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

Exchange, Proposals1) Is it possible to promote employment of PWDs people by setting target of the number of PWDs people to be employed? This is because setting such a goal is convenient for those who are in charge of this agenda. 2) Is it possible that civil society campaign look for budgets from outside agencies four hire PWDs people? 3) In making strategies for PWDs people, planning must be conducted by prioritizing things that can be done easier, such as slopes in mosques. Local architects and provincial Islamic committees must be consulted. Letters should be sent to the committee for influence policies. 4) The context in the southern border provinces is different from the other regions. Thus campaigning should be continuously conducted in concrete ways. 5) Networks of PWDs people should work together with civil society for jointly analysing problems and campaigning for PWDs people’s problems. The contents of all the three forums, i.e. Experiences, Lessons and Learning toward Strategies for Campaigning of PWDs People in the Southern Border Provinces, Workshop for Making Strategies of PWDs People’s Network in the Southern Border Provinces, and Light Peace for Vulnerable Groups that is a forum of networks of researchers and civil society to develop quality of life in peace building of vulnerable group in the southern border provinces, and the meeting for developing strategies for networks of PWDs people in the southern provinces, are all just one step for those who are in various agencies and organisations in the southern border provinces and other regions in connecting and generating momentum in working for PWDs people and vulnerable groups in the southern border provinces which is a region seeking peace for many years. 199

Most people have memories related with peace about physical violence. Those who are affected by violence, and imaged delivered in the news are always the same images. So they might not see that there are groups of vulnerable people who need cares, protections and participation in peace building in this region, such as PWDs, people in poverty, women, victims of domestic violence and so on. Lessons, experiences and learning form these three forums are regarded as important dimensions in campaigning for voices of vulnerable people in the region so that they have rights to voice up, and to generate collaborations to build comprehensive peace by every group in the southern border provinces. Source: Activity report: Meeting for developing strategies of PWDs People in the Southern Border Provinces, organised by the Institute for Peace Studies, Prince of Songkla University, Coordination Centre for Children and Women in the Southern Border Provinces, and Minority Rights Group International, supported by the European Union, on 8-9 September 2023, Meeting Room, 1st floor, the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre. 200

Peace Process – Current Conditions: Seen from a lens of comprehensiveness

If a decade of the peace process in the southern border provinces is looked back, a question raising from people is “what do people get?” This question is not merely a reflection of feelings of those who are “thirsty for genuine peace” but also indicates that inclusive peace building might be an important answer which we have to seek together. Inclusivity does not only mean just participation in formats, but it must be participation which has meanings, especially for vulnerable groups and people at the grass root level, as is expressed by the comment that “the peace process of the state, those who have different opinions from the state and the third party does not have any meaning if people disagree.” An important challenge is to turn inclusivity into practice in everyday life, not just discourse or policies floating on paper. We see examples from efforts to legislate the Peace Act which shows that peace building is not about mechanisms, but it should be connected with actual life of people in the region. Peace Process – Current Conditions: Seen from a lens of comprehensiveness202

At one night in January 2004, sounds of gunfire echoed in a military base in Cho Ai Rong District, Narathiwat Province, which was a starting point of violence that would continue for more than 20 years and claimed more than 7,500 lives with more than 14,000 people injured. But, amid the darkness of violence, a dim light of peace emerged. On 28 February 2013, the Thai government and BRN signed on a historic agreement to conduct a peace dialogue in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. While sounds of guns and smokes from bombs have become typical images of the southern border provinces for more than two decades, yet another aspect of the conflict remain known only among a very few people – voices of communities that need peace, voices of people who want to see changes, and voices of those who are trying to connect people from different backgrounds. Violent incidents reported in media are just the tip of an iceberg. Under the surface there are structural discrepancies, injustice and cultural conflict which are all deeply rooted for centuries. Solutions by weapons or suppression of insurgents will never lead to sustainable peace.Since that day until today, the peace process have had to go through meandering pathways, under several governments, both civilian and military governments, and now we have a civilian government again. Each period has its own momentum, hopes and limitations in a different way. Decade of Negotiations: The starting point and the current situation 203

When peace is not something far from us – lessons taken from other places for secrets in achieving a peace law in the contest of the southern border provinces. Development of the peace process and forums The forum “Peace law in the southern border provinces/Patani: Lessons, challenges, orientations” held on 26 February 2014 at Namphraw Room, 1st floor, C.S. Hotel, Pattani, organized by Center for Conflict Studies and Cultural Diversity (CSCD), Institute for Peace Study, Prince of Songkla University, Kampung Takwa Assosiation and Minority Rights Group, financially supported by the EU. Waeromlee Waebula, president of Kampung Takwa Association said that in the course of 20 years under the conflict in the southern border provinces, people have been expecting solutions through a peace dialogue. “Since the dialogue started in 2013 under the Yingluck government, people felt that there was a hope, but after that they are disappointed.” At present, the Joint Comprehensive Plan towards Peace (JCPP) set a frame of the dialogue with three substantive issues, namely reduction of violence, public consultations and political solutions. All these issues are expected by people. Sakariya Amatya expressed his feelings through a poem about the situation in the area and hope for peace. “In the middle of silence, I hear voices of peace echoing on streets, around clock towers in the middle of cities, on tables in coffee shops, mosques, temples. But no one hear these voices of silence”. This reflects feeling of people who long for peace but these voices have remained unheard of. Dr. Rungrawee Chalermsripinyorat from Institute for Peace Study proposed viewpoints on “Hopes, Fears and Lights of Future” of the peace process in the southern border provinces. 11 years ago, on 28 February the Thai government and BRN signed on an agreement for a peace dialogue in Kuala Lumpur. 204

This is a starting point for the very first official peace dialogue in the history of Thailand by launching a talk with an underground movement. However, after 10 years, so far there has been not a single agreement is achieved. During the era of the military government, a group called “Mara Patani” was formed by various groups including BRN, PULO, DSPP, GMIP and BIPP. Although there were hopes that Mara Patani would be engaged in the dialogue seriously, there were also concerns whether they could really control the armed force in the region or not. The government’s seriousness was also questioned. During the period of dialogue led by Gen. Aksara Kerdpol as the head of the Thai delegate, there were talks about safe spaces, but these ideas had not been brought into practice, because the Thai government was not willing to sign on any agreement documents, afraid that signing on agreements might lead to acknowledgement of the armed groups, and demands for separation at the international level. Under the Prayuth Chan-ocha’s government the head of the Thai dialogue panes was replaced, and in 2018 there was a dialogue between the Thai government and BRN in Europe. After the election in 2019, the new government appointed Gen. Wanlp Rugsanaoh as the head of the delegate, while the BRN dialogue team was led by Anas Abdulrahman. However, the talk was halted due to the spread of Covid-19. There was an important progress in the talk in April 2022 after the General Principle of The Peace Process was agreed. It include three substantive issues, i.e. 1) reduction of violence, 2) public consultation and 3) political solutions, which led to the Joint Comprehensive Plan towards Peace (JCPP) setting a frame for the dialogue with five substantive issues namely the form of administration suitable in the region, acknowledgement of identities and culture of Patani people, human rights principles and justice, enforcement of law and development in economy and education. Although there is no formal agreement yet, the statistics on violent incident until today indicates significantly decrease. This indicates that the peace process have positive effects even in an indirect 205

