Transforming Political Conflict:
A Blueprint for Reconciliation in Thailand
Wootisan Tanchai
Deputy Secretary General of King Prajadhipok’s Institute
Topics
1
2
Critical Factors for Reconciliation
3
Background of the Study
Lessons Learnt from 10 Conflict Cases
Root Causes of the Conflict in Thailand
4
5 Conditions for Success
Background of the Study
1. Formal request from the Ad-hoc Committee of the House of Representatives on the Study of National Reconciliation (November 2011)
2. The Approval from the Council of King Prajadhipok‟s Institute
3. Research Question – “What are the key factors that would make national reconciliation process successful?”
Research Methodologies
1. Literature review on theories and practices of conflict transformation and reconciliation
2. Document research/interviews with key persons related to 10 case studies
3. Document research on past major political conflicts in Thai society
4. In-depth interviews with key stakeholders through Delphi Technique (47 persons)
10 Case Studies
1. Succeed either in ending violence, significantly reducing violence, or initiating a process that leads to conflict transformation
2. Intrastate-political conflict that could be categorized into three groups a) aiming to change political structure or state ideology
b) aiming to change government in order to have power to govern
of allocate resources c) aiming to establish a new county or
South Korea
Aceh, Indonesia
Northern Ireland, UK
Bolivia
Chile
South Africa
Germany
Colombia Rwan
da
Morocco
6 Lessons Learnt – 4 Success Factors
Conflict
Feeling of being deprived/ refused to voice out grievances
Violence
Feeling of being treated unfairly by
those who are in power/ illegitimate use
of power
Feeling of no alternative
Lesson # 1
Lesson # 2
Inclusive dialogue process where all parties
could share and voice out their views, feelings,
What are the
conflicting issues/Root
causes?
What needs to be done or addressed? How should
the conflict be
transformed?
Etc.
Common understanding+ consensus
Future scenario/ Vision?
Lesson # 3
Truthon
violent incident
s
Truth Finding
Mechanism
Reliable explanati
on
Means Purposes
Revealed in an
appropriate time with a proper
process in consistence with the
social context
Healing
Preventing
repetitive atrocity
Lesson # 4
Amnesty/ Punishment for those who were involved in
political activities
Punish government leaders
and officials/ forgive
demonstrators
Forgive bothstate officials
and insurgent groups?
CONSENSUS
Context 1 Context 2
Government‟s suppression on
peaceful demonstration
Armed conflict between government and
insurgent group with political motivation
Lesson # 5
Healing Affecting
Individuals
ความทรงจ า
ขอโทษ
บอกเล่าประสบกา
รณ์Holocaus
t survivors
โครงการส่งเสริม
คุณภาพชีวิต
COLLECTIVE MEMORIES
APOLOGY
STORY TELLING
DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
COMPENSATION
Lesson # 6
Politics
Economics
SocietyCultu
re
Structural/ Organizational Reform forConflict prevention – Justice – Peaceful
coexistence
Success Factors
รูปลีดเดอรชิพเจตจ านงทางการเมือง
รูปกระบวนการพูดคุย
มีพื้นที่และบรรยากาศ
รูปภาพอนาคตร่วมกันวิชั่น
แก้ไขอดีต มองอนาคต
ยอมรับผิด ให้อภัย
1 2 3 4Political Will Dialogue process
and environment for dialogue
Sincere apology and forgiveness
Common vision for the future
dynamics
Transformation Positive PeaceNegative Peace
Factor 3: Creating environment conducive to dialogue
Factor 4: Inclusive dialogue process
Peacebuilding and Reconciliation Process: Lessons Learned from 10 Cases
Process
- Dialogue
- Mediation
- NegotiationMindset: Violence cannot lead to sustainable peace
Process
- Truth-finding/ apology/ forgiveness
- Dialogue for improving relationship
- Negotiation for structural reform Mindset: Transitional justice and peaceful coexistence
Root Causes of Conflict
1) Feeling of injustice
politically, economically,
socially, and/or culturally
2) Imbalance of allocation of
power and/or resources
3) Different ideologies on the
form of governance
4) Different perspectives on
power over territory
Sufficient consensus from all stakeholders
Factor 1: Political Will/ Factor 2: The Empowerment of CSOs
