations, and highly rate of dependency. 154

2) Occupation of leaders of households in poverty 3) Unhealthy development of children under 5 years old 4) Presence of members or elderly members who are dependent on others in poor households 5) Attitudes and behaviours of people Causes of poverty over generations 1. Financial and human capitals are the most important causes of household poverty, i.e. lack of financial security, as they have no saving and are disadvantaged in education. 2. Financial capital, human capital and physical capitals over generations. Most of them are general labours, followed agriculture, and most of them do not own lands. Human capital and financial capital. Children under 5 years old from poor households are in malnutrition. Human capital and financial capital. There are elderly family members who have to depend on others and still cannot access to health care services. Human capital and social capital. Some of family members of households in poverty believe in sufficiency, having no interest in collecting or seeking. This makes them less enthusiastic to find extra income. Some of them spend too much and are in debt. Solutions 1. Support in scholarship in order to prevent dropping off from the education system, improving educational opportunity, and development of occupational skills with quality. 2. Providing job opportunities with products and higher income.3. Support for access to funding and resources necessary for their life, providing knowledge and skills in finance, along with development of vocational and management skills. 155

4. Support families with poverty over generations so that they can raise their children, from pregnancy until early age with quality, especially for children from birth to 5 years old, or before school age. Their developments should be taken care of properly. 5. Local administrative organisations must prepare care centers for children between 0 to 2 years old, and increase the number of nurseries with good quality. 6. There should be systems and mechanisms that provide supports in many aspects to people in poverty and other groups who need special helps by using community networks as coordinators. 7. Personal perspectives and behaviours in spending must be modified in order to empower households in poverty and encourage them to learn selfreliance. Community leaders, people with abilities in community, and other agencies working must collaborate in order to solve poverty problems in the region, and develop poor people’s abilities so that their standard of life fulfils the standard. Data about vulnerable groups in the southern border provinces and importance of peace building partly indicates overlapping suppressions faced by people in the region that seriously affects peace building as is explained in this special lecture. 156

The state of interesectionality as a big problem for vulnerable people in the southern border provinces Lecture by Asst. Prof. Dr. Amporn MarddentFaculty of Sociology and Anthropology, Thammasat University Intersectionality in peace process overlaps with other dimensions such as public health, economy and human relations in community or women who have to take care of drug addicts. These lead to use of violence against people in the family.Intersectionality happens from groups of people or researchers under authoritarianism where there is intersectionality. In order to understand the overlapping between individuals and supressing social structure in many dimensions and discrimination embedded in various identities, intersectionality is a concept in changing understanding of people in society about discriminations against women and racial discrimination, following the legal reformations during 1960 to 1970. Age, conditions of discussion about opportunities to access welfare, assistances and implementation structure to create conditions for development. The aspect of gender does not look at role of women in works of women in many sectors, but relations between genders and roles designated by society, whether it is women, man or genders explained at present. These phenomena appear in public relations and have overlapping power, and how discrepancies take place. Other aspects includes social roles of working outside house of a gender, or expectation for working inside house with full capacity, and how culture or communities do not see overlapped power in Pattani Province. These are interesting to analyse and discuss together. Hill Collins explains complexities of factors and components in education by connecting racial suppressions that reflects overlapping power. 157

For example, coloured women have to face structural obstacles that increases risks of being raped. Domestic violence is a political agenda about problems of women that are neglected. It is not thought that there are differences between women themselves. Resistance against racial discrimination might include historical struggles of black people against stigmatization as rapists of while women. Therefore violence within their ethnicity against coloured women. This is because the dividing identities is about being women and coloured people. Accordingly coloured women are rejected in the discourse of these experiences, and the solutions must be analysed together. Summary about the problems’ complexities We see agendas in public health problems such as factors of poverty, problems about religion and culture, beliefs about vulnerable groups, PWDs people, or access to welfare services or gender status that might lead to suppression or discrimination. Proposals on these agendas must use spaces of education, changes in system, i.e. spaces in Mindanao for the social change process to build sustainable peace. There is a study showing that the conflicting parties are important people in solving the problems of negative affects against vulnerable people who have to face intersectionality. These data can inform imams, neighbours, and networks that top-down structures often cause discrepancies. Therefore, spaces of communities, structures of interior affairs, local administrative structures, coordination of data, connections can help coordinate about problem and coordinate to bring about changes. Researchers take statistical and quantitative data analysed through overlapping problems. Resource capital, human capital, and personal physical 158

capital analyse complexities of the problems, and how meaning of human resource capital, social capital of Thai obtain concepts are discussed. It was found that the smallest unit of the network at the community level is a household that have leaders, youth leaders, people working for youth. Participation of youth take the form of working together, and this can reflect problems in the community, and those who face these problem directly must be listened to. Proposals of ideas The concept of intersectionality is a way to understand and analyse complexity of society, including experiences of people, for understanding meanings of complexities of problems such as inequality of people and arrangement of social power system. In this concept, different factors influence with each other, such as long struggle of conflicting parties. Ordinary people in vulnerable group are discriminated against and they are under complex suppressing power. Analysis of this concept enhances understanding about how different relationship mechanisms work, joined by who or which groups, how powers are designated and discriminations happen. This is a concept that encourage analysis of intersectionality about what it means and what are the consequences. In this matter, among the groups who are conflicting, there is not just one leading identity. For instance, in a study about a long conflict in Mindanao, there is a question about how the struggle still continue in the middle of discrepancies of people, and how women, children, PWDs people, poor people are involved in the peace process. Explanation of the complexities of the problem from various view points and analysis about how to help, what kind of agendas there are in the conflict going on for 18 years, and what complexities there are, should be conducted gradually because these are the tasks of everyone to solve the problem. 159

Status of intersectionality This is to examine how factors are related. For instance, children lack nutrition, but they have power to purchase snacks. In terms of consumption of food, how access and consumption of halal food is related with good food, way of earning living and access to these foods. The point is the access to welfare. In such circumstances there could be connections of agendas or powers. The political system of the central government might affect vulnerable problems of poor people, and how these are related to PWDs people. It can be said that intersectionality has overlapping dimensions such as public health, economy, relation of people both inside a family and in the outside world. All these factors are connected with peace process. Therefore we need to understand the complexity between these factors and social structure in different dimensions that overlap and lead to discrimination caused by various identities. In this matter, PWDs people are one type of vulnerable groups in many circumstances of intersectionality. Creating suitable care and welfare that responds to real problems and needs of PWDs people is thus an important challenge for government agencies working for PWDs in the southern border provinces and other regions, as well as neighbouring countries such as Malaysia. They have learnt lessons from working experiences with PWDs, and their lessons can be applied in this region too. Understanding PWDs in Malaysia: Challenges and opportunitiesLecture by Dr. Mohd Zulkifli Abdul Rahman Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Malaysia The contents of this part come from data and exchange of working experience provided by Dr Mohd. Zulkifli Abdul Rahman, lecturer from Universiti Saisn Malaysia, USM on problems and solutions. PWDs people’s problem is a big challenge due to different perspectives, and there should be integrations of 160