way. In the current government the dialogue team is led by Chatchai Banghucad, deputy secretary general of the National Security Council, and this is the first time when the dialogue panel was led by a civilian officer. The conflict that have been going on for more than 20 years claimed more life of 7,500 people, added with 14,000 people are injured. JCPP is an important starting point that led to political solutions by addressing root causes. It should uphold principles of democracy, justice, respect for human rights, acknowledgement of cultural identities, and co-existence amid diversities. Dr Rungrawee stressed that “If we do not deal with causes of frustrations among the local people, use of violence still continues”. The substantive issues must be discussed in order to solve the problems, and spaces should be opened for rational discussions seeking for the best solutions for every group. Although JCPP is heavily criticized, it is a good opportunity for the society to understand the peace process more. At present the space is more open, although there are still some limits and concerns. If every sector jointly promote the peace process forward, sustainable peace can happen in the future. Peace Act: An important mechanism for driving peace process as a national agenda Adilan Ali-ishak, a member of the Parliamentary ad-hoc committee for peace, mentioned about legal aspects that this ad-hoc committee is the first engagement of the legislative in the peace process. It is led by Chaturon Chaisang as the president, and has two sub-committees, one is for increase effectiveness of the peace negotiation and preparing proposal on political solutions, and the other one is for participation of people in the peace process. Adlan stressed that a serious problem is that the government has never announced the peace process as a national agenda, and it has not yet been accommodated in the 20 years national strategy. Currently there is a study about legislation of the peace act to guarantee the implementation of the peace process, and this is actively promoted by civil societies. 206

Twaedaniya Tuwaemaengae, coordinator of the Civil Society Peace Group, mentioned about efforts to legislate a peace act which reflects the real needs of the people. He said that so far the peace dialogue had problems because it did not address the root causes, and leaders of the country did not have political wills to build peace. The Civil Society Peace Group would like to propose that the peace process should be announced as a national agenda and guaranteed by the peace law. Twaedania proposed that the law should have three steps, i.e. 1) There should be meeting of real decision makers from both sides. 2) There should be mechanisms to guarantee safety of conflict leaders, and 3) Democratic principles should be applied to enhance people’s participation in the peace process. Asst. Prof. Srisompob Jitpiromsri, lecturer at Institute for Peace studies, Prince of Songkla University, mentioned about turning points of the peace process as follows. • A backchannel talk in Berlin, 2019.• A meeting in Turkey, 2021, agreed on 3 substantive issues, namely reduction of violence, public consultation and political solution. • Dialogues in Malaysia, 2023, with an important agenda that those who have different opinions agreed to negotiate under the Thai constitution. • In 2023, agreement to work on JCPP, and a new Thai peace dialogue panel led by Chatchai Bangchuad, deputy secretary general of the National Security Council under the current government. It was also stressed that in principle the peace process is under the frame of Thai laws and the Thai constitution, and the peace law should highlight protection of those who are involved in the peace process, because Thai has legal imitation about crimes of rebellion and separation, which is different from other countries with no such limitations. 207

Abdulkarim Asma-ae, lecturer at Fathoni University and former president of the Civil Society Council of the Southern Border Provinces, reflected upon 20 years’ experience in civil society. In 2020 civil society tried to campaign for the peace act, but the parliament did not accept the proposal. So they tried to approach the cabinet to lead initial actions of legislation of the peace act because it will take a long time. The proposed draft of the peace act contains four sections: Section for allover picture about powers and duties, mechanisms, and talk for agreement without violating the constitution. Abdul Karim also expressed his concern about the legal status of BRN that “how the legal status of BRN could be”. It should also be clear that who is in charge of the government structure. He stressed the importance of political will, because if there is no real political will, the peace law will not come true, and it might lead to “negotiation between the government and people, not with those who have different opinions.” Romadorn Panjor, a member of the ad-hoc committee, referred to an important document signed on 31 March 2022 about legislation of the peace law, and necessity to protect the peace talk by two experts, which was a frame of JCPP in which the Thai government and BRN agreed about “acknowledgement of the Patani community’s aspirations under the unitary state in accordance with the Thai constitute”. This means that both sides retreat one step in a significant way. Romadorn stressed that “there must be the term Patani”, not just the southern border provinces. The peace act was one of the first 50 laws proposed by the Moving Forward Party, but it is not yet discussed in the Thai society. Therefore there should be campaigning in various levels, such as administrative orders, resolution of the cabinet, reduction of violence, abolition of Martial Law and Emergency Decree, 208

and cancellation of the NCPO order 12/2559 which that abolished the advisory board which had representative of people. The campaigning of the peace law has two goals: 1) Enforcement of the law, and 2) Voting in the parliament to create debates and pressure t he government, by mending old laws and legislating new laws, along with providing knowledge and understanding about peace in the region. Ahmadburhan Tophong, a member of the ad-hoc committee and the sub-committee for negotiation, starting with a question, “do you believe that the peace negotiation can finish everything?” and stressed that “everyone must believe that problems can be finished by with the negotiation”, and demanded that “there should be creation of good atmosphere of genuine peace”, with open-mindedness without punishing anybody, “We should help and create peace by local people themselves”. Ahmadburhan stressed importance of solving economic problems along with peace because “if we are hungry, who we are going to fight?” Many sections in the existing laws should be modified, and the peace act “has intentions to oblige the government to promote peace continuously.” At t his moment there is a drafting process of the peace law. “The important thing is that the peace law should be about policy making”, and it depends on the government’s intention and “people in the region must decide by themselves”.Voices from every sector: Designing the future of peace togetherRukchart Suwan, former president of the Buddhist for Peace Network, mentioned about the Joint Comprehensive Plan toward peace (JCPP) that civil society analyse and consider modification of old laws, including the SBPAC law enforced in the 3 southern border provinces. Rukchart Swan said that the peace dialogue so far was continued but often suspended. These pauses were caused by the change of the dialogue panel and political incidents. “Signing on documents is important”, and he stressed that people and civil society 209

in the region want to see signing, not just oral announcements. “We want to see clear signing, either on dialogues or on JCPP” and the peace law must be proceeded, so that it can lead to clear solutions to the problem faced by people in the region. Anchana Heemmina, president of Dua Jai Group, stressed importance of the law that would be benefit for the local people who must live under the enforcement. “Parliament must make a law that guarantee the peace process. Anchana explained that the peace act should support every aspect of the peace process, not just about its format after agreements. An important issue to be discussed is that the law should protect those who have roles in the negotiation and amnesty, which is related with armed forces of both the government and the movements. Moreover, she stressed that the solutions to the problem in the region must mention the issue of the territory, because this region is composed of various groups of people, and agreements must be approved by the parliament and the administrator of the state so that people have rights according to the law, protections and problem solutions in accordance with the context in the region. Twaedaniya Tuwaemaengae, coordinator of the Civil Society Peace Group explained the intention of the peace law draft that had been presented to the ad-hoc peace committee that it was for solving problem in the region urgently. This is a conflict area and there are always risks for people’s life. It is thus important to “stop the circles of the organisations so as not to lead to use of violence, and build a belief that peaceful solutions under the rule of law is desirable, by giving an observation that the peace talk is complicated, and there is no system to provide clear information. People must understand that peace dialogue can solve the problems. At the same time, BRN, even though they still fight for independence, they accept to proceed on the dialogue under the unitary state of Thailand under the constitution. However, there are still uses of violence all the time. Therefore, “it’s important that the government must be clear and build trust with those who have different opinions from the state.” 210

