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Abstract: While Thailand’s reputation as ‘the land of smiles’ is a cliché, the recent
images of violence and unrest in Bangkok have been a shocking contrast to
its reputation as a stable regional travel and business hub.
Bangkok’s streets have been cleaned up and normal life has resumed, but
political instability is likely to continue in Thailand for some time. The conflict
has moved beyond the initial ‘colour-coded’ tension between anti-Thaksin
yellow-shirts and pro-Thaksin red-shirts. There is now a sharp divide between
the conservative elites who have traditionally governed Thailand – palace,
military, business – and those who view themselves as the underclass.
The recent round of protests in May 2010 were won by the conservative
powers, albeit with significant costs in lives and damaged buildings in
Bangkok. But the struggle is far from over – rather than capitulating, the
protest movement is using the military crackdown and the government’s
continuing media and political repression to increase its support.
Abstract: Reporters Without Borders has investigated 10 cases that are representative of the press freedom violations committed by both parties to the conflict: the army, special forces and paramilitaries on the one hand, and the Red Shirt activists of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) and their paramilitaries on the other. Reporters Without Borders decided in this report to let the victims and witnesses of the violations speak for themselves. A government representative and one of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s lawyers were also interviewed. Some accounts are devastating.
The government emerged the victor from this bloody battle after the assault on the Red Shirt camp in the heart of Bangkok on 19 May, but many questions about the behaviour of the armed forces remain. The many accounts of soldiers firing live rounds at unarmed civilians, the firing on journalists with automatic weapons, the systematic intimidation and the use of military force to suppress political protests are all evidence of serious abuses. Taking advantage of the state of emergency and the threat posed by the Red Shirts, the Thai army and special forces rode roughshod over international law and Thai legislation protecting civilians.
Abstract: The protracted struggle between the royalist establishment and those allied with ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has left Thailand deeply polarised. It sparked the most violent political confrontations in recent times, killing people, injuring nearly 2,000 and inflicting deep wounds on the national psyche. The government of Abhisit Vejjajiva’s unilateral offer of a “road map” to national reconciliation will lead nowhere without the participation of its opposition, including his deposed predecessor. A credible investigation of the violence, enduring legal reforms, and properly addressing societal inequities cannot succeed without the Thaksin-aligned Red Shirt movement. This cannot happen if its leaders are detained, marginalised, or on the run. Fresh elections that are peace ful, fair and accepted by all sides will be the first test to see if the country is back on track or has lost its way. Thailand should lift the emergency decree imposed over large swathes of the country or risk further damaging its democracy, hindering much needed reconciliation, and sowing the seeds of future deadly conflict.
Thai politics changed significantly when Thaksin, a former policeman and telecom tycoon, won successive election landslides in 2001 and 2005. His popularity rapidly rose among the poor who benefited from his populist programs, such as low-cost health care. At the same time, his increasingly autocratic and corrupt rule angered the urban middle classes. Conservative elites also feared that his growing popularity would challenge their dominance. These establishment forces revolving around the King’s Privy Council, the military and the judiciary were supported on the streets by “Yellow Shirt” protestors. Together they worked to remove Thaksin from politics and erode his influence. In early 2006, Thaksin’s government was first challenged by mass demonstrations by the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and subsequently ousted by a military coup. While in self-imposed exile abroad, his party was disbanded by a court ruling in May 2007. A proxy party took power later that year, only to be also banned by the courts. Under military pressure and without a fresh poll, a new Democrat Party coalition led by Prime Minister Abhisit took office.
Abstract: Four actual or potential conflict situations around the world deteriorated and none improved in May 2010. Israeli commandos killed at least nine people when they raided a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza on 31 May. Full details are not yet clear but the incident has already thrown into question recently launched proximity talks between the Palestinians and Israel. May also saw renewed violence in the streets of Bangkok. Clashes between anti-government Red Shirt protesters and security forces that resulted in scores of deaths in April escalated this month, leaving at least 54 people dead. Soldiers removed the Red Shirts from the capital on 19 May and the government has since lifted a curfew imposed on Bangkok and 28 other provinces. Tensions continued to mount on the Korean Peninsula after investigators announced that a South Korean ship that sunk in March had been hit by a North Korean torpedo. Pyongyang continues to deny responsibility for the sinking which killed 46 people. Security also deteriorated in India, where suspected Maoist rebels derailed a train on 28 May leaving at least 147 civilians dead. The Maoists have denied responsibility, but the incident has once again underlined the government's failure to curb escalating insurgent violence that has become increasingly deadly in recent months.
