1. Transforming Political Conflict:
A Blueprint for Reconciliation in Thailand
Wootisan Tanchai
Deputy Secretary General of King Prajadhipok’s Institute
2. Topics
1
Background of the Study
2
Lessons Learnt from 10 Conflict Case
3
Root Causes of the Conflict in Thailan
4
Critical Factors for Reconciliation
5
Conditions for Success
3. 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?”
4. 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)
5. 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
7. Lesson # 1
Violence
Feeling of being
treated unfairly by
those who are in
power/ illegitimate use
of power
Conflict
Feeling of no
alternative
Feeling of being
deprived/ refused to
voice out grievances
8. Lesson # 2
What are
the
conflicting
issues/
Root
causes?
Etc.
What needs to
be done or
addressed?
nclusive dialogue process where all
parties
could share and voice out their
How should
the
conflict be
transformed?
Future
scenario/
Vision?
Common
understanding
+ consensus
10. Lesson # 4
Context 1
Government‟s
suppression on
peaceful
demonstration
Punish
governmen
t leaders
and
officials/
forgive
demonstrat
Amnesty/
Punishmen
t for those
who were
involved in
political
activities
CONSENSU
S
?
Context 2
Armed conflict between
government and
insurgent group with political
motivation
Forgive both
state officials
and
insurgent
groups
14. Peacebuilding and Reconciliation Process: Lessons Learned from 10 Cases
Factor 1: Political Will/ Factor 2: The Empowerment of CSOs
dynamics
End of Violence/
Negotiated Agreement
Violent Conflict
(Casualties)
(Order)
Just Society
(Peace)
Sufficient consensus from all stakeholders
Factor 3: Creating environment conducive to dialogue
Process
Factor 4: Inclusive dialogue process
- Dialogue
- Mediation
- Negotiation
Process
- Truth-finding/ apology/ forgiveness
- Dialogue for improving relationship
- Negotiation for structural reform
Mindset: Violence cannot lead to sustainable peace
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
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
Factor 5: Root causes are removed
Transformation
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
Negative Peace
Positive Peace
16. 2 major mechanisms
Contexts
• conflicts among
elite groups
Mechanisms
• 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
17. 3 critical events in
Thailand’s
political history
• The 1973 student
uprisings
th
• The massacre of 6
October 1976
• The Black May 1992
18. The 1973
student
uprisings
What’s
happen:
• 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
19. The 1973
student
uprisings
How’s the
conflict solved:
• 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
20. The massacre
of 6 October
1976
What’s
happen:
• 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”
21. The massacre
of 6 October
1976
How’s the
conflict solved:
• The promulgation of
the Thai Prime
Ministerial Order
66/23 anticommunist
insurgency policy
• The Thai state came
to terms with several
facts: that these
insurgents are Thais;
that they are
products of gross
22. The Black
May 1992
What’s
• Suchinda’s happen:
appointment 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
23. The Black
May 1992
How’s the
conflict solved:
• (1) Royal
intervention
• (2) Constitutional
amendment
• (3) the Amnesty
Act to
Democratization
Movement
Involvers
24. Root Causes of Thai Political
• The core of Conflict conflict
political
- 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
26. Basic Assumptions on
Protracted Conflict
EXIT
• Each side has its own
version of “truth”
• Each side is both „right‟
In order to move from
conflict to peace, each
side needs to be aware of
these assumptions
–> some concessions are
necessary to possible
27. Perceptions on “TRUTH” in
Reconciliation
รูปนี้มีความจริงอันเดียว คือ
เป็นเส้นตรง ไม่มีเอียง แต่ที่
คนเห็นเอียงเพราะเข้าใจไป
เองว่ามันเป็นความจริง
ส่วนรูปนี้ ไม่ว่าจะมอง
เป็นหญิงแก่หรือหญิง
สาว มันก็ยังเป็นความ
จริง อยู่ที่คนเราจะ
มองเห็นในมุมไหน
จากไหน
The Work of Truth for Reconciliation of
Thailand
The Work of KPI
These two pictures reflect different
perspectives on truth
28. The preliminary condition is to create an
environment conducive to dialogue and
reconciliation Political will and
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.
Balanced and
comprehensive
news coverage
from medias
commitment from
leaderships of
both sides
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”
29. Task – What are the factors that could
lead to
Findings – national reconciliation?
6 critical issues to be publicly
debated in order to
Short-term issues (to normalize the situation)
1) Truth findings on pave the way to reconciliation
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 forward to the future) that could address
Long-term issues (to move and political norms/ rules
root causes of design the future of acceptable to all parties
5) Reflect and the conflict and are the “Thai Democratic Regime with the
King as Head of State”
6) Lay the foundations for social and economic justices through structural
reforms
30. 1 on
Truth findings
violent incidents
and reveal them in
an appropriate
time to prevent
recurrence of
violence
31. Some Critical Questions related to
1
the Issue
1) “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?”
32. 2
Amnesty for political protesters who
were charged
due to the Emergency Decree
B.E.2548 (2005)
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
Option 2: Issue an
amnesty bill
covering only
charges related to
the infringement
of the Emergency
Decree
• Both
options
exclude
the
issuance
of an
amnesty
for cases
related
to
defamati
on of the
monarch
y, which
shall still
be
33. Some Critical Questions related to
2
the Issue
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”
34. 3
• Option 1: process cases
within the existing regular
judicial framework by
Restore
transferring the cases from
the AEC to the National
confidence in the
Anti-Corruption Commission
judicial process
for further processing
in accordance
• Option 2: nullify all legal
with the rule of
decisions stemming from
law and redress
the work of AEC an transfer
all cases to the regular
perceived
judicial system without
injustice: cases
consideration of possible
Whichever option is to be chosen, there should not be
any prosecution of the AEC by the its actions
initiated considering thatthat time time prescription
were in line with its announced mandate at
35. Some Critical Questions related to
3
the Issue
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?”
36. Jointly define social contract and
political norms/ rules that could
address root causes of the conflict
and are acceptable to all parties
4
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”
37. Some Critical Questions related to
4
the Issue
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”
38. Reflect and design the
future of the “Thai
Democratic Regime
with the King as Head
of State”
5
39. Some Critical Questions related to
5
the Issue
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?”
41. Some Critical Questions related to
6
the Issue
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?”
42. - Condition of Success Two Levels of an inclusive dialogue
process
to reach sufficient consensus on the
Leadership level
issues (political parties as
people
representatives)
- 6 critical issues
- Future Thailand
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Victims
Opinion leaders
Constituencies
Supporters
Silent majorities
Various interest
groups/
communities level
- 6 critical issues
- Future Thailand
- Story telling as healing
mechanism