How we can request collaboration from Malaysia? Thailand must set up a coordination centre between Thai and Malaysia. What are the intentions of the law? The intention of the peace act have four important contents as follows. Item 1 Having an intention to upgrade the peace dialogue of the southern border provinces as a national agenda through the parliamentary mechanisms in order to guarantee continuity and legitimacy of peace building. Item 2 Providing solutions to the problem of the unrest in accordance with the strategy of “politics leads military” which directly comes from political wills of the state administrator, leading to unity between the army and the government, and integration of works conducted by security agencies, including the National Security Council and the National Intelligence Agency. Item 3 Building trust among the Patani and secret organisations about real intentions of the Thai government which will affect the “backchannel” of these organisations and might lead to genuine peace process.Item 4 Enhancing serious and sincere collaboration between the Thai and Malaysian government, free from conflicts caused by information and military operations. The drafting of the peace act has intention to open opportunities for people to take part in the process of law making widely. Proposals from the president of the Federation of Buddhists in the Southern Border Provinces President of the Federation of Buddhists in the Southern Border Provinces expressed his concerns on various issues in the peace process which usually neglect grievances of Buddhists. Many off the Buddhists have to move out of the region, and this indicates a serious concern about their life and property. He also asked question about participation of Buddhists as a minority group in the region in the drafting process of the peace law. 211

In the middle of the atmosphere of the peace dialogue at this moment, there are questions about whether Buddhists are able to present thoughts in conflicts with those of Muslims or not, such as abolition of the emergency decree. Apart from that, there are still concern about how the new peace law affect the Buddhists. He also demanded rehabilitations so that those Buddhists who had moved out could come back safely. Reflections from stakeholders: Perspectives on the peace law for the southern border provinces Roning Salae, a local fisherman, said that he might not know everything about peace, but observed that peace has “high and low tides” both for BRN and the Thai state, but there is no positive change yet. Maroning stressed that “peace process away from understanding of people will not feasible”, especially when there are always changes in the peace dialogue and there is no continuity. Maroning also asked about the peace law if it will be enforced just in the southern border provinces or all over the country. The special task force for peace suggested that we “shouldn’t blame anyone” and solve the problems creatively through collaboration, communication and creative use of media, along with asking for the local people to be sympathetic the state officers in performing their duties guarding safety of the people. “In the term peaceful ways there is no one to be hurt and don’t harm anyone”, and give importance to information about conflicting parties in designing operations. Dr. Rungrawee Chalermsripinyorat proposed establishment of a permanent centre to supervise the peace process. Now the process is under the NSC, but there is no person directly in charge. The order might be issued by the Prime Minister’s Office. Adilan Ali-ishak, a member of the ad-hoc committee for peace in the southern border provinces proposed to complete the peace law draft to be presented to the office of the secretary of the parliament, and stressed that 212

“people have freedom and rights to express their thoughts in the draft before it is accepted by the parliament. Romadorn Panjor said on 25 January 2024 he brought the issue of checkpoints and operation bases in communities to the parliamentary committee of security, where five members of parliament from the southern border provinces explained impacts of these checkpoints. This is an important indicator of the peace process. Romadorn Panjor explained that normalisation stated i the law is a part of the peace accord, and implementation of the peace accord guaranteed by law is important so that the insurgents would continue their struggles in political ways. Romadorn also explained that Section 225 of the constitution prohibits change of the democratic regime with the monarchy as its head, which is close to Section 1 and 2, but stressed that “mentioning the unitary state of Thai is misunderstood” because a unitary state in a universal contexts allows decentralization and modification of administration forms. He picked up the examples of Prime Minister’s Order Number 66/23 and 66/22 which solved the conflict with the Thai Communist Party. He also called demands from the people to pressure the government led by Settha Thaweesin to upgrade the importance of the peace process and should “invite those who have different opinion” under the lead of civilian. According to the summary of the forum “Peace law in the southern border provinces/Patani: Lessons, challenges, orientations” held on 26 February 2014 at Namphraw Room, 1st floor, C.S. Hotel, Pattani, organized by Center for Conflict Studies and Cultural Diversity (CSCD), Institute for Peace Study, Prince of Songkla University, Kampung Takwa Assosiation and Minority Rights Group, financially supported by the EU, the evaluation of this event was sent by 53 participants. The majority of the participants were men (62.2 percent) and women (37.8 percent) while most of them are more than 35 years old (94.3 percent) and only 5.7 percent are between 18-35 years old. 213

The majority of the participants are from civil society (58.5 percent), followed by community leaders (32.0 percent). The rests are from government sectors (3.7 percent), students (3.7 percent) and private sectors (1.8 percent). In terms of the participants’ status, most of them are ordinary people (98.1 percent), and there was a PWDs person (1.8 percent). As for understanding on the contents of the seminar, most of the participants have a lot of understanding (62.2 percent), and very good understanding (32.0 percent). Only 5.8 percent have an average level of understanding. In regard with understanding about the peace process, most ofo the participants have a lot of understanding (62.3 percent) and very good understanding (28.3 percent). Only a small portion have an average level of understanding (7.5 percent) and little understanding (1.9 percent). Most of the participants stated that they can apply the knowledge in their work at a high level (58.4 percent) and at the highest level (30.2 percent). Only 11. 3 percent said they can apply the knowledge at an ordinary level. Similarly, most participants can communicate about the knowledge with people in the network at a high level (62.3 percent) and the highest level (32.0 percent). Only 5.7 percent said it can be applied at an average level. About public hearings, most of the participants evaluate that there are high levels of public hearings (62.3 percent) and the highest level (26.4 percent). Only 13 percent of them evaluated it was conducted at an average level. Most of the participants felt that they were safe to express their opinion at a high level (69.8 percent) and at the highest level (20.7 percent). Only 9.4 percent of them felt safety at an average level. Lastly, most of the participants feel that they have spaces to express their opinions at a high level (66.0 percent) and at the highest level (26.4 percent), whereas only 9.5 percent felt that it was just an ordinary level. 214

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“We are really longing for peace” – a voice of a representative of PWDs people in a public consultation forum, reflecting feelings deep inside the heart of people in the conflict area for a long time. Even though more than a decade has passed since the peace dialogue between the government and those who have different opinions from the state started, these voice have been forgot in the negotiation circles. On 28 February 2024 in a from titled “Proposals for a comprehensive peace dialogue: public consultation from the bottom” a space was opened up to listen to voices reflecting different perspectives on the peace process. It was moderated by Waeromlee Waebula, with the main idea “Peace from Below”, indicating that peace must come from people and this is the indicator for the success. Like building strong house or streets, its basic should be stable. Likewise, in peace building, if there is no participation of people at the grass root level, it will not be sustainable, especially vulnerable group who have been neglected, whether they are women, PWDs people, youths, those who are affected by the unrest, or different ethnic or religious groups. Genuine peace: voices from bottom that should not be neglected 216