Abstract: On April 22nd, 2010 the New Mon State Party publicly announced its final refusal of the State Peace and
Development Council’s (SPDC) Border Guard Force (BGF) proposal. The refusal was issued despite
widespread reports that Southeast Command Major General Ye Myint had informed the party at an April 7th
meeting that such a move would lead to a return of the NMSP’s “pre-ceasefire relationship” with the SPDC.
During the week of NMSP deliberations, held at party headquarters in NMSP-controlled territory in Tavoy
District, Tenasserim Divison, tensions rose. SPDC battalions were cited amassing along the border of
NMSP-controlled territories in Tavoy District and farther north, near Three Pagodas Pass. Sensing the threat
of an impending battle, hundreds of residents living in NMSP territory in Tavoy District and southern Mon
State fled their homes, finding refuge in Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps along the Thailand-Burma
border.
Abstract: The state’s violent response to mass protests in Bangkok takes Thailand’s deep polarisation to an even more dangerous level. But a new Thailand is also struggling to be born. A conventional reading of Thailand’s crisis traces its deeper roots to the mid-2000s with the rise, fall and subsequent exile of Thaksin Shinawatra, the populist leader elected in January 2001 and ousted in a military coup on 19 September 2006.
Thaksin’s Thai Rak Thai (TRT) government was seen by many in Thailand’s political elite and among the urban middle-class as a subversive challenge to its traditional political hegemony. In early 2006, Sondhi Limthongkul - like Thaksin, a millionaire businessman - began to mobilise his supporters in an extra-parliamentary campaign to unseat the elected prime minister.
The confrontation between the yellow-shirted activists of Sondhi’s Peoples’ Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and Thaksin Shinawatra’s government accentuated Thailand’s political divisions, amid the gradual retreat and loss of legitimacy of the country’s older political parties. But the military takeover of September 2006 did nothing to stem the crisis. The army-appointed quasi-civilian government under Surayud Chulanont sought to manage the transition to restored civilian rule by dissolving the TRT, but Thaksin’s party reinvented itself as the People Power Party (PPP) - and proceeded to win power in the first post-coup elections in December 2007.
Abstract: Five actual or potential conflict situations around the world deteriorated and none improved in April 2010. Soldiers and protesters clashed in Bangkok in the worst violence to hit the Thai capital in almost two decades. Turmoil also shook Kyrgyzstan where President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted in a violent rebellion. Unrest grew amid weeks of protests against painful utility price increases and popular discontent with the corruption that characterised Bakiyev’s rule. April also saw heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula after the sinking of a South Korean ship in late March. 46 people were killed when the ship was hit by what investigators now say was most likely an external explosion. North Korea has denied involvement and South Korea has so far avoided directly blaming its neighbour. The security situation also deteriorated in India, where Maoist insurgents killed 76 paramilitary troops in their most deadly attack in decades, and in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where rebel activity and clashes with government soldiers destablised several provinces across the country’s east and north west. CrisisWatch identifies a Conflict Risk Alert for Sudan after flawed elections which returned President Omar al-Bashir to power. With opposition parties contesting the results, and signs of increased violence in both the South and Darfur, there is now a heightened risk that the situation could worsen ahead of next year’s planned referendum on the South’s independence.
CrisisWatch also warns that mounting political tensions in Nepal could lead to new confrontation between the Maoists and the government.
Abstract: Thailand stands at a historical juncture in its political history. The last seven weeks of street protests by antigovernment, self-proclaimed pro-democracy protesters known as the “Red Shirts” has resulted in violence and deaths and uncovered fissures and conflicts that run deep in Thai society and politics for the world to see. This is not a comfortable place for the proud citizens of the Kingdom of Thailand, yet resolution of the conflict remains elusive. Indeed, recent events suggest a hardening of positions among the key actors. During past spasms of confrontation and violence, the king of Thailand intervened by employing sublime powers emanating from his revered status to send irrefutable signals to reconcile opposing parties. Whether he can again play that role given the nature of the current impasse remains in question. If he cannot, the fundamental issue is how will Thais resolve it without him?