works by local organisations. In Malaysia there is an agency working for OKU (orang kurang upaya) which is a centre for vulnerable people in Malaysia, with roles in policy making that lead to development of the country. Definition of OKU is a vulnerable people with different definitions, and divided into several categories to deliver care to vulnerable people. Today they are divided into 3 categories. 1) Physically vulnerable groups are physically PWDs but with normal brains, depending on inspirations or good motivations. They also can work like ordinary people. This type of PWDs people need opportunities. If not, they would be in poverty in future. Therefore, we must provide them with education, as well as creating circumstances where they can help themselves. 2) Weakness in thought is provided into 4 subcategories. 2.1) Very bad. They need other people because their capacities are equal to those of 2 years old, unable to help themselves. 2.2) Weak group. They need close cares. 2.3) Intermediate level. They are a vulnerable people easy to understand. If they are provided with educational opportunities and rehabilitations, they would be able to have abilities and knowledge for helping themselves. There are many vulnerable people in our society. We teach them how to read but they cannot read because their abilities are limited. For this reason we need to develop them so that we can see differences between physical disability and brain disability. If we understand these differences, those who have PWDs brain also can work and their care would be easier too. 3) Mentally PWDs or psychiatric patiesnts are patients with problems in daily life. If they are stressed or worried, there will be problems. They need care and treatments. In our place there are many people with psychiatric problems. Some people are silent, and some are aggressive, and some have depression. We need 161

to understand them. We even do not know what problem they have. We need to make an effort to understand them, and think about how to deal with these problem, how to help and treat them. Some people are vulnerable both physically and in terms of intelligence. Some of intellectually vulnerable people are psychiatric patients or one person might have all these 3 problems at once. They need proper help. In the OKU center there are those who are vulnerable since birth, those who are vulnerable due to accidents and vulnerable people because of age. Some of them have diabetes or pain in joints. They are regarded as people with no basic abilities who need helps. The three categories mentioned above also have differences. Some of them are vulnerable since birth until they become adults. If some people become vulnerable after accidents they will be vulnerable until they are adults. Orientations in providing help. When there are cases, as a government agency we need to provide suitable help. PWDs children since birth in Malaysia must be treated from the beginning, along with rehabilitation activities for those babies born PWDs. If there is no rehabilitation activity for children, the brain of PWDs or vulnerable children will not develop. Therefore, we need to give opportunities for children to join rehabilitation activities as soon as we detect their disability in order to develop their brain. If there is no rehabilitation activities, their brain cell will not develop, and finally it will affect before they become adults. Parents want to have children without disabilities. If children born with disabilities they might feel dissatisfied and might neglect them. When parents have PWDs babies we must inform them about caring of PWDs children. In Malaysia there are centres for taking care of PWDs and vulnerable people until they are 18 years old, so that these children can take education within the system. When they are 18 years old, there is no more activity, but they are still supported in terms of occupation. 162

Apart from this, in Malaysia there are community based research centres (CBR) or the Community Rehabilitation Centre in USM. They provide treatments at community levels, and communities also use their cervices. At present this centre is successful with 120 PWDs people. They are capable of buying cars and can help their families in building houses and help their parents too. These PWDs children have incomes, able to help their families. Apart from that USM provide PWDs people with knowledge on agriculture, and this in turn increases their incomes, and train them in using wheelchairs. There are trainings about proper use of wheelchairs for PWDs. The OKU centre is under the agencies for social development. In working for vulnerable groups, we must find ways to help them in occupations. This depends on collaborations with different sections in order to solve problem of vulnerable people NGOs in Malaysia have a system in providing treatment supports. For education, there are organisations that provide social helps, i.e. public benefit organisations. When there are accidents this agency will help rehabilitations. When they cannot have occupations, they will help until they can sustain their life as usual. Apart from that, these works are financially supported by the Kelantan Islamic Committee with budget of one million baht. USM is supported by agencies, and followed by other agencies. Every agenda referred to them get support to provide helps for vulnerable people in Malaysia who are affected. Important things in working for vulnerable groups What must be reminded is the index of the UN. If we do not help children from birth, in the end they will have problems. These problems do not happen now, but 10 years ago we didn’t recognise their importance, and they happened in Malaysia with increase of vulnerable or PWDs people. So, we need to solve these problems. Today we have not yet succeeded, and we must work more for vulnerable group until our goals are achieved. 163

Basically, we must start from parents. When parents know that their children are PWDs, they must acknowledge that their children are PWDs, and provide supports to the children from the beginning. They must be determined to help them, and believe that their children have potential to develop themselves in the future. Government agencies provide vocational trainings for vulnerable people in seven steps. The centre provide knowledge in agriculture. In future we will receive financial support of 71 million dollars from Japan for developing agriculture so that the parents have income from agriculture, and are able to have income of t heir own, including wheel chair activities. At the last part, the lecturer said, “in order that works for vulnerable or PWDs people succeed, there must be a long time planning. Agencies must have clear working plan for vulnerable and PWDs people. Hopefully in future we can work together as a network. ”Topics of exchanges 1. What are the causes of conditions faced by psychiatric patients? We must understand the patients, and when we are psychiatric patients, we also might have other conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure. We might be psychiatric patients because our mental health problems are not dealt with. We need to learn to deal with these problems about what we should do if these problems happen in our life and how to solve them. It’s very important to prevent reasons causing psychiatric conditions. We might lack arrangements to deal with these problems. Those families that have members with mental health problem must have skills. The main reason causing mental health problems is stress from work. 164

2. How are welfare policies for supporting PWDs people in each state different? Malaysia have a policy to provide welfare for vulnerable people by reducing prices. For instance, when they buy a car or telephone, they will get discount, but they must register themselves first. Companies that support them or hire PWDs people get reduction in tax. These are supports provided for PWDs people in Malaysia. It has a system to support them but PWDs people need to register themselves first. 3. What are the differences of arrangements between the local and central governments? Helps provided are similar. Both the central government and communities provide the same supports. 4. How Malaysia provides education for deaf people? In Malaysia there are supports at two levels. The first level is progress of technology that enables support for deaf people. Parents of 0 to 2 years old must know that their children have potentials and what kind of disability. In case of deaf children there are conditions that they must be able to speak and communicate. When they cannot communicate, they are not able to study with other children. This is the main condition. If they can speak and communicate, there are supports of equipment that help listening. We also need specialists who can provide trainings for deaf children. If they do not pass, they need to enter special education system. But if they pass they can join ordinary children. For this reason, in education there are two main agendas, i.e. oral communication and communication through symbols. If children cannot speak, it is difficult for them to study with ordinary children. Therefore it is really necessary that the children must be able to speak, and this skill is trained from the beginning. 165