Building a bridge of peace: Joint action plan toward an inclusive society This forum was organized to survey the thoughts and proposals, as a public consultation from the bottom leading to genuine peace building from different perspectives, emerging from works of the Kampung Takwa network with other sectors in the region under the context of the Joint Comprehensive Plan towards Peace (JCPP) that convers three substantive issues of reduction of violence, public consultations and political solutions. Asst. Prof. Srisompob Jitpiromsri, explained that the concept of this forum is that peace should come from the bottom, and this is a necessity. Like building streets or buildings that require strong basic, a peace process also should prioritize people at the bottom, especially vulnerable people who are important actors in driving peace and solving problems. Waeromlee Waebula explained about the Joint Comprehensive Plan towards Peace that it should be related to people’s life, not just cease fire but about solutions to the problem faced by vulnerable groups as well, whether they are orphans or Buddhists. There are 3 proposals, namely 1) reduction of violence/reduction of encounters, 2) public consultation (talking with people), 3) political solutions. 217

Forum of hope: Public consultation to road to peace There are a lot of agendas in the public consultations or talk, including education, developments, economy, human rights and so on, and by March 2023 this plan should be completed and implemented. The concept of public consultation come out of the basic belief that decisions that are publicly made have values, and can bring about benefits for the society only when these decisions go through the process of thorough brainstorming from various perspectives of the society members. After that people must dare to communicate because so far people have not dared to do so. The concept of public consultation come out of the basic belief that decisions that are publicly made have values, and can bring about benefits for the society only when these decisions go through the process of thorough brainstorming from various perspectives of the society members. After that people must dare to communicate because so far people have not dared to do so. 218

There are 3 ways in conducting consultation 1. A and B work together. This means that state officers, the police, the army, administrations with BRN conduct public consultations in the field. This method is not implemented and both Party A and B are planning now, but there must be mutual trust. 2. Each side respectively conducts its own consultation. At present state officers are conducting field works to listen to needs and feelings of different people. When there are issues, each party claims legitimacy that they have asked the local people. People who listen to them are usually unsure whether to believe them or not.3. Consultations by the third parties or civil society (CSOs-Masyarakat Madani), where people work as volunteer, and proposals currently worked on.Works done by Kampung Takwa so far are not conducted solely by Kampung Takwa, but we collaborated with community leaders to help various areas, like Nan the village headman also helps other regions too. 219

So far we stressed consultations with villagers. We also want villagers to be interested in what Party A and B are talking now, and villagers or people must agree too, especially the centre of the people, both people in general and vulnerable people who have to face many overlapping problems. Ordinary or stronger people must help vulnerable groups. This is prioritized in Islam and the heart of the problem. What do people benefited from the peace dialogue in the past 10 years? It seems that they got nothing. Therefore, JCPP must state that what benefits villagers will gain. Civil society of CSOs are volunteering to be liaisons between villagers and state officers because if villagers contact state officers directly, in many cases villagers are disadvantaged. Therefore civil society is important too. Roots of peace: Enhancing communities’ power to change “What do people benefited from the peace dialogue in the past 10 years? It seems that they got nothing. Therefore, JCPP must state that what benefits villagers will gain”. Waeromlee expressed his thought that the peace process must build concrete momentum for people through public consultations from the bottom. What should be done includes: 1. Knowledge must be provided to villagers, including knowledge on human rights, international laws, human rights at international level, because villagers still do not know about their own rights. If villagers are strong, state officers or whoever who want to conduct a project must think twice. 2. Villagers opinions and proposals must be heard. 3. Strength and collaboration must be created between villagers in villages, by empowering them so that they are more confident. 4. Good governance. 220

5. Technic for working in communities. “If we have knowledge we can solve problems easily by spending short time”. This reflects importance of providing knowledge to empower them so that they can solve their problems. 6. Education/participatory researches are important process for villagers to acquire knowledge and benefitted from data. 7. Organising public forums by collaborating with civil society engaged in various agendas. 8. There must be exchanges with civil society from the region, Thailand and oversea. 9. Seeking opportunities to meet with state officers, insurgents, and facilitator directly for exchanging information, knowledge and proposals. Voice of hope: Long waited demands During the exchanges of representatives of different groups, a representative from Na Kluea suggested that the state should support a project for safe home and vulnerable people, such as orphans and elderly people. Suena Disae, deputy president of PWDs Association in the Southern Border Provinces stressed that public sectors and civil society often neglect PWDs people’s facilities, such as slopes at the entrances of mosques or temples. This is an obstacle for PWDs people to take part in social activities. Anwa Sai, presient of PWDs People’s Association of Narathiwat, reflected his feeling that “we are really longing for peace”. This is also reflection of vulnerable groups’ voice who are directly affected. A representative from Sungai Padi (Pador) mentioned important challenges that “Villagers have concerns and they are not confident to speak up what they need. For instance, if villagers want independence or autonomy, 221

they aren’t sure if it will be safe to speak out”. This shows that trust is an important part of public consultations. Khanungnit Markchoochit, asked about how to upgrade struggles of people’s movement/civil society of various groups/many agendas to a peace process. She stressed that peoples movements must aware of participation and acceptance of information. Pains must be felt together. Romadon Panjor summarised that this forum was like a round table which is a symbol of equality, where we could listen to voices of different groups. He mentioned about representatives of PWDs people that “they are really longing for peace” and they are most legitimate group of people to say that they need peace, because they are victims. Their voices must be heard by the peace process. Romadorn said “The peace dialogue of Party A, B and the third party will have no meaning unless it is approved by the people.” This means that people’s voice is the heart of the peace process. Waeromlee Waebula summarized that peace in the future must be participated by people. Even if the peace dialogue ends, but vulnerable people’s life doesn’t change and they still have to face the same problem, it is not genuine peace. The question remains: Is people’s voice heard and how is it reflected on the process? Is there a hope for sustainable peace, if the process remain the matter of “people above” only? 222

“People are the heart of peace.” This short sentence echoed in a meeting room of Prince of Songkla University, Pattani Campus, when voices of the grass roots, vulnerable groups and every sector in the region had the first opportunity to be heard after more than two decades of the conflict. The establishment of the ad-hoc peace committee in the parliament for the first time in 20 years is a turning point to open the door for people’s thought to be reflected on national policies. On the day when hopes and challenges encounter, the forum “Public Consultation: How to deal with peace” collected experiences, in-depth data and proposals from every group whose life is related with the conflict. These voice does not only reflect problems, but also indicate real ways out – peace from the bottom, inclusive peace. Based on data from large scale surveys, in-depth studies about vulnerable groups and voices gathered from villages, this forum does not only reveal realities in the region but also draw a future picture of peace that is demanded together. People’s voice: an important key to peace 223