Abstract: The U.S. military must plan for a wide range of security cooperation missions, ranging from
“normal” peacetime security cooperation activities—such as building the long-term institutional
and operational capabilities and capacity of key partners and allies, establishing and
deepening relationships between the U.S. and partner militaries, and securing access to critical
areas overseas—to managing quasi-operational efforts, such as managing foreign internal
defense within the overall foreign policy objectives of the United States. Security cooperation,
in the form of noncombat military-to-military activities, is a useful part of the military’s toolkit
in conflict prevention. Although security cooperation requires a relatively small investment
with respect to the overall efforts of the U.S. military, it can be a key enabler of the success
of future U.S. military missions by shaping the environment and laying the groundwork for
future coalition and stability operations with allies and partners.
Current world conditions both create significant demands for U.S. security cooperation
programs and deplete available resources to carry out these missions. The wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan are occupying the regular, reserve, National Guard, and Special Forces trainers
and advisors who would normally be called on to train and advise military counterparts. Furthermore,
U.S. allies, who often complement the efforts of U.S. advisors and trainers, are also
stretched thin by their own deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. It is important to consider the context in which security cooperation takes place. Security
assistance and cooperation are only components of U.S. efforts to assist and influence countries.
Abstract: Air transportation has played a key role in fuelling the war economies and conflicts that
have affected parts of Asia and the Middle East in recent decades. They are also important
facilitators of narcotics flows such as opiates and untaxed tobacco destined for European,
Asian and Middle Eastern markets. At the same time, those air cargo carriers transporting
these commodity flows that have been so destabilizing are also involved in humanitarian
aid and peacekeeping missions.
Abstract: Since the military coup in Thailand of September 2006 the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) warned of a strong resurgence of regressive anti-human rights forces, especially within the military and the network of their allies in ultra-conservative political circles. Unfortunately, events of the last year offer ample evidence that these forces have now firmly re-entrenched themselves in all parts of government in Thailand and are in the process of pulling apart the nascent liberal-democratic state nurtured during the 1990s, replacing it with an internal-security state reminiscent of that found during earlier decades.
Abstract: This paper outlines the main contours of the Patani conflict. It also examines in
more depth the three main interpretations outlined above, with a view to increasing
understanding of the conflict and identifying possible ways forward. Chapter 2
examines the current nature of the conflict, including the changing patterns of
violence and the main actors in the insurgency (the role of security forces and of
local paramilitaries are discussed in later chapters). Chapter 3 explores the
historical roots of the conflict and how long-standing grievances have influenced
recent developments. Chapter 4 examines the role of religion and the rise of radical
Islamism in the Patani conflict. Chapter 5 looks at some key developments in
Thailand’s recent political history and their bearing on the conflict. In the final
chapter, the likely future trajectory of the conflict and possible ways to promote
peace in the region are considered.
Abstract: At least 71 journalists were killed across the globe in 2009, the Committee to Protect Journalists announced Tuesday, the largest annual toll in the 30 years the group has been keeping track.
Twenty-nine of those deaths came in a single, politically motivated massacre of reporters and others in the Philippines last November, the worst known episode for journalists, the committee said.
But there were other worrisome trends. The two nations with the highest number of journalists incarcerated — China had 24 journalists imprisoned at the end of 2009 and Iran had 23 — were particularly harsh in taking aim at bloggers and others using the Internet. The number jailed in Iran has since jumped to 47, the committee said. Of the 71 confirmed deaths, 51 were murders, the committee said. The report noted that 24 additional deaths of journalists remained under investigation to determine if they were related to the journalists’ work. Previously, the highest number of journalists killed in a single year was 67, in 2007, when violence in Iraq was raging.