5. Does children with physical disability but no intelligence problems still have to follow religious stipulations? Overall, for vulnerable or PWDs people it is not easy to perform prayers. Those who have physical disabilities have concerns. As for children, we regard PWDs children are dweller of heaven. For children with physical disabilities, if we do not train them to perform prayer since they are children, later when they grow up they are not able to perform prayers. Therefore, we need to teach them how to perform prayers, and doing their basic religious duties in mosque with people in society. This is a support for mental fulfilment. At present there are many facilities and pieces of equipment for PWDs people in mosques. When they go to mosque, they feel happy to see other people. 6. Intersectionality Intersectionaliy is not just about concepts and theories, because everyone here have problems, and are able to analyse and understand them, but the question is how to deal with these problems, and how to ask for supports. These will show connections of organisations’ roles that help problems we face. Therefore, concepts we propose about intersectionality can be agendas in solving policy problems. Village Islam committees found some children experience domestic violence, not just mother or father. How do Islamic committees solve these problems? It was found that they cannot accommodate these children, or communities regard them as problems to be solved by government agencies, or these are cases of communities which has no relation with budget to help these case for a period of time. This is what we find in the region that should be connected with them. In any case, after listening to the working experiences and information about work for PWDs people by a representative from Malaysia, it was found that some agendas have similarities with the southern border provinces, such as neglect of PWDs people, especially those who have mental health problems. 166

Accordingly, many cases are not treated properly. When works of government agencies for PWDs people are compared, it was found that Malaysia has systematic care and management of PWDs people and support for their families, along with creation of collaboration in taking care of PWDs people starting from family, community, and educational institutions. These are all important for giving opportunities and quality life for PWDs people both in shot and long terms. Apart from agendas of children from poor families and PWDs people which is a category of vulnerable people in the southern border provinces, agendas of gender and natural disasters are also challenging current agendas in society at present. Researchers from Prince of Songkla University, Pattani Campus and researchers from other region present data and experiences of comparative studies between the southern border provinces and Aceh, Indonesia. This can be a part of information about experience that can be used in solving problems in the southern border provinces too. “Gender, vulnerable groups, and disasters: experiences from Aceh, Indonesia and the southern border provinces” Lecture by Asst. Prof. Dr. Alisa Hasamo, Faculty of Humanities and Social Science, Prince of Songkla University, Pattani Campus In this lecture, five research results were presented. The first research is comparison of Indonesia and three southern border provinces. The second research is on the effects of Covid to children in the southern border provinces and four districts of Songkhla Province. The third research is about vulnerable people, i.e. fishery labours from Myanmar and fishery industries in Pattani and Songkhla Province. The main agenda is about health and welfare. The fourth research is evaluation of a project by a lecturer on mechanisms to end domestic violence in Khuan Nori Subdistrict, Khok Pho District, Pattani Province. 167

The fifth research is supported by the Thailand Research Fund about poverty over generation which is accommodated into national economic plan. Poverty runs from father’s generation to the children’s generation and so on in future. This has some indicators, such as: that family leaders do not finish compulsory education, are illiterate, and do not have their own land. They have no access to state welfare system or the Safe Family Project by the Community Organizations Development Institute because the rule of the Safe Family Project is that participants must have saving of 50 baht. But saving of 50 baht does not enable them to receive supports. Some of them do not have even identification cards to this day, but they live in our country, so problems are always happening until the generation of children. The generation of children are found PWDs due to lack of food, and they are not injected vaccines. They do not receive sufficient nutrition, under-developed. These problems are inherited in this way. Poor families are not interested in higher education, and they think that daughters can be taken care of by their husband after they get married, but the husbands also have no education, and accordingly cannot provide a good care of them. The research on natural disasters is supported by Deep South Relief and Reconciliation Foundation, about development and quality of life of women. Research experience in Aceh, Indonesia: Impact of Covid on children and migrant workers In Aceh there was a political conflict that caused death of more than one hundred thousand people, and after that there was the tsunami with the number of casualties exceeded one hundred thousand as well. In the southern border provinces there was a big storm in 2010, and the insurgency continues since 2004. It is interesting to study the complexities. In one place where the tsunami happened, there was burial of body of 47 thousand people. 168

In the research of the natural disasters it was found that there are relatively plenty of quantitative researches. However, in the research of the natural disaster, one of the meanings is that it paralyses the society, and our daily life is disrupted. Studies in the past are conducted at larger scales, but in our place we are interested only in the conflict, but natural disasters are not paid attention to. A question in the rehabilitation programs from natural disasters, who could not access to the rehabilitation mechanisms? People in Aceh did not know the term tsunami. When villagers saw it they regarded that as a tidal wave, not considering any danger. But in fact, the term tsunami has two parts, Tsu means a port or harbour, whereas name means waves. Ache is a big city with a variety of people, but this piece of knowledge was not known widely. In the research wives and mothers who survived were interviewed, and they were asked why they had not escape. They said they did not escape because they waited for their husbands or fathers to escape together. These are family relations and for this reason it was found that some family lost the entire family member. One of the sea people in Aceh told that in fact they had heard a story about tsunami from their grandparents’ generations. They said, “Children, if you have a big earthquake and see the sea bottom, then the water will rise over the land, so run away to high places.” This is a story told from generation to generation but not accommodated in the curriculum.169

Women and domestic violence: A comparative study between the southern border provinces of Thailand and the autonomous region of Aceh, Indonesia Lecture by Salama Langsatia Faculty of Humanities and Social Science, Prince of Songkla University, Pattani Campus Ethnic diversity of women in the Aceh society and reactions against domestic violence Following that women in Ache have relatively high social roles and family status, roles of Muslim women in the socity is also relatively high. This research was conducted in Aceh by studying consultations about domestic violence in the southern border provinces. The data acquired are divided into two parts, i.e. from the officers working there and from the interviews. Topics in the lecture 1. Domestic violence 2. Women, the Muslim society in Aceh and actions during daily life in private spaces 3. Diversity of women in the Aceh society and reaction against domestic violence that continues to this day 4. Women in the society of the southern border provinces and domestic violence 5. Refusal of discrimination against women is a main intention of Islam from the early age, not influenced by western concepts 170