Opening the door of participation: From the parliamentary chamber to communities in the southern border provincesThis forum was organised as a collaboration between Institute for Peace Study, the Kampung Takwa Association, the Civil Society Council of the Southern Border Provinces, Peace Survey, Public Relations Assebly for peace, Projek Sama-sama, MRG and the Taiwan Foundation for Peace and Democracy. Asst. Prof Dr Aruneewan Buaniau, acting vice-chancellor in charge of social development researches, Prince of Songkla University, welcomed participants from various sectors, including experts, researchers, civil society actors, and representatives of communities. She stressed that this forum is an important channel to gather ideas from every sector to be reflected on policies. Romadorn Panjor, deputy chairman of the sub-committee for engagement of the peace process, provided an important peace of information that the peace ad-hoc committee had just appointed by the government, and this was the first time a committee was established especially to study the unrest and peace process. There were two sub-committees, one for following the peace process, and the other for people’s participation and public hearing, by highlighting public consultation which is one of the three substantive issues agreed between the Thai government and BRN on 31 March 2022, along with political solutions and reduction of violence. Importantly, at this moment the peace committee is drafting the new peace law about peace building for protecting safety of those who are involved in the peace process. Numbers telling stories: When statistics show hidden realitiesImportant data in this forum is from the result of people’s thoughts led by Asst. Prof Dr. Srisompob Jitpiromsri, which is a survey on thoughts about the 7th peace process in the southern border provinces (Peace Survey) with examples taken from 1,312 households in 144 sub-districts and 144 villages. This was 224

accompanied with qualitative research through in-depth interviews with different 14 sub-groups. The results of Peace Survey also covers the situation in the southern border provinces since 2004-2023. It indicates that the situation is not stable, but overall the number of violent incidents began to decline since 2013 due to the inauguration of the peace process. However, the number of the cordon and search operations of the state security force has been increasing, which often end up in extra-judicial killings of suspects. According to the survey of 1,312 sample groups, it was found that in the past one year 62.7 percent of respondents answered that the situation remained the same, while 33 percent saw that the situation improved, and 13 percent saw that it worsened. Interestingly, even though the use of violence decline, people still give the score of 2.7 point to the government’s success from 10, which is a verylaw point. In all the seven surveys, the point remains lower than 5 all the time. About the peace process the survey results found that • 70.5 percent of the respondents supports the peace dialogue. • 31.9 percent of the respondents see that there are progress in the dialogue. • 42.6 percent of the respondents have confidence in the peace dialogue process. • 56.4 percent of the respondents hope that there will be peace. About the cause of violence, the survey results reflect people’s perceptions that• 62.5 percent of the respondents see that perpetrators violence are mafias, drug addicts and smugglers of illegal goods. • 58.8 percent of the respondents see that violence is caused by discriminative state policies which in turn causes injustice. • 55.6 percent of the respondents see that violence is caused by state officers who expect state budgets.225

About sense of safety, people feel safe when they are in public spaces such as religious paces, government agencies’ precincts, markets or coffee shops, but feel unsafe in expressing their opinions, or criticizing the movement or the state, peaceful assemblies and encounter with strangers. The survey result also mentioned 5 measures to be taken immediately including1. To avoid violent incidents against soft targets (80.4 percent) 2. To empower communities in protecting their safety without resorting to weapons (51.5 percent). 3. State security officers should avoid extra-judicial killings of those who have different opinions from the state during cordon and search operations (68.8 percent) 4. To conduct a dialogue on the form of administration suitable for the context of the region (67.1 percent). 5. To set up a committee between the government, BRN and civil society in order to manage studies on various forms (66.8 percent). In terms of human rights situations, 58.1 percent of the correspondents state that there was no human rights violations last year, but 28.3 percent said there were some, and 2.2 percent stated that there were daily human rights violations. The 5 most trusted groups or people in peace building are as follows. 1. Political parties, national politicians (23 percent). 2. Administrative organisations, governors, district officers, kamnans, village headmen (25.5 percent).3. Provincial Islamic committees, local religious leaders (20.6 percent). 4. Justice organisations (17.9 percent). 5. Civil society organisations (13.4 percent). About political and legal proposals, the survey found that decentralisation of political and administrative power is the heart of the search for political solutions, along with the role of the parliament as a safe space in talking about the conflict and legislate laws related with this, such as the act for peace in the 226

southern border provinces, setting up a permanent committee in the parliament, cancellation of Martial Law, and reformation of bureaucracy to make it transparent and fair. Questions on forms of administration found that 1. 32.9 percent of the correspondents support the current form without any change. 2. 36.8 percent of the correspondents support more decentralised forms of administration, with the same administrative structure with the other parts of Thailand, by adding power of provincial administrative organisations and tambon administrative organisations. 3. 35.7 percent of the correspondents support more decentralisation, with a specific administrative structure in the region under the Thai law, such as election of governors or a special administrative area.4. 16.6 percent of the correspondents support an independent form from Thailand. An important observation is that 22.9 percent of the correspondents answered ‘no idea’ or ‘prefer not to answer’ because this is a quite sensitive topic. Apart from that there are suggestions for solving the problems as follows. 1. To enhance creative activities to build additional value to the economy and tourism. 2. To open spaces for young people to voice up and demonstrate their abilities, more effective than sounds of violence. 3. To use social and cultural capitals and local identities in developing economy creatively. 4. To use creative and modern communication tools. The agendas presented in this forum stimulated people to discuss solutions to problems or proposals for the peace process and how they should be. The 7th peace survey showed differences between the actual results and people’s needs, along with data on causes of violence, sense of unsafety in expressing their thoughts, and points for the success of the government which still remains at a low level. All these data should be an important base for designing a peace process in accordance with real needs of the local people. 227

After the presentation of the survey results, Tuwaedaniya Tuwaemaengae expressed an additional opinion about the survey results, especially on the high percentage of support for the peace process of 70.3 percent. This indicates that local people, no matter if they are religious leaders, leaders or women’s groups, are all fed up with violence and want to see a dialogue that can lead to peace. A way out for people is that they know about information from different channels and support the dialogue. Tuwaedaniya also observed about the point that many people think that violence is caused by mafias that the respondents regarded mafias as one of the main cause of violence because those who died from the unrest from both side are from illegal influential group, even though the main reason if the problem of the area which has the army’s presence. So it is possible that the respondents might feel unsafe to answer straightforward. This also affect the credibility of the data reported hereAfter that, Fareeda Panjor, lecturer at Center for Conflict Studies and Cultural Diversity, Institute for Peace Studies, Prince of Songkla University, presented a research result about quality of life of peripheral and vulnerable 10 vulnerable groups: people who should have a say in the peace process228

people for comprehensive peace building in the southern border provinces. This research is conducted with a research group of 22 people under a project for comprehensive peace in the southern border provinces. Its objective is to extend participation of people at the grass root level and vulnerable people with an important research question that under the conflict and violence, where are the positions for vulnerable people in the peace process. This research defined peripheral vulnerable people in 10 groups, namely 1) widows 2) those who work for helping orphans 3) PWDs people 4) elderly people 5) those who have no security in terms of dwelling places 6) coastal fishermen 7) youth with risks of violence to themselves and families 8) sexual minorities 9) religious minorities and 10) victims of torture. Apart from that it was open to other definitions according to opinions of communities. This research apply the concept of intersectionality which consider overlapping problems in order to understand challenges in gender, ethnicity, religion and class which push out people from participation in various dimensions, along with the fact that people also have to face structural problems of violence. This also apply the concept of positive peace which aims to build sustainable peace and conducive environments for human developments, away from hatred and modifying mechanisms and centralised social structures. This research is a participatory action research to understand phenomena and experiences of peripheral and vulnerable communities in the southern border provinces by using such research methods as in-depth interviews and random sampling in order to develop qualitative proposals from vulnerable and peripheral communities, along with connecting networks and evaluation across communities. The research found that even though vulnerable groups have various rights such as PWDs people’s card, poor people’s card and social insurance, overall their life has not changed a lot. Those who are at lower echelons of the society have to rely on others to sustain their lives. They also face discriminations. Vulnerable people have to face problems of perspective of people in society, 229

especially when they talk with people in general. They do not dare to express their own opinions, and in-depth interview found problems of bullying, especially among sexual minorities who are often suppressed. Another important problem is about injustice. They still feel that the society does not treat them fairly, and they are discriminated against, unable to access to job opportunities and other rights from the state. For women from vulnerable groups, it was found that they are facing many problems, both inside and outside their home. Those women in poverty whose husbands have to work in foreign countries have to take care of their children alone, and as a consequence these children do not get sufficient care. There are three causes for these problems, namely 1) religious leaders and society do not understand, acknowledge and provide opportunities to vulnerable groups, 2) helps provided by communities are not continuous and covering everyone, and 3) lack of database about peripheral/vulnerable group’s needs. Proposals for change based on this research include 1) to enhance knowledge, rights and skills of vulnerable groups, 2) to open spaces for vulnerable and peripheral groups for political and social participations, 3) to set up database about needs of peripheral/vulnerable groups, 4) to provide integrated assistances, and 5) to support economy and income of vulnerable groups. Fareeda summarised that the peace process is about different dimensions of people’s life, such as public health, economy, social, and relation of people in communities. Peripheral and vulnerable people have to face discriminations and injustice in their daily life. Therefore, giving opportunities for them to reflect their problem to every group will strengthen the ongoing peace process from the grass root level. 230

