Rojak and Cocktail: "Warm to Malaysia, cold to Singapore"

Thailand says relations with Malaysia on the mend, but 'breach of understanding' with S'pore needs repairing

Bilateral ties between Thailand and Malaysia are on the mend after three years of strain caused by the Southern Thai separatist violence along their shared border, Thailand's military government has insisted.

Since Mr Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in a military coup in September over allegations of corruption, the new government has been working hard to heal the rift, and things have been upbeat so far.

To mark this warming of ties, Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi will visit Bangkok on Feb 11 and 12, Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram told reporters yesterday.

"Prior to this government, relations between our two countries were not as satisfactory as we would have liked to see," said Mr Nitya.

While he was Prime Minister, Mr Thak-sin often accused Malaysia of harbouring insurgents and of failing to cooperate in the battle against the militants in the Muslim majority south, and often traded barbs with Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar over the issue.

Yesterday Mr Nitya said that both sides are working to warm relations. "I believe we are on our way to making amends," he said.

In contrast, Singapore's relations with Thailand have been less tranquil since Mr Thaksin visited the Republic last month and held an unofficial meeting with Deputy Prime Minister S Jayakumar.

Following the incident, Thailand immediately cancelled a planned series of diplomatic meetings and launched an investigation into alleged eavesdropping by Temasek-controlled telco Shin Corp — a charge that Singapore has denied. Mr Nitya said the actions were justified.

"That was perfectly called for," he said.

He defended Thailand's harsh reaction to Mr Thaksin's visit, describing the situation as a "breach of understanding among friends".

Said Mr Nitya: "If I were to invite a person that is essentially in total opposition to what they're trying to do ... I don't think they would understand. I don't think they would look at it any differently."

But the Thai diplomat stressed that relations with Singapore were not irreparable.

"It isn't our intention to start a rift that cannot be healed between our countries."

Meanwhile, Malaysia's former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad weighed in with his view on Thailand's diplomatic spat with Singapore.

In an interview with Thai broadcaster Channel 5, Dr Mahathir accused Singapore of interfering with Thailand's internal affairs and violating diplomatic norms by allowing Prof Jayakumar's meeting with Mr Thaksin.

"Singapore doesn't really care about the opinion of its neighbours," said Dr Mahathir, adding that the decision was "unfeeling and not sympathetic".

"Singapore believes the most important thing is what profits Singapore," he said.

When asked to comment about his 22 years of dealing with Singapore, Dr Mahathir said: "You'll get nowhere with them either being nice or being tough — they only think of themselves."

Dr Mahathir, however, said that both sides should patch things in "a way that is honourable".

Meanwhile, Dr M also urged the Thai government to resume dialogue with exiled leaders from the Malay-speaking region in the country's deep South, saying any breakthrough could pave the way for the new generation of militants to follow them.

Mahathir: Talk with exiled South leaders

They could provide a breakthrough with militants, he says

Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad urged the Thai government to resume dialogue with exiled leaders from the Malay-speaking region in the country's deep South, saying any breakthrough could pave the way for the new generation of militants to follow them.

Speaking to Nation Channel's Thep-chai Yong over the weekend, Mahathir said it would be a mistake to sideline the long-standing groups, including the Patani United Liberation Organisation (Pulo), Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), and the Barisan Islam Pembebasan Patani (BIPP).

"They told me they understand that they cannot expect independence - they cannot expect autonomy. But they want to see their part of Thailand given the same treatment as other parts of Thailand," Mahathir said.

"In other words, they want to see development, they want to see their people educated, they want to see their people employed, business being done in the South, like in other parts of Thailand, which seems to be progressing faster," he said.

Mahathir said the exiled leaders could help convince the new generation of militants on the ground as to "how far they can go, what they can get, and to accept that there are things they can change and things they cannot change".

However, "there will always young leaders and extreme leaders on the fringes" who refuse to sign up to these ideas, he warned.

Thai security officials believe the new generation of militants are organised into small cells throughout the South, but the nature of their relations with the long standing groups is still not clear to them.

Mahathir had helped facilitate a series of meetings between the old guard and senior Thai officials on the island of Langkawi from October 2005 to February 2006.

"I never thought this was going to be easy. But it is not entirely impossible to resolve this provided there is willingness on both sides to see the other side's viewpoint," Mahathir said, adding he would be willing to assist in future dialogue if asked, but stated he has no initiative in the pipeline at the moment.