Women in Ache have relatively high roles in their family, they also have social roles that are acknowledged. There is equality between women and men, and mutual respect for humanity. The fact that this region used to be a conflict area drove women to have equal roles in working for the society and the public. But what we found in the region was the opposite. We found a high level of violence in statistics, and in some case the use of violence was lethal. This raised a question about why women who have public power must be victims of domestic violence in private spaces. The research found that women in Ache do have public power but it varies depending on ethnicity. It was found that women who experienced violence came from in total 5 ethnicities. They are all Aceh women but from different ethnicities. This different also influences their roles. Women from Aceh tribe have power in their family, and own houses. But the other women, such as Dayo, Jawa, Minangkabau, Anokyamu, rural Aceh, urban Aceh, Aceh from cities, Pattani Aceh who are originally from the southern border provinces of Thailand but change their nationality, all have different social and family powers. The culture that causes violence is a culture called “merantau”, which means a culture of journey to work in different places. This pressure people leave their places, because in the past men did not have house and they had to stay in balasah (places for prayer). This was a practice so as not to make man stick to their houses. But there is another explanation that this was caused by poverty, and the society pressured man to go out of home, and accordingly women had to stay home. These men got married in different places with a short term nikah which might terminate in one day. This is because they were in warfare. These are not called mutah, but a marriage for a short period of just one day. But there must be a consent of women, and this is seen as a way to avoid zina (adultery). Wedding across ethnicity also might cause domestic violence. Women in Aceh have relatively high family status, and own houses. On the other hand 171

in Dayo society of Ache, men were big, while women did not have houses. Therefore, in marriages across ethnicities, if Aceh women marries a man from Aceh they will be both poor, because both of them do not have house. If a man from Minangkabau marries a women from Minangkabau, mothers are big, and there will be not many problems. But if Ache marries Dayo, Aceh men regard Dayo women fierce. This is because Dayo men are fierce, and they might be beaten. Interpretation of religious principles. For instance, when a husband beat his wife for three hours, how is this explained? In one case, a women who is a lecturer in a university and have good occupation, but she let her husband beat her for 3 hours. She explained that this is the man’s fault but she have an obligation to just endure, even if her bones might crack. Marriages between Minangkabau tribe and Aceh is different. Due to the fact that in the Aceh culture, mothers are big, so it caused changes of law about inheritance and property in the 17th century. At that time there was domestic violence, and according to the law, the family gave houses to daughters. This is not an Islamic law but a traditional culture. At the same time, in the traditional culture of Minangkabau and Anookyamu which converted to Islam recently, mothers are big too, which is different form the culture of the Islamic law. They take properties of sons and give them to daughter which is a practice from traditional culture. Islamic law in Ache is not that of Shafi’i school of law, but there are Sufis, and culture of worship goats. These are causes of domestic violence. 172

Domestic violence in Ache Case studies about domestic violence 1. A religious leader in public space, but a perpetrator of violence in private space. Reflecting perception and contradictory power Religious preachers explain religious principles, but in fact there are two cases where religious leaders chain their wife or beat them. In some cases there are stress and dissatisfaction are ventilated on their wife. Another case is a public religious leader married his own stepdaughter, stayed together for 4-5 years and there was a case failed against him, in which he was finally imprisoned. These cases of domestic violence has nothing to do with the religion, but they are local definition of private space, and depend on each case. 2. Use of physical violence for controlling wives caused by the social situation without social and economic power of men. This is similar to our region, but in Aceh the problems are graver because Ache was a conflict area. Both men and women had to fight with weapons. Men were soldiers while women were commandoes. Therefore, officers of the Indonesia government trust neither women nor men. This means that if women ask for help, local people had to provide help immediately because if they were not poisoned by their enemies, they might be flogged by their husbands. 3. The culture of Merantau and opportunities for having wives in different places If people from Aceh or Minangkabau go on journey, apart from they get temporary marriage arrangements, they also get free place of dwelling. According to interviews form these two tribes, some people marry 4-15 women from one place. Some people argue that this is because economic problem of being in poverty. 173

4. Raping of daughters Such as a religious leader marries his stepdaughter, or in another case a man from Pattani who live there raped his own son. But in this case the man was a drug addict and his wife filed a case so that she could marry another person. In this case religious principles were used to give legitimacy for herself. 5. Husband stay with his daughter like a pair of a husband and a wife This is similar to the cases mentioned above, and women had to accept that because of poverty. 6. Husband causing bodily damages because of small mistakes This is caused by the differences of culture between urban Ache people and those who are from countryside. The man expected that the wife should serve her husband. When t hey have a meal, dishes must be prepared for the husband. At one time the woman was not careful and put a cup in a wrong place, and as a consequence the husband smashed the cap. He was not satisfied and caused bodily harm to his wife. 7. Having a status as a wife without a husband in family, or a wife just in the name A woman married a PWDs man, because in the Minankabau culture mothers have to take care of male relatives when they are sick. But when the mothers cannot take care of these relatives because of being heavily sick, they make their daughter marry these PWDs relatives. These are the cultures happening in Minangkabau. 8. Without husbands In the Minankabau culture after getting married, if the husbands cannot take care of the family women can marry another man. But in some cases, if they cannot get marry they keep the status of being single. They can live an ordinary life. 174

9. Husbands unwilling to divorce their wives because the wives are main source of income There is a case of a university lecturer in Aceh. She has an income, and her husband does not work. The wife gave him a credit card and everything. Only one thing she needs is that he must not beat her. She has to let him watch TV, and she cannot sleep earlier than him. Otherwise she would be physically damaged. 10. Drug addict husbands (Use of physical violence and they had to forgive their husband when their daughters were raped) There were cases of bodily damages of wives caused by jealousy after they have adulterer or cases of raping daughters. There are cases of forgiving of wives because men are benefited. Women, Muslim society in Aceh and daily life behaviour in public spacesExpected roles of wives and mothers are different according to ethnicity Who is the daily life or the private life in the Ache society? It was found that the roles of wives and mothers of each ethnicity are different. In the Dayo culture, taking care of children is a role of women. But if the parents are divorced, the parenthood goes to the father. This means that if they are divorced, women cannot discard their children. If so, they might be seen as irresponsible mothers. Another point that has similarities with our place is that women endure to stay with their husband who use violence for the sake of children. Representing picture of Ache women is the owners of houses (At present wives build houses or rent them, husbands own the houses) In the 19th century, it was found that the Aceh culture accepted the western cultures. In the 17th century policies about house ownership was modified by the state policy since 17th century. At that time the rate of domestic 175

violence was relatively high. This caused women to have status as the owners of houses. When they get married men must move into the houses of their wife and change of properties happened. By doing so the properties remain those of women. Therefore, these are the causes of women’s economic powers in some regions. If not, there must be renting of houses. This was influenced another culture, because in some cultures man should own a house. If they do not have a house they must find money to rent a house so that men can stay. Cultures of family and meaning of Ache women through their roles in urban areas and rural areas are different (Waiting for husbands and sons finish their eating, then women start to eat. In cities it was found that women have roles and power in families) Whenever a meals is prepared, wives must wait until their husband and sons finish eating before they can eat. This culture is found in three cases in rural areas. In cities (Aceh besar) it was not found. In cities the culture is more modern and there is more equality and division of roles (kerja sama) where women have more power than men. Selective interpretation of religious principles as wives in order to endure husbands who use physical violence with argument of “wives of pharaohs” (It is enough to perform wives’ duties) Interpretations of religion in Aceh is relatively wide. The worst is to endure physical damages caused by husband for three hours. These are personal interpretations. Their faults are different stories. Certainly husbands do something wrong, while wives have duties to just endure. Secret marriages as opportunities to enhance economic status including different influences from various regions. 176