Proposals from grass root levels: When communities draw pictures of future Waeromlee Waebula from the Kampung Takwa Assosication presented data from forums at community level which is a part of the project for Inclusive Peacebuilding in Thailand’s Southern Border Provinces, which is a collaboration between Institute for Peace Studies, Prince of Songkla Univeristy, the Kampung Takwa Association, Minority Rights Group International, and the EU. The purpose of this project is to enhance participation of people in sustainable peace building in the region. The Kampung Takwa Association has important roles in providing knowledge about the peace process of Patani/the southern border provinces, and listening to opinions and proposals from different groups of people at community and village levels by organising public forums to exchange ideas between community leaders and people for bringing these ideas to those who are involved in the peace process. The important points of the ideas and proposals gathered in various aspects can be summarised as follows. Economy People suggest that the government should solve problems of people’s livelihood along with solving the problem of the conflict regardless of the situation in each area. There should be measures to increase income and reduce expenses clearly, by spending local taxes for local people. There should be serious surveys on people’s grievance, along with creating correct and credible databases, solving problems of agricultural products’ prices to be more stable, promoting marketing and processing of agricultural products and seafood processing at villages, setting fair petrol prices, supporting fertilizers for agriculture, controlling use of chemical fertilizers, creating jobs for unemployed and housewives, developing diplomatic relations, enhancing border trades, as well as setting up systems and facilitating labours working in Malaysia. 231

Politics There was a proposal to legislate a specific law about administration in the southern border provinces, to revise roles of special laws about security, and to set up self-administration by people in the region, with decentralisation in which people can decide and choose their own leader at every level, such as elections for governors and district officers, to abolish local administration organisations, and to set up an administrative system without overlapping of power. Education People want the state to support lunch for children in tadika schools, to enhance education at communities, to upgrade quality of school lunch, and to support education in tadika schools at mosques, to organise education both in Malay and Thai in government and private schools, and setting up religious schools with teaching methods in accordance with local culture, with quality control systems so that orientations of education can be decided by local people. Social and public health aspects There were proposals about organising activities to enhance unity among people from different religions, setting up safe spaces in peoples life and public space to exchange ideas without violating security laws, enhancing happiness in the region, use of two languages in official communications (Malay and Thai), care and welfare of elderly people, widows, orphans and PWDs people, solutions to drug problems, problems about dwelling places and land problems, and public health systems that cover every kind of vulnerable group so that they can access it in a fair and effective way. Community People suggested that the state should organise projects and activities to create unity in communities and strengthen them. All four community leaders should collaborate to solve problems in communities, support creation of a fund for people which people can take part in and discuss agendas in communities, and set up places for women to exercise. Law There was a proposal that the state should consider cancelling special laws about security by using ordinary laws instead, and to have laws in accordance with principles of shariah and local cultures. 232

Development People proposed that the state should bring about developments in line with villagers’ needs, let people take part in development of state projects from the beginning, include people in the development processes of the region at community level. The state should provide opportunities and support budget for people to work on developments and solve their own problems in accordance with each community’s context. Gathering voice for seeking solutions: When every side meet at forum tables The Kampung Takwa Association also evaluated exchanges and turned them into proposals for every side that is related with the peace process, by starting from showing importance of the southern border provinces which has a history of peaceful coexistence between Thai Muslims and Thai Buddhists. This area have rich natural resources and cultural diversities, especially its Muslim culture which is strongest in Thailand. The association as a community network that inherits cultural heritages from ancestors has proposals to many sides as follows. Proposals to the government are (1) to set up a joint working team from different sectors to support community organisations and development process that suits communities’ needs (2) to life the Emergency Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situation and modify laws in harmony with local culture (3) detentions must be transparent and notified to the family members, and there should be suitable remedies to victims (4) to proceed the peace negotiation with those who have different opinions, and (5) to be confident in ability of communities and support communities so that they can develop by themselves. Proposals to those who have different opinions are as follows. (1) Building of a new fair society must follow religious principles, be aware of innocent people and respect each other’s rights, (2) to bring people’s grievance as the main 233

contents of the negotiation with the state, and (3) to listen to opinions and thoughts of people at the grass root level in activities. Proposals to communities include: (1) to build space for pious communities with religions as the main point in development (2) to develop system of organisations and activities that read to sustainability (3) to build volunteering spirit for the public (4) to develop community leaders who have abilities to reduce conflicts and build unity, and (5) to solve problems affecting humanities such as drug and violence. Apart from this, there are proposal about presenting data in a neutral and fair way to enhance understanding in sustainable peace building, along with lessons and experiences in peace building in other regions of the world. During the exchanges, there was a question to the participants about how they thought about the peace process in the southern border provinces in the last ten years, and the answers were sent via mobile phones. There were some negative views that the peace dialogue failed, retreated, not advanced, not clear, no progress, and wasting time. At the same time there were some positive opinion that the peace process was going on a good way, improved and listened to people’s opinion more. The exchange session was led by a group of moderators, Asst. Prof Samatcha Nilaphatama, Faculty of Communication Science, Prince of Songkla University, Rohani Chuenara, freelance researcher, Zahari Chelong, editor of the Motive, Ghozali Awae, Institute for Human Rights and Peace Studies, Mahidol University, and Dr Chayanit Poonyarat, Thammasat University. The moderator stressed the importance of participation of every side. They said “If not we, who else? If not today, when?” To sum up, we need to depend on both “people and time” in pushing the peace process. The term “we” does ot mean any particular group of people but it means diversity of people who need to participate, both those who are used to the peace process and those who just learn about it for the first time. The moderators also revise 234

the goals of the activity is “to consult people” in order to gather idea bout solutions to the elongated conflict with an inclusive peace process. This is an idea that appeared in 2023 when there was an official dialogue meeting. An inclusive peace means participation of every side, not exclusive, or just a talk between specific groups, because the peace process is not concerned with a few people, but it is an agenda for everyone in society. Summary of thoughts about the peace process in the southern border provinces Ideas from the public forum about the peace process in the southern border provinces in the last 10 years started with the activity of World cloud to encourage the participants to express their thoughts. The most frequently heard terms were “failure” and “retreat”, along with such terms with similar meanings as “no progress”, “no improvement”, “a relatively slow process”, “elongated”, and “not waiting for people”. These terms indicate the participants’ concern that the peace process is not moving forward. Exchanges in a big group were conducted about four main agendas, namely progress, confidence, hopes and supports. The results of the 7th Peace Survey accompanied the discussions. Agenda 1 The progress of the peace dialogue From the results of the Peace Survey, it was found that 31.9 percent of the respondents saw that the peace progress made some progresses, but there are differences opinions as follows. Those who see there is no progress • The peace dialogue did not come from the real intention of the state, but it was a political need of the government at that time. • It still cannot specify who the real leaders of the movements are, and those who come to the negotiation table are not direct leaders. 235

