Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shin-awatra went to the homes of alleged guerrilla leaders in the Muslim south yesterday, telling their families and friends that militants would be treated fairly if they surrendered.
However, his mixed reception from non-Thai-speaking locals, who either failed to understand him or who were too intimidated to talk, emphasized the problems faced by Bangkok's Buddhist government in the restive Muslim-majority, ethnic Malay region.
In the village of Tanyong Limoh, where Muslim youths murdered two captive marines last month in one of the grisliest episodes of 21 months of violence, Thaksin's attempts to speak to villagers were met by embarrassed silence.
"Does anyone know what happened that night? Anyone know? You can be rewarded," he told women and children lined up to meet the government delegation, which had roared into the quiet hamlet in a 50-vehicle cavalcade.
Eventually, an official jumped in to save his blushes, asking if anybody in the crowd knew the prime minister's name. A boy who gave the correct answer was given 500 baht (US$12), the equivalent of three days' unskilled labor.
Travelling in a bullet-proof Mercedes, Thaksin also visited the family of Sapaeing Bazo, who has a 10 million baht bounty on his head as a suspected mastermind of the unrest in which more than 900 people have been killed.
"When he contacts you again, please tell him that the prime minister has visited and guaranteed his safety," Thaksin told Bazo's wife, Sadina Sulong, sitting alongside her and her daughter in the living room of their two-story home.
Sadina said she did not think the surrender of her husband, the head of an Islamic school before he went into hiding, would end unrest.
"What we are afraid of is a kangaroo court," Sadina said.
Meanwhile, the government began issuing fingerprint-embedded "smart" ID cards to 1.2 million residents of the three southern provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani yesterday, in the first step toward ending dual citizenship with Malaysia.
Once the cards are issued, Thailand hopes Malaysia will share information about its citizens, so that Bangkok can determine which people are claiming dual citizenship and force Thai Muslims to choose one nationality.
He wants the 1.2 million people aged 15 to 70 -- out of a total population of 2.2 million in the three provinces -- to receive the new cards by next month.
The cards, which eventually will be issued to all Thai citizens, contain a chip that holds basic biodata about its holder.
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