I refer to the Malaysiakini report Najib: Independence for southern Thailand not viable .

The Thai government has done well to confirm that the suggestion for more autonomy for its southern states by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is, in fact ,consistent with its own official policy.

This confirmation was widely covered in the local print and New Media because it was very welcome news for historical and geopolitical reasons, that one need hardly needs to go into here.

However, the subsequent response by the Pattani United Liberation Front (Pulo) that Malaysia be invited as a third party to act as a mediator to the southern Thailand conflict was (perhaps understandably) felt to be ‘unworkable’ by the Thai deputy prime minister on the grounds of ‘similarities in religion, race and history’.

But with the greatest of respect, what seems to be most urgently needed now is not so much that of being a mediator but rather how to assist in the process of creating the right social climate for autonomy so that people could regain trust and confidence in a situation that has deteriorated to a level where they have now reportedly been issued firearms by the government to defend themselves.

At the same time, it is also heartening to note that the Thai government has initiated programmes and projects to win back the hearts and minds of the people. This is an area where Malaysia has had considerable success during the Emergency and perhaps might be willing, if requested, to share some of our experiences with the Thai government.

In all humility I have to say that we have a cadre of trained and experienced community development officers in social development who could work with their Thai counterparts to initiate and implement such projects in southern Thailand.

Moreover, being Malaysians from multiethnic communities and cultures and fluent in Malay, they will ‘naturally’ overcome the possible constraints of ‘race’.

But most importantly, particularly at this time, this will also provide an excellent opportunity for Malaysians to put ‘1Malaysia’ in practice especially in a foreign country.