Factor 5: Root causes are removed
Violent Conflict (Casualties)
End of Violence/ Negotiated Agreement
(Order)
Just Society
(Peace)
Conflict Transformation
1) Inclusive dialogue and
negotiation process for
possible solution
2) Peace agreement
3) Implementation of the
agreement
4) Shared future of the society
Truth-Finding and Justice
1) Truth finding commission/
mechanism
2) Apology/ retribution/
forgiveness
3) Healing and compensation
Structural Reform and
Building Conditions for Peace
1) Reform/ establish
organization or mechanism to
ensure justice
2) Process to transform hostile
attitude and relationship into
better understanding and
tolerance
3) Social reintegration
4) Peace culture
Factor 6: Fair mechanism for truth-finding, apology, and forgiveness
Lessons learned from the past political conflicts in
Thai society
2 major mechanisms
Contexts Mechanisms
• conflicts among
elite groups
• laws and regulations
enacted by the
winner groups
• conflicts were
expanded and
brought about
ordinary people to
be involved
• the reforms of
political institutions
and socioeconomic
structures
3 critical events in Thailand’s
political history
•The 1973 student uprisings
•The massacre of 6th
October 1976
•The Black May 1992
• A coalition of workers, farmers, students, and members of the middle class began to mobilize for democracy
• The nation’s top military leaders, who were forced to go into exile, after the use of violence to
What’s happen:
The 1973 student
uprisings
• The 1974 Amnesty Act to Students and Democratization Movement Involvers
• The Act for Repealing the Order of the Revolutionary Leader No. 36/1973
• The initiative of new constitutional drafting were implemented in order to restore the
How’s the conflict solved:
The 1973 student
uprisings
• Protesting students, who gathered to oppose Field Marshal Thanom’s return from his exile, were killed or imprisoned by the right-wing Village Scouts and the military.
• Many of the students fled to the “jungle” to join the
What’s happen:The massacre
of 6 October 1976
• The promulgation of the Thai Prime Ministerial Order 66/23 anti-communist insurgency policy
• The Thai state came to terms with several facts: that these insurgents are Thais; that they are products of gross injustice and obscene violence,
How’s the conflict solved:
The massacre of 6 October
1976
• Suchinda’sappointment as PM accompanied by the appointment to his cabinet of almost the same corrupt politicians who were ousted in the 1991 coup resulted in massive demonstrations in Bangkok and a few other cities in May
What’s happen:The Black
May 1992
• (1) Royal intervention
• (2) Constitutional amendment
• (3) the Amnesty Act to Democratization Movement Involvers
How’s the conflict solved:
The Black May 1992
Root Causes of Thai Political Conflict• The core of political conflict
- conflicting views on democracy
(majority rule versus morality and ethical behavior)
- context
(strong socio-economic inequalities)
• Beliefs Interests
• Both parties consider that the use of power by the other one is not legitimate
Root Causes of Thai Political Conflict
Basic Assumptions on Protracted Conflict
• Each side has its own version of “truth”
• Each side is both „right‟ and „wrong‟
In order to move from conflict to peace, each
side needs to be aware of these assumptions
–> some concessions are necessary to possible
solution.
EXIT
Perceptions on “TRUTH” in Reconciliation
ส่วนรูปนี้ ไม่ว่าจะมองเป็นหญิงแก่หรือหญิงสาว มันก็ยังเป็นความจริง อยู่ที่คนเราจะมองเห็นในมุมไหน
จากไหน
รูปนี้มีความจริงอันเดียว คือ เป็นเส้นตรง ไม่มีเอียง แต่ท่ีคนเห็นเอียงเพราะเข้าใจไปเองว่ามันเป็นความจริง
These two pictures reflect different perspectives on truth
The Work of Truth for Reconciliation of Thailand
The Work of KPI
The preliminary condition is to create an environment conducive to dialogue and
reconciliation
Initiate a safe and inclusive dialogue process
where all parties could legitimately participate and voice out their needs for better understanding and
possible solutions. Reconciliation cannot be
realized through Parliament and majority vote.