Abstract: Insight on Conflict provides information on local peacebuilding organisations in areas of conflict. Local peacebuilders already make a real impact in conflict areas. They work to prevent violent conflicts before they start, to reduce the impact of violence, and to bring divided communities together in the aftermath of violence. However, their work is often ignored – either because people aren’t aware of the existence and importance of local peacebuilders in general, or because they simply haven’t had access to information and contacts for local peacebuilders. We hope that Insight on Conflict can help redress the balance by drawing attention to important work of local peacebuilders. On this site, you’ll be able to find out who the local peacebuilders are, what they do, and how you might get in touch with them. Over half the organisations featured on Insight on Conflict do not have their own website. Insight on Conflict is a project launched by Peace Direct, the UK-based charity that finds, funds and promotes local peacebuilders in conflict areas around the world. Peace Direct wants to change the balance of power and resources between local people and outsiders so that local peacebuilding is central to all strategies for managing conflict.
Abstract: 3,000 ethnic Karen refugees who were forced to flee into Thailand in June 2009 are facing
forced return to Burma starting on February 5th 2010. Although the Royal Thai Government and
local and military representatives have officially stated that they will not force people to return, in
practice they are applying significant pressure on the refugees to return. They have been kept in
difficult conditions in two temporary camps, Nong Bua, (also called No Bu), and Mae U Su, in
Tha Song Yang close to the Thailand-Burma border. The Karen refugees were forced to flee their homes in June 2009 when the Burmese Army and
Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), an ally of the Burmese military dictatorship, attacked
an area in the Pa’an district of Karen State Burma, on the Thailand Burma border, which was
under the control of the pro-democracy Karen National Union (KNU). The attack was seen as
part of the dictatorship’s ongoing offensive against the Karen people and the Karen National
Union. Taking this border area was also strategically import as it helped to close a border
through which information about human rights abuses reaches the world.
There were significant human rights abuses during the military offensive. The Burmese Army
and DKBA used hundreds of people as slave labour, and two teenage women were gang-raped
and killed.
Abstract: Thailand’s deep south remains embroiled in an Islamic insurgency that is the single most
lethal conflict in Southeast Asia. It is also the single greatest security challenge to the Thai state.
The conflict zone consists of the southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and parts
of Songkhla, which historically belonged to the Malay Kingdom of Patani until it was annexed by
Thailand over a century ago. Since then, rebellion and insurgency have plagued the region, with
the latest phase of the conflict beginning in 2004. The insurgents, while never publically stating
their demands or claiming responsibility for their attacks, are believed to be fighting for an
independent Islamic state for southernmost Thailand, which is populated mainly by Ethnic
Malay Muslims as opposed to Thai Buddhists.
Violence in Southern Thailand has intensified in recent months. The month of Ramadan (21
August to 19 September) was particularly deadly, which saw over 40 people killed and the
detonation of two truck-bombs. In June, at least 36 people were killed and more than 100 were
wounded in 93 incidents, including one of the deadliest attacks of the conflict to date – a
shooting attack on a mosque in Narathiwat province during evening prayers that killed 11 and
injured 12.
Abstract: On taking office, Thai Prime Min ister Abhisit Vejjajiva pledged to reclaim policy on the southern insurgency from the military. But a year of distracting fights between supporters of the establishment and an ousted populist leader has meant little progress in resolving violence in the South. Despite glimpses of new thinking in Bangkok, the weakness of the government and its reliance on the military for political support have meant the top brass still dominates policymaking in the predominantly Malay Muslim South. Harsh and counterproductive laws remain in force and there are no effective checks on abuses by the security forces. Alternative policies have not been seriously explored and, after a temporary reduction in violence in 2008, the attacks are rising again. It is time for the government to follow its words with actions if it wants to move forward with a political solution.
Military sweeps from July 2007 curtailed violence in the South, although abusive detention as part of these operations may have backfired and increased resentment among Malay Muslims. While the number of attacks so far in 2009 is still below the peak since the insurgency restarted in 2004, the trend is upward. Incidents have become more brutal and bomb-making techniques more advanced. The insurgency has proved resistant to military suppression. The slaughter of ten men praying in a mosque in June heightened concerns over deepening communal tension and the consequences of government projects to arm civilians. According to a police investigation, the mosque attack was allegedly committed by Buddhists in retaliation for previous killings by suspected insurgents. This slaughter has led to renewed international attention, especially among Thailand’s predominantly Muslim neighbours.