Diversities of women in the Aceh society and dealing with domestic violence Spaces of interpretation about being women in Ache mentioned above reveals acceptance of diversities, which depends on personal conditions. For example, throwing away children is not wrong because in the traditional culture it was a duty of husband to take care of children. In acceptance of diversities, women have rights to be what kind of wives or mother. Some people are from different tribes. But they accept their being Ache people, because they want to be Ache people who can be owners of houses. Therefore, being women in Ache relatively flexible. In the central Aceh where Dayo is the majority, we cannot say that they are Dayo women. Boundaries of interpretations might differ with each other and be flexible according to personal needs The conditions about nafkah can be used as the reasons for asking for divorce if it is not paid, and the divorce can happen immediately, because they do not have to take care of children. But relatively terrible interpretation is in the form of pharaohs’ wives, i.e. letting husband pay kost of ulwah. In case of having relationships with other women and supporting everything, only one thing asked is that husbands do not physically damage them. And when beaten they have to endure their husband damaging them continuously for three hours and they cannot escape from there. Some women found that it was irrational that they had to accept, because they have better economic status than men. But they gave meanings like pharaohs’ wives who endured, and people in the society could not help. Taking care of husbands in private spaces The cases of domestic violence are found when husbands are taken care of in private spaces. In public spaces money of husbands is taken. This means that men are leaders of families, but in private spaces, wives must pay. Such pictures are seen in Java and Aceh tribes. 177

Allowing husbands to cause physical damages to wives and children for the sake of economic survival of the family These are the cases where religious leaders raped stepchildren and women had to accept to be a second wife because of poverty. Another reasons is that women or stepdaughter are PWDs, unable to work outside.Leaving husbands and children, letting husbands raise children in the name of legitimacy As is mentioned above, in the Dayo culture if a women divorce her husband, she can leave her children to her husband to be taken care of by him. However, in Aceh, apart from women become victims of domestic violence, men also can be victims, because in some parts of the Ache society mothers are big. Women have status, and if men moved into houses of women, there could be violence and this could be easily violated. And in some cases women are combatants too. Making police reports about husbands for their wrongdoings as fathers and offences against their children, and hoping to get together as a husband and a wife Making a police report about misbehaviour of husband because children were raped, but hoping to be good with the husband. Women in the southern border provinces and domestic violenceGetting out of religion in order to obtain rights to divorce In the southern border provinces, data were taken from government officers working in an agency and interviews. It was found that the heaviest case was to leave their religion because of the procedure of divorce but leaving the religion. It was not in the name of Muslim women but because it was not endurable. These cases were found in two provinces. Therefore, in the southern 178

border provinces the problem is that they are not dare to interpret their rights to divorce and ask for divorce as a wife. What is similar to what was found in Ache is that women in the southern border provinces take care of their husbands in private spaces and endure bodily damages to them and children for the sake of survival. In one case a knife was used, but when making a police report the explanation given was that she had fallen off the stairs. This means that they do not dare to facts. Letting children taken care of by husbands in the name of bad women according to culture If women discard their children, they will be interpreted as bad women, which is different from Aceh. Not daring to make a police reports about offences committed by husbands, or father who commit offences against them or children In a case in Songkhla Province, a father raped his child but religious leaders saw that a police report should not be made because this was a shameful story in the society about criminal laws that was not acceptable. And Islam does not forbid to make a police report because this is a serious offence. Therefore, This problem did not come from the victim but from religious leaders of imams also have problems of perspectives and understanding of religious principles. Denial of discriminations against women is an intention of Islam from the early age, and this is not an influence from the west. Even though in the context of Islam there is killing of daughters which is different from the current culture, but it was the starting point of Islam and was not a concept from the west, like in Aceh where there is not cultural concepts of the west, but it was more as a battle against their own nafsu. 179

Exchanges of thoughts 1. In the cases in the southern border provinces, there are many husbands who are drug addicted. Does this affect domestic violence? Apparently drug is not a religious issue. So no examples are taken here, because these situations are out of control, and outside the reasons that men have power. But after the government allow ganjas to be sold anywhere, what we heard from online centers is that not only Muslim men but also people in general face the problem. Every month there is a case of escaping from house, because the husband is addicted to drug and there are relatively many cases of violence due to drug. Women in the southern border provinces are women who work in public places. In western eyes it might seem that women have power, but if we look at the depth of the culture, women also have to take up duties in families too. A research by a student finds that women also begins to use kratom because they need to perform their duties in two spaces, i.e. they must work but their husbands do not, and they also have to do house works too. This situation exhausts women and drives them to depend on kratom. This is the tendency that is happening in the society of rubber fields and fishermen where women have to go out to catch fish with a boat. This reflects the situation in which women have to risk their lives. Most of these problems happen because the husbands are drug addicts. 2. Do Muslim women in the southern border provinces have power or roles or not? From observation in Pattani city it was found that women’s status are not rich, but the power of men and women are equal, not absent-minded. For instance, men go fishing and women sell fish. But in Panare district, there are women whose bodies are thin, left with skins and bones. We can see the trace of distress and abnormality. Interpretation of women’s braveness in looking at their roles must consider power and braveness in interpretation of religious leaders in the region. 180

3. Additional explanation about divorce in order to leave the religion and for rights of divorce, leaving the religion makes them out of the religion? Leaving their religion makes them being out of the religion, and this automatically causes divorce, by having to join Islam again, because there is no other options. 4. There are many interesting agendas and there is one agenda exchanged in the region. We do not look at laws about family and inheritance in the three southern border provinces and four districts of Songkhla province. Therefore it might be necessary to divide agendas between Muslim who are under law of family and inheritance, and other Muslims who are not under the law mentioned before in some places, examples of leaving the religion for getting divorces. This can be regarded as leaving the religion. Cases in which women are affected by domestic violence cannot be much talked because there are no clear evidences. For example, evidences of women who are pressed with fug ends or rapes disappear, because these are related with important people. Therefore, there is a concern that if Islamic laws are applied to those who have power in the justice system, but it might cause injustice for some. For this reason some problems we must solve in turn create overlapped problems. 5. Domestic violence in Aceh and three southern border provinces. Are people of the third sex affected or not, or is there any study on this matter? From the field works it can be observed from their attires. If they do not touch upon public values, they can stay. For instance, in one case, a person behave like a women but dressed as a man. The Aceh society is a relatively open society, accepting diversity as long as public spaces are not touched upon, 181

like spaces in PSU Pattani Campus where they dress as men so that they can be in the society. As far as we know, they have no violence, but in Aceh, women covering their faces could be prostituting, because in Aceh they use Islamic shariah. During the daytime they have to escape the police and accordingly cover their faces. But they live together and can accept diversities.According to information from a presentation about experiences of women and domestic violence in Aceh, Indonesia, it was compared with the same problems in the southern border provinces. These are problems with many overlapping dimensions. If these problems are not solved, it will be difficult to build comprehensive peace in the southern border province. Even in problems of vulnerable people, domestic violence is a challenge for the work of building peace in the southern border provinces in which every sector have to think together in planning in arrangements so that the problems mentioned before can be solved. However, taking care of vulnerable groups, autistics, drug addicts and elderly people in the southern provinces require urgent supports. This leads to development of strategies for PWDs and vulnerable groups for creating peace in the region as well, such as presenting information on working experiences in the region by researchers as follows. Challenges of taking care of vulnerable groups in the southern border provinces (Autistics, users, drug addicts and elderly people) Lecture delivered by Asst. Prof. Dr. Patimoh Nima Faculty of Nursing, Prince of Songkla University, Pattani Campus Autistic children are group of people with limitations in communications and interactions with other people. They need care from society so that they have better developments and take part in society. I work as a member of a committee working with the association for autistic children (PWDs people of 182

