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Southeast Asia
Thailand appoints new chief peace negotiator
2019-09-29
[BenarNews] Thailand’s National Security Council chief said Thursday he would take over next month as head of the Thai negotiating team in peace negotiations with southern insurgents, replacing his predecessor who was appointed only a year ago.

Wanlop Rugsanaoh, the outgoing NSC director-general, told reporters that Udomchai Thammasarorat had resigned as the top negotiator to assume his role as a senator. He said, “Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha has appointed me to be new the peace-talks delegation chief in place of Gen. Udomchai Thammasarorat."

A low-ranking southern insurgent said the change in leadership would have no impact on the peace process unless the rebel groups fulfilled their goal of merdeka, the Malay word for independence.

“I personally think no matter who becomes the chief of peace talks, it won’t make any difference if we can’t achieve Merdeka. The (Thai) government set up the peace-talks panel on a lark and played, so we also play our game,” the insurgent who identified himself as Fadueri, said.

He claimed he was a member of Barisan Nasional Revolusi (the National Revolutionary Front, or BRN), the largest among insurgent groups in Thailand’s southern border region.

Wanlop, an ex-director of the Ministry of Defense’s Office of Policy and Planning, has extensive experience dealing with top-level security officials from the United States and other countries.

The Thai cabinet endorsed Wanlop’s nomination as secretary-general of the National Security Council in August 2017. During a cabinet meeting at the time, Prayuth described Wanlop as “well-grounded in security and defense.”
Posted by:ryuge

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