Thai officials and exiled leaders said the Langkawi meetings were not formal negotiations but a confidence-building measure to identify common ground for the two sides. A set of recommendations for future talks was given to the Bangkok government in February 2006 - but Thaksin had shelved it.

But with a new government in place, officials in Bangkok said a new round of talks is being proposed, but this time around, Kuala Lumpur is expected to have a direct role in facilitating the discussion, officials said.

Mahathir said the Langkawi talks were conducted when Thaksin Shinawatra was in power and that the policy of the former Thai premier, who was ousted in a coup last September, may not have been the best for the South.

"Thaksin was a businessman. Business is about winning. You can't win that way in that kind of situation," Mahathir said.

Mahathir said Malaysia was not a staging ground for attacks in southern Thailand and said that ethnic Malays from southern Thailand are permitted to live in Malaysia.

"So long as they are not actively responsible for acts of terror in Thailand they are welcome to stay here."

He said the instability in southern Thailand was a concern for Malaysia because many people living along the common border are relatives.

He called Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont's apology for heavy-handed tactics by the previous Thai governments on the south, and specifically the death of nearly 80 unarmed demonstrators in Tak Bai district in late 2004, "a very good move".

"If only Thaksin [Shinawatra] had done this in the beginning, we could have avoided such bloodshed. It is such a simple thing to say… and it doesn't make you smaller in any way by saying sorry," Mahathir said.

Mahathir takes more potshots at Abdullah

TUN Dr Mahathir Mohamad has resumed his attack on the Abdullah administration.

Giving answers dripping with sarcasm, the former premier gave his take yesterday on several hot issues faced by Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's government.

Tun Dr Mahathir had called the press conference, his second meeting with the media this year, to speak about his upcoming international peace meeting.

But reporters steered him into answering questions that included the government's new executive jet, the failed merger plan of two newspaper groups and the sharp rise of the ringgit against the US dollar that could hurt Malaysian exporters.

His answers showed that although he has not spoken at public engagements against Datuk Seri Abdullah since November last year, his unhappiness with the current administration remains deep.

Asked to comment on the government's lease of a jet that allegedly cost US$50 million (RM200 million), Tun Dr Mahathir said the government should have bought a bigger plane.

Bloggers and news portals had claimed that the Prime Minister is buying an Airbus A319 jet for his own use at a time when he is curbing public spending.

However, the Premier said on Monday that the jet is for the use of top officials, including the King.

He denied that the government is buying the plane, and said it would be leased from Penerbangan Malaysia Bhd (PMB), the parent company of national carrier Malaysia Airlines.

Datuk Seri Abdullah's explanation has been challenged by the opposition and bloggers who point out that PMB is a company owned by government investment fund Khazanah Nasional.

Tun Dr Mahathir's take on leasing a jet: 'It's necessary. I thought it should be a 747 or A380 but the government is being very careful because the government has no money. This plane costs only RM200 million.

'It is not bought by the government, it's bought by somebody else, and that somebody else is owned 100 per cent by the government.'

Another controversial issue was the planned merger of two of the country's oldest media groups that own Malay-language Utusan Malaysia and the New Straits Times.

Despite supporting the merger earlier, Datuk Seri Abdullah backed down after failing to get support from top Umno chiefs, who feared the merger would weaken Utusan's ability to project the voice of Malays.

Asked if abandoning the plan was a setback for Datuk Seri Abdullah, Tun Dr Mahathir said: 'No, it is not true. It is just that they are democratic. They listen to people. If people don't like it, they don't like it.'

The sarcasm was not lost on reporters, because Tun Dr Mahathir had bitterly attacked the government when it scrapped a plan to build a bridge across the Johor Strait, after saying that was a decision made by the people.

Asked whether he was happy with the government's policy of letting the ringgit strengthen, he said: 'I am happy with whatever the government does.'

The ringgit yesterday traded at around 3.5 per US dollar, its highest level in about nine years.

Tun Dr Mahathir was also asked to comment on last weekend's by-election in Batu Talam, Pahang, which the ruling Barisan Nasional won by a big margin against an independent.

Referring to comments by Deputy Premier Najib Razak, he replied: 'Datuk Najib said it is evidence of the confidence of the whole country in the administration of Prime Minister Datuk Abdullah Badawi. I second that.'

- By Reme Ahmad The Straits Times