On 11 March 2013, Mr. Surapong Tovichakchaikul, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, gave a press interview on the Peace Dialogue regarding the situation in the Southern Border Provinces in light of recent coverage by some Thai media, which deviates from the truth. Gist as follows:

                        1. The Foreign Minister and high-ranking officials of the Foreign Ministry have thoroughly considered the draft General Consensus Document on Peace Dialogue signed by the Thai Secretary-General of the National Security Council and the representative of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional Coordinate. The Document clearly states that the form of discussion agreed upon is a peace dialogue with groups whose opinions and ideologies differ from that of the State. This, in turn, is an extract from Article 8 (2) of the National Policy on Administration and Development in the Southern Border Provinces 2012-2014, which states: “to further promote the continuity of the peace dialogue process with those whose opinions and ideologies differ from that of the State … as part of the stakeholders of the Southern Border Provinces’ problem in a unified manner as well as to seek further co-operation from foreign states or non-governmental organizations to support the said dialogue.” The above-mentioned policy had been widely debated and acknowledged by the Parliament during 28 – 29 March 2012. In this regard, the Dialogue will take place strictly within the framework of the Thai Constitution 2007 (B.E. 2550), which stipulates that separatism is not legally permissible. Thus, it is evident that the signing of the General Consensus Document strictly adheres to existing legal frameworks and only entails the beginning of a dialogue process between the National Security Council and groups holding different views and ideologies to that of the State. The signing does not confer any recognition upon the group taking part in the dialogue as mistakenly reported by some members of the Thai media.   

                        2.  The result of the discussion between Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra, Prime Minister of Thailand, and Mr. Najib Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia, states that: 1) Malaysia does not condone the use of violence in resolving the situation in the Southern Border Provinces; 2) Malaysia does not support any form of secession; and 3) Malaysia does not provide shelter to the perpetrators of violence.

                        3. During the Thai Prime Minister’s visit to Sweden and Belgium, the leaders of both countries as well as the European Union namely: the Prime Minister of Sweden, the Speaker of the Parliament of Sweden, the Prime Minister of Belgium, the President of the European Parliament, the President of the European Commission and President of the European Council, have all commended and supported the efforts undertaken by the Royal Thai Government to engage in a peace dialogue with those whose opinions and ideologies differ from that of the State.

                        4. The current Government is determined to resolve the situation in the Southern Border Provinces. In this regard, it is worth reiterating that all efforts by the Foreign Ministry on this matter have been exerted with the utmost care and circumspection, especially the consultation given to the National Security Council on the wordings of the General Consensus Document with due consideration for relevant laws and regulations. All actions taken with regard to this matter have been entirely in line with the framework of the Thai Constitution 2007 (B.E. 2550) and have but one aim: to initiate the Peace Dialogue with various groups and stakeholders. The Foreign Ministry urges all perpetrators of violence to join in on the Peace Dialogue in order to achieve a solution through concerted efforts and calls on all Thais to lend support to this process.  

***************************************