ž The beginning of the dialogue process was not in accordance with the local context. ž Agreements on the negotiation table are not implemented concretely.ž Each side set wrong questions and too many conditions for the dialogue. Those who see that there are progresses • The violent situation has improved compared to 2004. • Women are more confident and children have more opportunities. • Relations between Thai Buddhists and Muslims improves, with more reconciliation. Agenda 2 Confidence in the peace dialogue process According to the Peace Survey, 42 percent of the respondents are confident in the peace process, while 32 percent of them are not convinced. Those who are confident • There are intentions in both side to have a dialogue. • The dialogue help reduce violence and build opportunities to live together. • The peace process is discussed in the parliament, which is an important step forward. • Every conflict should end at a negotiation table. • Those who are not confident • Those who join the dialogue are not real actors. and cannot decide orientations of the movement. • The movement does not come from intentions of a country’s leader and there is no national agenda to acknowledge it. • Enforcement of the special laws in the region is an obstacle for the peace process. 236

Agenda 3 Hopes for peace agreements in 5 years Those who have hopes • “The first step of the stairs” is already built, and agenda of peace is discussed in the Parliament. • People participate in the peace process and have roles. • Those who do not have hopes • Enforcement of the special laws in the region. • An unclear structure of the government dialogue panel. • Many sectors are benefited from the conflict. Agenda 4 Support for dialogue in the dialogue process, proposals to enhance the dialogue process • Building safe space for people in expressing their thoughts. • Let people have roles in the peace dialogue process instead of the state and the movement. • Reduce roles of the army in the region, and let political sectors lead the dialogue. • Build spaces of dialogue for people, both Thai Buddhists and Muslims, to solve agendas with different thoughts such as cancellation of the special laws. • Increase roles of women in the peace process. • Improve unfair enforcement of the special laws and cases of extrajudicial killings that happen so easily (in the last 3 years there have been 76 cases). The afternoon session started with reviews of the activities in the morning. The moderators explained that presentation of data from researches is returning knowledge to society. This is something demanded to researchers who are often criticised that they are benefitted from researches in the region but do not return knowledge to communities. In the afternoon, the participants were divided into 237

4 groups for brainstorming and finding recommendations from public consultations, with two important questions, namely “Has the peace process made any progress, and how?” and “Do you support the dialogue or not, who do you support, how?” Summary of ideas from group 1 Has the peace process made any progresses and how?Progresses 1. There has been a dialogue continuously since 2013 until the Prayuth’s government, with some developments and effects to different groups. 2. The number of violent incidents has been declining. 3. The political atmosphere is conducive for organising public consultations. 4. The negotiation started by the state has been accepted by the international society. 5. The state has a communication mechanism with people through local leaders. No progress 1. Both parties have very few public relations, leaving people uninformed about the dialogue. 2. Proposals from civil societies are not reflected in policies and brought to the negotiation table. 3. 80 percent of the local population still do not understand the process. 4. There is no safe space yet for those who are engaged in civil society. 5. People do not dare to speak, lacking confidence in their safety.6. Human rights defenders are intimidated, regarded as threats to the national security. 7. The dialogue is going around in the same place, with its main purpose is to attract budget. 8. There are still extra-judicial killings, suppressions and enforcement of the special laws along with the dialogue. 238

9. The process has not acknowledged by both side. There is no trust and no clear indicators. 10. There are contradicting information. 11. The frame of the dialogue is limited by the Thai constitution. 12. The justice system has problems in delivering justice. 13. There is no reliable check system about insurgents. 14. The number of checkpoints is still high. Proposals 1. Build a public space to uphold peace without resorting to budget. 2. Reveal information about the negotiation so that the public can access it. 3. Families of detainees should be given information to follow them. 4. Representatives of political sectors should join the negotiation as the representatives of people. Summary of thoughts from Group 2 Does the peace dialogue make any progresses, how? The peace progress go forward because 1. The violent situation improves. 2. There should be signing of joint peace agreements.3. There should be more forums for listening to opinions about the peace process. 4. Vulnerable groups and PWDs people dare to express their opinions. 5. Some policies are more integrated. 6. Communities are stronger and can manage their own area better. This enhance tourism and gets more attentions. The dialogue does not make progress because 1. Many things still remain the same, including checkpoints, the special laws, budget, cordon and search operations. 2. The policies to solve the problem are still in the same place, not responding to real problems in a sustainable way. 239

3. Livelihood of people and the local economy still lack continuous development. 4. Fear of people from outside still remains. 5. There are still negative perceptions about the situation in the region. 6. People from different religions are still suspicious with each other. 7. Confidence in the works of the state officers are not yet perfect. 8. The dialogue between the two parties are not continuous. 9. The dialogue do not reflect actual operations of both sides. 10. There are “security industry” that “keeps heat”. Summary of thoughts from group 3 Supports for the peace dialogue process The group agree that there should be support for Party A, B and C with the following proposals to each group. Communities should know, be aware and follow the peace dialogue process continuously. The state • should upgrade the dialogue so that the contents are the same. • political sectors should lead the military. • let civilian agencies as representatives in the dialogue. • communicate with people continuously.Researchers must return data to the government and people • Civil societies • They should be strong and able to negotiate and drive policies.• They should play more roles. • Specialists in different fields should present proposals before peace negotiations. 240

Other proposals 1. To build public space for unity of civil society, and find common grounds in the peace process. 2. The state and those who have different opinions from the state should support civil societies in the peace process. 3. International organisations play roles in coordination of the peace process. 4. Communications on the peace process should be enhanced so that people all over the country can understand it, not just in the region. 5. The following researches of Peace Survey should survey other regions as well, not just the southern border provinces. 6. Both sides should communicate about the dialogue regularly. Summaries of thoughts from group 4 Supports for the peace process, proposals 1. We support the government to set the peace dialogue as a national agenda. 2. People should participate in every step, and there should be 30 percent of women in negotiation for reconciliation, and there should be vulnerable groups who are directly affected. 3. Elderly people should be invited as advisors, and students and youths should participate too. 4. The government must communicate and conduct public relations before and after the dialogue through official websites to show the progress. 5. The state should have a dialogue process with people and make public relations about the results. 6. Apart from the facilitator who prepare the place for dialogue, other counties should be invited into the mechanism as moderator, such as thee UN, ASEAN, and the EU to provide consultations to both sides. 241

