BANGKOK (Reuters) - An influential former Thai prime minister has criticised Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra for his handling of prolonged security problems in the Muslim south.
Prem Tinsulanonda, Thailand's prime minister for 8 years in the 1980s and currently head of King Bhumibol Adulyadej's privy council, urged Thaksin to balance security measures for the restive region with respect for civil liberties.
"I can see the violence in the three southernmost provinces continuing indefinitely because the government has yet to achieve that balance," Prem said in a speech at an academic seminar in Bangkok on Saturday.
Prem heads the privy council made up of respected retired politicians, former army generals and civil servants who occasionally represent the Thai monarch at public functions.
About 800 people have been killed in the unrest in the southern provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani, home to a low-key separatist insurgency in the 1970s and 1980s.
The government in the Buddhist majority country has imposed martial law on parts of the south since violence flared anew in January 2004, and at the same time offered an olive branch of lavish development aid. Neither approach seems to have made any difference.
Prem said the government must work to ensure that its treatment of suspected Muslim militants was based on fairness that did not infringe on their constitutional rights.
He said in maintaining national security, government actions may at times interfere with rights and freedom of local people.
"Therefore, it is important that whatever action it takes, its guiding principles are ethically based," he said.
Thaksin, normally quick in hitting back at critics, did not respond to Prem's statement, given as his personal opinion. The criticism was the strongest directed at the government since it took office in 2001.
Prem, a former army chief dubbed "Mr. Clean" during his premiership, remains an influential figure in Thai politics where he now stays mostly on the sidelines.
It has been a practice for almost all prime ministers since the 1990s to pay Prem a courtesy call to seek his blessing before taking office.
"Administrators must have self-conscience in doing the right things. Honesty does not involve only each individual but it covers those around him. It concerns the issue of conflict of interest," Prem said.
Source: Reuters