the 7th group) in all 76 provinces of Thailand, whose centre is located in Bangkok, by having subsidies for each association and there are 3-4 assemblies per year. The objective is to bring about their development so that they can access to education like people in general, and have equal rights with others, both in education and occupation. From our work it was found that autistic groups have several levels. Some of them have high function. For instance, they have good memories like Albert Einstein, but some have low function, and it take a longer time for them to develop compared to ordinary people. Elderly people. There was an opportunity to observe activities organised Tambon Administration Organisation for elderly people in order that people in communities take care of elderly people. Apart from this, there were trainings for caretakers of elderly people in order to increase cares of elderly people. After trainings for caretakers, community leaders who had never taken care of elderly people began to have more awareness about elderly people’s care. Summary of lessons from the forum by Waeromlee Waebula From the presentations of resource persons and those who have experiences in various agendas about vulnerable people, there are agendas about promoting works with a question, “How shall we work with vulnerable people in order to contribute to the peace dialogue and genuine solutions to the problems?”Violence, shootings, and bombing are happening, and in communities there are vulnerable people with problems. This is a common problem for religious leaders in communities, Islamic committees and community leaders. they must think how these problem can be solved. From the works of the Kampong Takwa group, the religious leaders must have mechanisms and arrangements of community leaders for vulnerable people. 183

There are many meaning in the term vulnerable people. Some people are really vulnerable. For instance, a village headman in Cho Ai Rong district told that one of the vulnerable groups are widows, because in Cho Ai Rong there are more than 300 widows. This is a relatively high number, and there are equally a large number of fatherless children. Apart from that, there are another vulnerable groups in Cho Ai Rong, i.e. Chinese and Thai Buddhists living in Muslim areas. They have worries and fears. If there is no good arrangement problems will gradually accumulate. If there are good arrangements in communities we can ask supports of organisations from outside and strength can be generated. One more thing we pay attention to is that vulnerable groups in urban areas which have different roles compared to rural communities. According to the survey, most of them do not have houses, but there are some good arrangements as there are many government agencies. Therefore, referring is another problem. If the society and the peace process can take care of vulnerable groups, this can be a dimension of peace. In urban communities, we are organising community leaders in Pattani and Naratiwat for solving problems of vulnerable groups. To sum up, for arrangements of those who are disadvantaged in terms of opportunities or in poverty, the best arrangements is dealing with these issues at village levels. If these problems can be solved in a concrete way, different agencies can step in to support further. Source: Light peace for vulnerable people. A forum of the networks of academics and civil society for developing quality of life in order to build peace among vulnerable groups in the southern border provinces on 15 December 2023, Sriwangsa Room, 3rd floor, Faculty of Political Science, Prince of Songkla University, Pattani Campus 184

Forum 3:Collaboration and solidarity for driving strategies of PWDs people’s network. Space for exchange: Situations, Challenges in working for PWDs people in the southern border provinces Ÿ Developments for PWDs people in the southern border provinces have overlapping plans between several agencies. It was found that there are several issues that are not effectively brought into practice. For example, Section 33 and 34 of PWDs People’s Act, hiring PWDs people is not yet practiced effectively. Ÿ There should be measures or tactics to provide PWDs people with rights and opportunities so that there is more employment of the. Ÿ In the last 20 years definition of works for PWDs people has changed. They used to be seen as those who need assistance. Now the main point is to enable PWDs people to rely on themselves. The society begin to remove social hindrances by providing facilities so that PWDs people can live like ordinary people. Ÿ Obstacles faced by PWDs people are, perception, physical conditions, information and communication, laws and policies. Ÿ At present there are efforts to build various facilities, and different networks are campaigning for building of slopes in public spaces such as streets, airports, and railway stations. Building of infrastructure must be considered so that PWDs people can live conveniently in the future, especially high speed trains, so that every station has slopes for PWDs people. Ÿ Obstacles and challenges faced by PWDs people in the southern provinces are lack of medical staff, lack of doctors specialised in psychiatric who are able to give guidance to autistic people, delay in acknowledgement of the status as a PWDs person, delay of diagnosis and guarantee of status by specialist doctors. 185

The workshop for making strategies of PWDs people’s networks in the southern border provinces on 25-26 July 2023 is the first event to listening to their dreams and hopes to be integrated to the strategies of PWDs people’s network in the southern border provinces. This is a starting point for concepts and strategies in works for PWDs people in the southern border provinces. This activity was followed by Light Peace of Vulnerable People, a forum for Ÿ Arrangements for obstacles and challenges of PWDs people in the southern border provinces include modification of facilities so that they are up to the standards and able to be actually used, and rising awareness of PWDs people so that they are aware of their own rights. Ÿ Skill trainings in order to increase life skills, especially PWDs people from rural areas, such as use of wheelchairs. Ÿ Proposal and problems presented in the forum include problem of education. There are 1.6 million PWDs people all over the country. Among them, around 784 thousand people do not have education. Setting up important facilities is also important because many footpaths and handrails do not fulfil the standard. Specialist with specialised knowledge such as special teachers in schools are still not sufficient. The number of personal assistants (PA) is not enough. Employment of PWDs people stipulated in section 33 and 34 is not fulfilled. There is no agency in the centre for coordination. Equipment for sports are not enough and costs to join competitions are not covered. In terms of social perceptions and acknowledgement, many PWDs people with psychiatric problems are not acknowledged in society. 186

networks of academics and civil society for developing quality of life and peace building among PWDs people in the southern border provinces on 15 December 2023. This is the second important step in building networks of academics and civil society for building peace among vulnerable groups in the southern border provinces. And the third step was a meeting to develop strategies of PWDs people’s network in the southern border provinces. This is an important step in working together for promoting strategies of PWDs people’s networks in the southern border provinces. The target groups of the meeting for developing strategies of PWDs people in the southern border provinces are the network of PWDs people in the southern border provinces, representative of the offices for social development and human security from all the three southern border provinces, the provincial department of employment, representative of medical workers, representatives from educational institutions including special schools, front education office and National Sports University. The meeting was held for two days. It was opened with an opening speech delivered by a representative of the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre (SBPAC), and Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, followed by a lecture about PWDs peoples rights and implementations by the president of Transportation for All, and there was a round table discussion and exchanges on PWDs people’s rights in the southern border provinces by practitioners and PWDs people. On the second day there was an exchange about obstacles for PWDs people, along with proposals for advocacy of PWDs people’s issues. This is followed by a small group discussion on four agendas, i.e. 1) economy and income, 2) political participation (peace and justice), 3) education, and 4) access to medical equipment and staff, including obstacles in terms of perspectives, physical conditions, information, systems and policies that should be changed both in short and long term. 187

