Dialogue without negotiation: Illiberal peacebuilding in Southern Thailand

Muslim women display a banner saying “stop violence, end conflict by peaceful means” during an anti-violence rally attended by Muslim and Buddhist residents in southern Thailand’s Narathiwat province, Jan. 22, 2019.

Event details

PSC Seminar Series

Date & time

Thursday 25 May 2023
1pm–2.30pm

Venue

Room 4.27 Hedley Bull Building

Speaker

Rungrawee Chalermsripinyorat

Contacts

Maxine McArthur

This talk examines the peace process in violence-ravaged southern Thailand. Initiated under the civilian government of Yingluck Shinawatra in 2013, the peace process has largely been dominated by the military since the 2014 coup. Developing upon Lewis et al.’s concept of Authoritarian Conflict Management, I argue that the Thai state has employed an authoritarian mode to respond to the resurgence of violent rebellion since 2004. While retaining the peace process, the military regime turned it into an extended domain of illiberal peacebuilding. The government has tried to assert its hegemony not only over the spatial, discursive, and economic domains but also in the legal realm. The biggest hurdle to the advancement of the peace talks is the fear held by the Thai state over the internationalisation of the southern conflict. The military’s domination of Thai politics continues to pose a challenge to peacebuilding. The May 14 general elections could be a watershed for the trajectory of conflict resolution in southern Thailand.

Rungrawee Chalermsripinyorat is a lecturer at the Institute for Peace Studies, Prince of Songkla University in southern Thailand. Her research interests include security sector reform, peace process, and religion & conflict, particularly in the context of southern Thailand and Southeast Asia. Rungrawee was formerly a political analyst with International Crisis Group. She obtained a PhD in International, Political and Strategic Studies from the Australian National University. She has contributed Op-Eds in English and Thai to Nikkei Review, Bangkok Post, New Mandala, East Asia Forum, Matichon Daily and quoted by Thai and international media.

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