Thailand has cancelled September peace talks with the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) following a series of violent incidents in the southern border provinces, with chief peace negotiator Thanut Suvarnananda saying the government is demanding answers from the group before negotiations can resume.
“There will not be talks in September,” Thanut, who is also director of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), told Thai PBS World.
He said the resumption of talks would depend on an explanation from representatives of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) over the recent violence in Narathiwat.
“We want to know why they launched the attack,” Thanut said.
Five rangers were killed and several civilians were injured last week after an armed group attacked a security checkpoint in the southern province.
Thanut said the dialogue process had initially been moving in a positive direction before the latest violence occurred in Narathiwat.
“The lead-up to the September dialogue had started well, but then violence occurred in Narathiwat. The incident happened unexpectedly and was more serious than we can accept,” he said, adding that the government needed to review the situation because the attack was too serious to ignore.
Thailand has sent questions to the BRN and is waiting for an explanation as to why the violence occurred while discussions were already underway.
“We want them to explain first why they suddenly decided to carry out this action,” he said.
He added that, even if armed groups had their own reasons for carrying out attacks, the fact that dialogue had already begun meant the incident had damaged the peace process.
“We were already talking. Once an incident happens, we have to start again from the beginning,” he said.
Asked whether the BRN had responded to Thailand’s questions, Thanut said it had not yet done so because the questions had only recently been sent.
Thanut said the incident prompted him to call off the peace talks scheduled to take place in Kuala Lumpur in September, with Malaysia acting as the facilitator.
He was appointed the new chief peace negotiator by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul in April this year.
Meanwhile, Thanut said Thailand had not yet coordinated with Malaysia over the next steps in the peace dialogue process, as Malaysia is currently in the process of changing its facilitator for the talks.
“There is still a vacuum at the moment. We are waiting to see what the Malaysian side will do,” he said.
He noted, however, that Thailand could still communicate its position through representatives, intermediaries or other available channels while awaiting Malaysia’s decision.
Thanut said the government remained committed to negotiations as a long-term approach to resolving the southern border provinces conflict.
The prime minister, he said, had repeatedly indicated that dialogue was a crucial part of the solution and was not merely a short-term measure.
“Negotiations must proceed step by step and require time,” Thanut said.
He also rejected concerns that a tougher security approach by Thai authorities could become an obstacle to dialogue with groups holding different views from the government.
“Each side has its own operational approach, but the important thing is that we move forward together in the same direction,” he said.
He explained that security agencies would continue with their own strategies, while the peace dialogue team would focus on political engagement and communication.
“Our approach is the path of peace, sending questions first and asking what happened,” he said.
Regarding early August, a period considered significant by some southern insurgency groups, Thanut said authorities were not placing special emphasis on specific dates.
“There are important dates throughout the year. The key issue is maintaining readiness and not allowing gaps in security,” he said.
On intelligence assessments of the latest attack, Thanut said the incident appeared unusual but warned against drawing conclusions without further analysis.
He noted that similar incidents had occurred previously in Narathiwat, where insurgents carried out operations openly and were sometimes captured on CCTV footage.
Despite the challenges, Thanut said he remained confident that the peace process could continue and that tensions could eventually be reduced through coordination and renewed dialogue.
Thanut said he had been speaking with various stakeholders, including local community leaders, religious leaders and residents, to gather their views and opinions on the situation in the region.
“It is very important that the views of local people are taken into consideration in the peace talks,” he said. Previous rounds of peace talks had mainly focused on the demands of rebel groups, particularly the BRN.
