TY - JOUR

T1 - Thailand's National Reconciliation Commission

T2 - A flawed response to the southern conflict

AU - McCargo, Duncan

PY - 2010/2/1

Y1 - 2010/2/1

N2 - This article examines the work of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) (2005-06), an independent body established by the government of Thailand to address a violent conflict in the country's southern border provinces. From the outset, the 50-member NRC chaired by former Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun was too large and unwieldy to function effectively. At the most basic level, there was a lack of trust and openness among the Commission's members which curtailed frank discussions. Because the political dimensions of the conflict were seen as off-limits, for a variety of cultural and historical reasons, the NRC produced a report that emphasized issues of justice, but failed to engage with the core questions underpinning the violence. Locating the NRC within an emerging global landscape of comparable 'truth commissions', the article argues that however well-intentioned, the Thai commission lacked clear goals, and was rather disappointing in its achievements.

AB - This article examines the work of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) (2005-06), an independent body established by the government of Thailand to address a violent conflict in the country's southern border provinces. From the outset, the 50-member NRC chaired by former Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun was too large and unwieldy to function effectively. At the most basic level, there was a lack of trust and openness among the Commission's members which curtailed frank discussions. Because the political dimensions of the conflict were seen as off-limits, for a variety of cultural and historical reasons, the NRC produced a report that emphasized issues of justice, but failed to engage with the core questions underpinning the violence. Locating the NRC within an emerging global landscape of comparable 'truth commissions', the article argues that however well-intentioned, the Thai commission lacked clear goals, and was rather disappointing in its achievements.

KW - Commission

KW - Conflict

KW - Reconciliation

KW - South

KW - Thailand

KW - Violence

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77954465699&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/14781150903487998

DO - 10.1080/14781150903487998

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:77954465699

VL - 22

SP - 75

EP - 91

JO - Global Change, Peace & Security (Print)

JF - Global Change, Peace & Security (Print)

SN - 1478-1158

IS - 1

ER -