Stop all mass mobilizations that
might be perceived from the other side as a threat or insincerity
Refrain from all activities/ gestures that might lead to
mistrust among key stakeholders i.e. establishment of “Red Village”
Balanced and comprehensive news coverage from medias
Political will and commitment from
leaderships of both sides
Task – What are the factors that could lead to
national reconciliation?Findings – 6 critical issues to be publicly debated in order to
pave the way to reconciliationShort-term issues (to normalize the situation) 1) Truth findings on violent incidents and reveal them in an appropriate time to prevent recurrence of violence 2) Amnesty for political protesters who were charged due to the Emergency Decree B.E.2548 (2005) 3) Restore confidence in the judicial process in accordance with the rule of law and redress perceived injustice: cases initiated by the defunct Assets Examination Committee (AEC)4) Jointly define social contract and political norms/ rules that could address root causes of the conflict and are acceptable to all parties Long-term issues (to move forward to the future) 5) Reflect and design the future of the “Thai Democratic Regime with the King as Head of State”6) Lay the foundations for social and economic justices through structural reforms
Truth findings on violent incidents
and reveal them in an appropriate time to prevent recurrence of
violence
1
Some Critical Questions related to the Issue1) “How far is Thai society ready to face and accept
the truth?
2) “When would be the appropriate time to reveal the truth to the public so that it will not intensify the conflict?”
3) “What will be proper healing measures/ mechanisms to ensure justice?”
1
Option 1: Issue an amnesty bill covering both charges related to the infringement of the Emergency Decree and regular criminal law when motivated by political aims
Amnesty for political protesters who were charged
due to the Emergency Decree B.E.2548 (2005)
2 • Both options exclude the issuance of an amnesty for cases related to defamation of the monarchy, which shall still be subject
Option 2: Issue an amnesty bill covering only charges related to the infringement of the Emergency Decree
1) “Forgiveness/ amnesty (if any) should be done before or after the truth findings?”
2) “Whether or not should amnesty bill include criminal cases which were politically motivated?
3) “Advantages and disadvantages of these options”
2Some Critical Questions related to the Issue
• Option 1: process cases within the existing regular judicial framework by transferring the cases from the AEC to the National Anti-Corruption Commission for further processing
• Option 2: nullify all legal decisions stemming from the work of AEC an transfer all cases to the regular judicial system without consideration of possible time prescription
• Option 3: nullify all legal
Restore confidence in the judicial process in accordance
with the rule of law and redress
perceived injustice: cases initiated by the defunct Assets
Whichever option is to be chosen, there should not be any prosecution of the AEC considering that its actions were in line with its announced mandate at that time
3
1) “Advantages and disadvantages of these options”
2) “How different do parties and stakeholders perceive and define „Rule of Law‟ and what would be the common understanding on this concept?”
3Some Critical Questions related to the Issue
All parties should participate in searching for solutions to improve the country‟s level of democratization and abidance by the rule of law while cautiously avoiding imposing “The Winner‟s Justice”
Jointly define social contract and political norms/ rules that could
address root causes of the conflict and are acceptable to all parties
4
1) “Any political rule or norms that led to the conflict?”
2) “Any political rule or norms that contradicted to the rule of law and democratic principles?”
3) “Any legitimate process that could deal with the revision of the rules”
4Some Critical Questions related to the Issue
Reflect and design the future of the “Thai Democratic Regime
with the King as Head of State”5
1) “How do relevant parties and society in general define the “Thai Democratic Regime with the King as Head of State?”
2) “How would desirable democracy be like in Thai society? Any consensus on its characteristics?”
3) “What would be the roles of and the relationship between the relevant institutions related to power and resource allocation in Thai society under the democratic regime with the King as Head of State?”
5Some Critical Questions related to the Issue
Lay the foundations for
social and economic
justices through structural reforms
6
1) “How do relevant parties and Thai society in general perceive and define social and economic justices?”
2) “Any issues affecting quality of life that must be addressed”
3) “What would be the consensus on the characteristics of desirable society?”
6Some Critical Questions related to the Issue
- Condition of Success -Two Levels of an inclusive dialogue
processto reach sufficient consensus on the
issuesLeadership level (political parties as people representatives)
Various interest groups/ communities level1) Victims
2) Opinion leaders3) Constituencies4) Supporters5) Silent majorities
- 6 critical issues- Future Thailand
- 6 critical issues- Future Thailand- Story telling as healing mechanism