The representative of SBPAC and Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, Mrs Kanokrat Khueakit, mentioned about implementation of different agencies’ plans in the southern border provinces. “This event is a good opportunity to see the gathering of PWDs people’s network in the southern border provinces. At present many agencies recognise importance of development for PWDs people and working plans of many agencies include this issue. However, some points are not implemented in the region, such as Section 33 and 34 of PWDs People’s Act where there is not much employment of PWDs people. For this matter there should be standards or plans to encourage employment of PWDs people\"PWDs people: Definition, self, meaning of changes over timeSawang Srisom, president in charge of projects and working plan of the network Transportation for All (T4A), secretary of a foundation for PWDs children, a member of Subcommittee for PWDs people under the Committee for Social Development, and Affairs of Children, Youths, Women and Elderly People, PWDs People and Disadvantaged People, Senate, Deputy President of PWDs People’s Association of Nonthaburi, and an adviser to Leonard Cheschire, who has experiences in working for promoting PWDs people’s issue, delivered a lecture on PWDs people’s rights in Thailand and its implementation. Sawan said that until 20 years ago, the definition of PWDs people were those who must be supported. But since then the meaning began to change to people who are trying to help themselves. The society began to remove obstacles prepare facilities so that PWDs people can live their life like ordinary people. In this matter, there are four kinds of obstacles faced by PWDs people, i.e. 188

perception, physical conditions, information, communication and technology, regulations, policy or practices. So far the network are advocating for slopes in various places, such as streets, airports, train stations. They also encouraging these facilities are prepared at provincial level. For instance, in future there will be high speed trains in every province. Therefore, every station must have slopes to facilitate PWDs people too. A report was compiled by PSU Pattani and MRG about rights of PWDs people and minorities in the southern border provinces in 2020, and proposals are presented as follows. 1) Writing a letter to the president of the committee for prioritizing these issues and consider policies that can bring about solutions. 2) Building strong leaders with working strategies and specialised skills in facilitating PWDs people, education, employment or public health. Exchanges and proposals for developing rights of PWDs people Topics are divided into the following categories. Rights, obstacles and basic facilities for PWDs people • Upgrading existing facilities to fulfil the standards so that they can be actually used. • Public relations about PWDs people’s rights so that PWDs people know about their own rights • Skill trainings in order to increase their life skills especially in rural areas including training about how to use wheelchairs. • Lack of medical staff, lack of psychiatric doctors and consulting for autistic people.• Delay in acknowledgement of PWDs people’s status, diagnosis and guarantee of PWDs people’s status from specialist doctors. 189

1) Creation of additional facilities, upgrading existing facilities to fulfil the standards so that they can be actually used. 2) There should be more public relations about PWDs people’s rights because many PWDs people are missing from surveys. 3) There are many PWDs people in this region, especially in rural areas, but they lack basic knowledge for life such as use of wheelchairs. Therefore, more knowledge and skills must be learnt by PWDs people. 4) Purchasing wheelchairs from hospitals takes time and difficult because the prices are high. 5) The region still lacks medical officers in psychiatric, and doctors who can give advices for young people, such as autistic youth. 6) Diagnosis or acknowledgement of status as a PWDs person by medical officers is relatively slow because this should be done by specialist doctor. 7) Rights in education • The number of PWDs people who have education is small, especially at secondary revel because of increasing costs and obstacles of perceptions, added by policy of closing small schools in the region. These all affect enrolment of PWDs people. • Autistic children who study with ordinary students still have learning problems, such as the insufficient number of teachers, especially special teachers who can take care of PWDs students.• Teachings in school are not suitable for autistic children who have different preference and intelligent levels. • PWDs students should not be separated from ordinary children, and PWDs student should have opportunities both for academic and religious educations. Educational institutions for PWDs people should not be like care centres. 190

Building networks and allies for advocating works for PWDs people 1) There is not unity among PWDs people yet, and they work respectively. Collaborations between organisations and networks of PWDs people should be strengthened. 2) PWDs people in the southern border provinces face more difficulties compared to those who are from other regions, because this is a conflict area. Therefore local and community leaders should help and take care of t hem. 3) In the region there are special schools for PWDs children of every type, where parents can their children to study for free and with free accommodation so that they have basic knowledge to enable them to communicate (agencies attending the meeting) 4) National Sport University, Yala Campus, announced that PWDs students can study there for a bachelor’s degree. PWDs people and their participation in campaigning strategies for PWDs people 1) Forums for discussing PWDs people should invite PWDs people to exchange ideas for solutions to their problems. 2) Meetings for making strategies should be organised by provincial Islamic committees. 191

Roundtable discussion: Exchanges of agendas on PWDs people’s rights in the southern border provinces from the viewpoints of practitioners and PWDs people Moderated by Waeromlee Waebula Proposals and problems presented in the roundtable discussion for exchanges of agendas on PWDs people’s rights in the southern border provinces from the viewpoints of practitioners and PWDs people are as follows. 1) A representative from the study promoting centre in the southern border provinces provide information on educational problems of disable people all over the country that there are 1.6 million registered PWDs people, and 784 thousand of them do not have education, or 45 percent have no education. More than 80 percent have primary education, and 6 percent have secondary education. 2) A research from the Social Study Institute, Chulalonkorn University, presented data on facilities for PWDs people. Airports have the highest numbers even though these places have no need or PWDs people. Therefore, facilities should be prepared in spaces which are actually used in daily life. What is most neglected by the state is footpaths, most of which are not usable. Facilities below the standard should be upgraded, like handrails set up wrongly, or restrooms for PWDs people that have slopes but the doors cannot be closed. 3) The number of specialized teachers for PWDs teachers is limited. Most of them work at special schools, both those who have experiences and those who do not. Development of PWDs children must use a long time and they need be taught repeatedly. 192

4) Every PWDs person can apply for services of personal assistants (PA) but at present their number is limited and cannot cover the entire region. 5) Employment of PWDs people stipulated in Section 33 and 34 of PWDs People Act is not fulfilled because the number of big companies or shopping centres are limited. Accordingly employment of PWDs people is also limited, and managers of agencies do not want to face difficulties. In terms of employment of PWDs people based on Section 33 and 34 should be supervised by SBPAC which is a central agency for coordination so that more employment of PWDs people can happen. 6) The association of sports for PWDs people in Pattani lacks sports equipment and also costs to take part in competitions. 7) PWDs people with psychiatric problems are not acknowledged by the society and their guardians are not willing to expose them. As a consequence, works for supporting them are relatively slow. Some of them have no education, and this in turn cause their condition even graver. 8) Deaf people still have problems in communication. There should be trainings for sing languages for deal people so that they can communicate at basic levels. 9) A letter is composed so that the chairman of the committee sign on it to acknowledge these problems. Those who are in power should listen to us directly and know about our problems. PWDs people in the southern border provinces, their obstacles and problems In terms of PWDs people’s rights in Thailand and local empowerment, review of knowledge about these issues done by an expert working for promoting PWDs people’s issue. There are 4 agendas of problems, obstacles and challenges, i.e. perspectives, physical conditions, information and policies as follows. 193

