Southern civic groups want peace talks in parallel with Gov-BRN talks

Civic groups in restive Deep South are calling for parallel peace talks, between the government and the people and people to people, to run alongside the government-Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) negotiations, to find a political solution to the decades-long violent conflict.

Fa-id Krasi, of the Fa Sai Association to Promote Peace Among Youth, said that more space should be open for parallel peace talks, because conflict remains between the government and the people and among the people themselves.

Rujirada Wongkaew, another youth leader in the Deep South, said that some of the violence in the region stems from mistrust and misunderstanding between various groups of people.

Chief of the Thai delegation to the peace talks in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday and Wednesday, Chatchai Bangchuad, said that the government does not block the people from expressing their views on the southern…