Abstract: The 63rd United Nations (UN) General Assembly is poised to debate Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon’s report on the operationalisation of the Responsibility to Protect (referred to as ‘R2P’
for the remainder of this report). It is expected that his report will be released and debated in
early 2009. Therefore, this is a good time to examine the position that Member States have
adopted on the R2P since its endorsement at the 2005 World Summit and policy issues
relating to its implementation through the UN. This report will focus on the Member States of
the Association for South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) with the exception of Myanmar, which
is currently on the UN Security Council’s agenda. It concentrates on their position on the
R2P and their policy priorities in areas related to implementing the principle through the UN.
The report identifies steps that might encourage the region’s governments to become more
positively engaged with the R2P principle.
Abstract: Lieutenant-General Pichet Wisaijorn, regional commander of the Thai 4th army, told reporters in Thailand’s capital on 18 November that “things are getting better, the number of violent incidents are down, and the traditional life of villagers in the south is returning.”
He was discussing conditions in the country's ‘Deep South,’ the four southernmost provinces bordering Malaysia, where 90 percent of the two million-strong population are Malay Muslims. Overall, 94 percent of Thailand's 66 million people are Buddhist.
An oft-described “murky, shadowy” insurgency and terror campaign has rolled on since 2004, with over 3,700 killings. Intermittently heavy Thai army crackdowns impinge on civil liberties, but now the military is attempting hearts and minds development projects to win over ordinary Malay-Muslim Thais.
Coming from the section head of the Thai army responsible for military operations in a region beset by five years of bombings, beheadings and gun battles, such words might be of consolation – if they rang true. Violence dipped in 2008, but has climbed back up in recent months – though how many incidents can be attributed to insurgents on the one hand, or criminals on the other, is not clear. Small arms and drug trafficking are rife in the region, and violence is not always political, according to Marc Askew, a University of Melbourne researcher based in the southern city of Pattani.
Abstract: The nature of violent conflict is changing in the Asia-Pacific region. More than a dozen countries are
affected by sub-national conflicts, while conflicts between governments are increasingly rare. Many of
these internal conflicts have lasted for more than 25 years, with no resolution in sight. There have been
some success stories in recent years, most notably the peace agreements in Aceh and Nepal—but
these cases are the exception. Why are sub-national conflicts so entrenched in Asia, and what will it
take to break the cycle of conflict? Peacebuilding is much more than negotiation.
The Asia Foundation’s recent studies of conflict in
the region indicate that the challenges to peacebuilding
are usually political in nature. Long-running
conflicts are often the result of policies and
governance problems that create tensions between
the government and some minority groups.
Common grievances include overly centralized,
unaccountable government; limitations on local
identity and culture; a lack of accounting for past
abuses; and poor access to justice and security.
The key to breaking the cycle of conflict is to
address legitimate grievances by changing the
nature of governance, security, and justice in these
regions. The challenge is that these reforms may
be controversial with the rest of the population
in the country, and may be opposed by powerful
interests. The path to peace must involve a shift
toward moderate politics that will allow for key
compromises and reforms to take place, or pave
the way for a peace agreement.
The Asia Foundation supports local efforts to
improve the prospects for peace in long-running
sub-national conflicts. Foundation programs
support the implementation of peace processes
where there are formal peace agreements, such
as Nepal, Mindanao (Philippines), and Aceh
(Indonesia). The Foundation also assists with
peacebuilding efforts in other conflict-affected
areas such as southern Thailand, Sri Lanka, and
Timor-Leste. Working with governments, civil
society, and conflict-affected communities, the
Foundation addresses the obstacles to peace,
facilitates Track 2 dialogues, and encourages
key political reforms that will make peace more
likely. Foundation programs also include efforts
to reduce community-level conflicts through
mediation and rapid response to impending crises.
Abstract: The ghosts of past violations haunt Thailand. A particular case of mass death in the country's troubled south is emblematic of a bitter conflict in which peaceable, blameless civilians are the principal victims. A demonstration of around 1,500 citizens took place on 25 October 2004 in Tak Bai district of Narathiwat province. Those attending were protesting against what they believed was the unjust arrest of six villagers on charges of allegedly stealing guns from the local defence forces. The terms of martial-law in Thailand's three southernmost, Muslim-majority provinces (Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat) - in place since January 2004 - made this protest illegal.
Everyone present was detained. They were then stacked, in horizontal layers, in trucks and transported to the Ingkayuthboriharn military base, six hours away from the vicinity of the Tak Bai police station where the protest had been held.