7. Both sides should bring proposals from people to the negotiation table. 8. Both of the conflicting parties should avoid damages to innocent people, and protect their lives and properties. 9. Listening to public forum must be a task of the government, providing budget through SBPAC for creating participation. In the summaries, there are additional ideas as follows• In consideration for renewing the emergency decree, people should be included. • Listening to public opinions should use many channels including online. • Local people’s opinions must be listened to, especially those who have decision making power, such as members of parliaments and senators. • There was an observation that information that “violence increases” comes from feelings or clear data, because at present the number of tourists from Malaysia is increasing. • Although violence is decreasing, but the survey revealed that 60 percent of people still feel that the situation remains the same, while 30 percent see that it improves. • Communication should not be the task of the state only, but there should be collaborations from mass media which has influence in communication. Agendas not agreed, orientations to be taken At the end of the activity, there was a ceremony to submit a document of summaries in the talk to the vice president of the peace subcommittee which reflects thoughts from the forum and proposals from civil society. It was stressed that the proposals were not merely to the sub-committee, but for every sector concerned with the peace process including BRN and the Setha’s government.242

Agenda of safety An important agenda which did not come to agreement was about safety. The result of the Peace Survey show that people do not feel safe to criticise both the movement and the state. This reflects the fact that people still lack safe spaces to fully express their opinions. However, there were differences of opinions among subgroups. Group 1 saw that there was no safety, while group 2 see that people dare to speak up and express their opinions more. This indicate that even though they are in the same circle but their evaluations of safety are different. Moreover, there was an agenda about safety of properties with a proposal that the conflict should avoid causing damages to people. This reflects that safety has many dimensions, and peace building should consider various viewpoints, including safety in expressing opinions without intimidation, and safety from violence in public spaces. Proposals about participation of women and vulnerable groups An outstanding and concrete proposal was that there should be no less than 30 percent of women in the dialogue panel (3 out of 7). The vice president of the ad-hoc committee was interested in this new proposal, and would be considered in the ad-hoc committee. In addition, there was a proposal that PWDs people should take part in the talk. This was also a new viewpoint which had not been implemented before. Indicators of successes for the peace process There was a proposals about indicators for the success of the peace process that reflects people’s feelings, such as decrease in the number of checkpoint, cancellation of the special laws, allocation of budgets and decrease in the number of soldiers in the region. These are all more important than the agenda of direct violence. 243

Opinions from the other sub-committee members The other subcommittee members expressed additional opinions. They saw that lack of clarity in the government is an opportunity for the subcommittee and civil society sectors participate in deciding the direction, especially when civilians become leaders in the negotiation. Apart from that, there was a proposal that the document submitted to the subcommittee should be attached with detailed information from all 4 groups so that those who did not know about the situation in the southern border provinces could understand them more clearly. An issue was raised that safety had many dimensions and different according to groups. For instance, Thai Buddhist demanded safety by quoting the special laws, while Malay Muslims demand safety from law enforcement. This difference was like a wall dividing Thai Buddhists and Muslims. This situation slowed down the peace process. Therefore there was a suggestion that both groups should consider the agenda of safety together. Organising this forum for exchange is a new tools for public consultation. Although there is no ready-made recipe, everyone joined for the same purpose of building peace. They have different ideologies but they also have common grounds to support peace together. Therefore, the organisers of the forum expressed their hope that it can support and extend participation of people in creating genuine and sustainable peace. Waeromlee closed the meeting with a remark that “every activity has blessings of God. Today’s activity is joined by PWDs people, so I believe that it’s highly blessed and sustainable. He also stressed that in order that the peace process would go forward, measures of people should be used, not those of the state or soldiers, because this country should be with people. Measures of people should be indicators for everything. 244

“We need peace built from our own voice.” A simple words from villagers in the forum for listening opinions in Narathiwat Province reflects the gist of what many people in the southern border provinces are waiting for. Amid the long conflict lasting for more than two decades, people’s voices have been forgot in the peace process which often limited in the meeting rooms between representative of the state and the movements. An important challenge is to make inclusivity as a practice in daily life, not just a discourse or policy floating on papers. This is reflected by an opinion that “about the peace dialogue so far in the past 10 years, if asked what people have obtained, the answer must be nothing.” Forums are not just for listening, but starting point of a process to include people in designing peace by themselves. An important question is, “Is it possible for peace by people to be reality? Is it possible for people from different religions, ethnicity and experiences to work together to draw picture of the future where people can live together peacefully?” People designing peace: Building future together in the southern border provinces. 245

Opening the curtain of a dialogue: The first time when people sat in the negotiationOn 10 March 2024, a dim light emerged when the Ad-hoc Committee for Enhancement and Solutions to the Conflict for Building Peace organized an open forum for listening to opinions with the title “People designing peace: Listening to opinions and proposals from people to the peace building in the southern border provinces/Patani” at Shalakh Meeting Room, 4th floor, Faculty of Management, Yala Rajabhat University, organized by the Ad-hoc Committee for considering, studying and proposing ideas for enhancing the peace process in order to solve the conflict problems in the southern border provinces. This forum open spaces for those who are affected by the conflict, including Muslims, Buddhists, PWDs people due to violent incidents, former defendants in security cases, and local fishermen to tell their hopes about sustainable peace. Participation of people in the peace process is “to connect people with the dialogue. This is both necessary and beneficial.” Chaturon Chaisang, the president of the committee stressed this fact. He also showed that the peace process in the past 10 years has not been known to people. The dialogue has been limited among narrow circles of the representatives of the state and the movements, without connecting to the region which is most affected. “The peace dialogue so far has not been known to the people, even the local people in the southern border provinces. Therefore, connecting people with the dialogue is necessary and beneficial” said Chaturon again. Sutham Sangprathum, the president of the sub-committee for studying to enhance efficiency of the peace negotiation, explained that the peace negotiation has existed since 20213 but most of them are secret talks, and people are left uninformed about the progress. 246

Students and the negotiation: Peace starting from basic rights“It is quite difficult to express out political opinions about humanity in the university.” This is a reflection from Faris Hayeekueji, from the Ristu Club, Yala Rajabhad University, indicating problems in educational institution which should be an academically free space. Many students mentioned about pressures they had received when they tried to organise activities for demonstrating The leaders also lack clear political will to engage in this. He mentioned conditions for the success of peace dialogues such as confidence and safety of those who join the talk, clear political wills of the government, participation of the people and collaborations among every sector to find solutions. Dr Pechdau Tohmeena, the president of the sub-committee to study and enhance participation of people in peace building, stressed three important principles, namely, protection of variety of people, participation of every sector from those who have different opinions to the state, and creating security and freedom of expression. 247

identities and culture. Chareef Hayeedoloh, a student from Yala Rajabhad University suggest that the university should not pressure the students in organising activities for demonstrating identities and culture. He mentioned the case of the Ikrom Club whose activities about Malay clothes were blocked. “This was about Malay clothes and nothing else, within the frame of law”. Hutsen Buenae, former president of a student union, who is currently charged for violation of Section 116 for organising a forum said, “We only talk about peace, but what happened was that many students were intimidated by security officers, educational institutions and families. All these affect education and development of students.” He asked a question, “The committee is selling a dream about peace. What kind of safety measure do you have so that we can express ourselves freely, free from pressure as we are facing now?” These problems reflect that even in spaces which should encourage expression of thoughts and academic exchanges there are still restriction on expression of identities and thoughts, which is a significant obstacle for building peace in the region. From bruises to meaning: Definition of peace in the real world“I became PWDs after I was shot in 2013, and I also hope for peace like many others, but peace of each person is different.” This is a remark made by Sukkree Itae, who reflected on different perspectives toward peace in the southern border provinces. He pointed that even there are principles of safety in communication, but in reality, “Whatever we talk, we still feel unsafe. 248