One of the long standing Malay Muslim separatist organisation, the Patani United Liberation Organisation (Pulo) lashed out at the government of Yingluck Shinawatra, accusing it of distorting the issue in the violence-plague deep South with the accusations that drug trades have become a part of the "liberation" movement.
In a statement to The Nation on Thursday, Pulo said the organisation does not dispute the fact that drug abuses and trafficking in the region and that it may involved ethnic Malays, as well as Thai. But it is misleading to say that the conflict in the three southernmost provinces and drug trafficking are one.
The statement also pointed to the high number of troops assigned to the deep South and wondered why they have not been able to curb the flow of drugs and suggested that it was possible that some of the authorities turned a blind eye to the illicit activities for various reasons.
The statement urged the Thai authorities to act more responsibly with its information campaign, adding that it should be based on factual information, not distortion.
In the statement sent by Pulo’s Foreign Affairs chief, Kasturi Mahkota, the movement slammed reports by Thai authorities suggeting that some sort of breakthrough was about to take place between separatist movement and the Thai state.
Kasturi was making reference to unconfirmed reports that senior members in the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Center (SBPAC) was trying to cut a deal with a self-proclaimed leader of a Patani Malay separatist movement.
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