Eighty-five people died in what became known as the Tak Bai massacre; seventy-eight of them by suffocation and crush injuries on the way to Ingkayuthboriharn. At an event commemorating the second anniversary of the massacre on 25 October 2006, one survivor recalled that in his truck, there were four layers of people and that everyone on the bottom layer had died. He survived because he was in the second layer from the top. Although he sustained back injuries that still cause him pain, he is alive.
Abstract: The plight of the Burmese Rohingya made headlines in early 2009 when Thai security forces were accused of pushing migrant boats out to sea. With ASEAN establishing a new human rights body and a US delegation visiting Burma, what chance is there for improvement for a stateless people? At its 15th summit held in Thailand two weeks ago, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations inaugurated the ASEAN Intergovernmental Human Rights Commission. It is the first time that the 10-state bloc has given institutional recognition to human rights.
What that means in practice is unclear. The body will merely promote human rights, and cannot sanction offenders or protect victims. With the Burmese junta nominating a representative to the 10-member commission, along with states such as Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, which have less-than-stellar records in this area, it seems the new body is there to pay lip service rather than act decisively.
Action for sure is needed. Malaysia does not recognize refugees as a category; communist Vietnam continues to make life hard for religious groups; and the majority of Burmese struggle under a military dictatorship.
Abstract: Islam is a tool of unity as well as division in Southeast Asia, a powerful expression of the region's religious and political heterogeneity. In the last decades the Islamic world has seen a steady rise in religious politics. From northern Africa, to the Middle East and Asia, Islam has either been employed as a tool of top-down control or as a means for social mobilization. Islam, therefore, has been used for a variety of purposes and in a variety of circumstances, resulting in a staggering range of Islamic political expression worldwide.
In Southeast Asia, an often ignored corner of the Islamic world, Islamic politics have embodied the complex interplay among cultural, ethnic, religious and political forces unique to the region. Islam, as a relative latecomer to the island world of Asia, only spread to significant parts of the local population in the 12th century. Its character and customs were also influenced by a variety of sources, including Shi'ism, Sufism and local pagan and Hindu customs, adding unique features to the Sunni Islam that is most prevalent today. This resulted in an inherent pluralism in religious expression – a pluralism that has struggled to exist in the political realm under the pressures of colonial rule and messy post-colonial politics.
To truly understand Islam as a political force – and perhaps release it from its Arab-centered shackles – it is vital to look at how it has featured in the lives of its 240 million Southeast Asian adherents.
Abstract: Burmese refugees have been living in Thailand for more than two decades. The situation is fluid: resettlement programs have provided tens of thousands of people with new lives, while a new wave of conflict in Burma is changing the political landscape and forcing thousands of new refugees to flee into Thailand. While the Royal Thai Government should be commended for its willingness to host new arrivals, it must also respond to the fact that ongoing conflict in neighboring Burma will prevent refugees from going home anytime soon. To address the regional challenges of the conflict in Burma, the Thai government needs to implement a more progressive refugee policy and the U.S. and other donor governments must provide flexible funding for Burmese humanitarian assistance.
In preparation for the country’s elections in 2010, the Burmese government made a risky offer to dozens of ethnic minority groups on its borders and demanded that their armed factions turn over their weapons and integrate into the Burmese army. Rather than offering full integration, however, the government proposed that ethnic armies be converted into border forces under Burmese army control. The offer, which many ethnic groups have found unacceptable, has resulted in new tensions throughout regions of the country already under de facto control of the ethnic armies and affiliated political groups. If the Burmese government pursues this border force policy aggressively, Thailand could face more waves of refugees entering multiple regions of the country.
Abstract: Piracy in the Straits of Malacca is a large and growing concern for the world. Not only does it cause economic havoc in a critical region, but this piracy may also have connections to terrorism and has the potential to cause an ecological disaster. However, attempts by outside states to establish security regimes have repeatedly run into sovereignty concerns from the coastal states in the region: Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand. Instead of persisting in this failed strategy of externally imposed solutions, interested parties should focus on aiding the creation of an internal security regime through aid and logistical support. Building the capacity of the local navies to patrol the region is the most acceptable and effective solution towards ending piracy in the long run.