Obstacles about perspectives: At present there are problems of perspectives. Majority of people see PWDs people with pity, and of an opinion that they should not leave home, and they do not have to work, but ask for help instead. Apart from that, employment of PWDs people still have many limitations, such as acceptance of application only from men or women, or there is a condition of education. These make it difficult for them to access to employment. Physical obstacles: In one case a PWDs person wanted to ask for help but cannot send message asking for help by themselves. In this case volunteers can help PWDs people. Think together, plan together: Arrangements to deal with obstacles and challenges of PWDs people in the southern border provinces The brainstorming about promoting works for PWDs people set four exchange agendas and proposals, i.e. 1) economy and income 2) political participation (peace and justice) 3) education, and 4) access to equipment, medical service, including obstacles caused by different factors such as perspectives, physical conditions, information and policy system. All of these must be changed, both in short and long terms. The summary of the exchanges are as follows. 194

Group 1 Economy, income Group 2 Political participation, peace and justice Perceptions: Encourage acceptance of PWDs people at villages and communities for creating awareness, and setting up public places. There should be a committee or a mechanism to drive these issues. For instance, the provincial Islamic committees allocate tasks to mosque committees to organise forum for enhancing understanding at communities. Law: Remove complexities in bureaucracy. Both women and men must be able to work. PWDs people must be employed following Section 33-34 in every place. SBPAC should be the centre for solving these problems. Physical aspects: - there must be interpreters of sing languages, slopes, Braille. Medical agencies must visit every community for treatment. Field works must be conducted to gather data about PWDs people, and so that PWDs do not have to go to hospitals. • There should be facilities, parking lots for PWDs people, and Braille for blind people. Sign boards are needed so that PWDs people can access. Information: There should be public relation cars with speaker in villages. Information about employment must be delivered to PWDs people. • PWDs people should be included in managements of communities. Forums should be organised for enhancing understanding about peace and solving problems of the conflict. • Diagnosis by public health officers must be faster than now, especially in issuing PWDs people’s card. • PWDs people want to take part in various activities like ordinary people, such as education, religious learning, occupation and social participation. • There should be public relations for the related groups about approved budget so that it can be used fully. In particular, approval of budget for PWDs people must be planed about implementation so that PWDs people are fully benefited. • Services provided by the state should cover all region, and PWDs should be able to file a complaint when problems happens. There should be organisations take care of all the seven categories of PWDs people. • State and private agencies should open spaces for participation of PWDs people to express their thoughts and reflect their realities. 195

Group 3 Education Group 4 Access to equipment • PWDs people should be encouraged to come out of their home so that people outside can see their abilities • There should be learning processes that respond to problems and needs of PWDs people. For instance, online teaching cannot be used for deaf children. • Legislation of regulations about learning should be thoroughly thought of, suitable for PWDs children too. So far their guardians do not dare to send their children to school. This reduces potency of PWDs people. • State agencies such as district offices of sub-district administration organisation should provide knowledge about PWDs people’s rights. • Obstacles to be changed are: • Landscapes of educational institution should be modified, and there should be holistic basic educational system for PWDs people must be prepares with a sufficient number of staff. • For PWDs children between 5-18 years old in the five southern border provinces there are special schools from primary levels which are boarding schools with free meals and accommodation. Guardians can send their children during semesters, and there are school cars to pick them up. • There should be centres for equipment and repairs, and budget for purchasing spare parts for repairs. There must be persons in charge of these centres, and they must be placed in each district for convenience of PWDs people. • There should be survey on PWDs people’s needs on equipment and use of equipment to identify needs and problems of PWDs people. • Medical aspects: Those who diagnose PWDs people must be specialist with high working ethics. Law: PWDs people do not know laws and their rights because they do not leave their house. Accordingly they cannot demand their rights. So it is important to inform them about their rights, such as rights to get medical treatments and PWDs person’s card. Information: PWDs people cannot go out. There should be public relations for these groups, and ask their needs because they have their own needs. 196

Reflections on proposals and ideas from the exchange by Sawang Srisom, president in charge of projects and working plan of the network Transportation for All (T4A), secretary of a foundation for PWDs children, a member of Subcommittee for PWDs people under the Committee for Social Development, and Affairs of Children, Youths, Women and Elderly People, PWDs People and Disadvantaged People. During the session, how promote strategies for PWDs people were presented that include such agendas as changes of perspectives against PWDs people, PWDs people and political participation, education of PWDs people, cares for PWDs people and their access to public services, and public relations and demanding their rights. The details of the summaries are as follows. Overall summaries of the meeting is that in order to promote working strategies for PWDs people in regions, several activities can help PWDs people. For instance providing information and public relations for accessing public services, support for PWDs people so that they can help themselves, or helping them to make PWDs people’s cards. The practitioners can contact reliable agencies in the region such as SBPAC. Changing people’s perspective on PWDs people takes a long time. If perceptions of law and policy makers can be changed, this can bring about change in the society. If we can change perceptions of PWDs people and encourage them to come out to the society, people in general also can see that PWDs people have abilities. Apart from that, in terms of loan for PWDs people, trust of officers and paper works must be modified so that PWDs people can access to their right to the fullest extent. In regard with political participation, PWDs people should be encouraged to attend various forums, and given opportunities to express their thoughts and present their problems. So far political parties wrote data about PWDs people but these data do not reflect reality. Various needs of PWDs people must be studied. Therefore, reflecting on their real problems can lead to development 197

In terms of education, problems about assistant teachers, translators of sign language or spaces for special schools are found all over the country. It is not yet clear how many special staff are needed. These problems should be discussed together so that we have clear solutions to them. For the problem of their being discarded, Ministry of Social Development and Human Security has policies to take care of them. These problems should be consulted with members of Parliament in each region. As for diagnosis of PWDs people at this moment, it is in the process of promoting evaluations at three levels. First, PWDs people themselves evaluate themselves to what extent their disabilities affect their daily life. Second, evaluations at community levels, and third, diagnosis by doctors. Demands for PWDs people’s needs must be clearly written. If they need some facilities, it should be clearly stated where they need these facilities. They also know to what agencies they can file their demands, and their demand should be in accordance with problem faced by them. If there is any benefit, officers in charge must be praised so that they are motivated to work for them more.......... of policies that are in accordance with problems faced by PWDs people. For instance, they have to pay for translation to go to work. PWDs people’s allowance of 800 baht per month is not reflecting the real problems faced by them. If some PWDs people have abilities they should be members of parliament in order to reflect their problems. 198