Thailand signs agreement with rebel group,Yingluck Shinwatra visiting Malaysia

by sagarmedia on February 28, 2013 Thailand  authority  signed a peace agreement with an insurgent group as a big step toward resolving the decades-old insurgency and violence in the border region.National Security Council (NSC) secretary general Paradorn Pattanatabutr revealed to Thai media on Thursday while he was in Malaysia that the Thai authority on Thursday has signed an agreement called “General consensus dialogue process for peace” with the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) Coordinate, one of the leading insurgent group in the restive southern Thailand with the help by Malaysian authority who facilitated the meeting with the insurgents.
The agreement is considered the first step as to show recognition from each side and show good wills for future agreement to resolve the problem. This has been the outcome of several meetings between Thai and Malaysian authorities toward solving southern Thai insurgency since last year, he added.
More than 5,000 people have been killed and more than 9,000 hurt in over 11,000 incidents, about 3.5 incidents a day, in Thailand’s Muslim, ethnic-Malay dominated three southern border provinces — Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and four districts of Songkhla — since violence erupted in January 2004, according to Deep South Watch, which monitors the regional violence.
Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinwatra along with several other high ranking Thai officials are  paying a visit in Malaysia.Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra left Bangkok on Thursday to visit Malaysia to meet with her Malaysian counterpart Najib Tun Razak.Yingluck is accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul and several other ministers.
The visit is the fifth Annual Consultation between Thai premier and Malaysian premier aims at cultivating friendly relations between the two countries, reaffirming the close partnership between Thailand and Malaysia, following up on the progress on various areas of cooperation since Yingluck’s official visit to Malaysia on February 20, 2012.
According to the Thai Foreign Ministry press release, during the consultation, the parties are expected to discuss varied issues of common interest, including a comprehensive approach to resolve the insurgency in Thailand’s southern border provinces, social and economic development and connectivity in border areas such as the proposed construction of two bridges crossing the Golok River linking Thailand’s Narathiwat province and Malaysia’s Kelantan state.
Cooperation on trade and investment, such as the establishment of a Thailand-Malaysia Business Council and cooperation on tourism, particularly linking Thailand’s Satun province with Malaysia’ Langkawi island, will also be on the agenda.
After the plenary session, the prime ministers will witness the signing of an agreement on border crossings and an MoU on youth and sports cooperating before holding a joint news conference.