Military spending in far South needs scrutiny

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan is poised to set up a committee to investigate four questionable projects by the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre (SBPAC) after reports of irregularities.
The move should be welcome as it could shed light on government agencies’ expenditure in this conflict-ridden region, or anywhere in the country for that matter.
Transparency and accountability is a good thing for Thailand and for the far South, where trust between local Malay Muslim population and the state agencies is still way below the desired level.
We have talked about winning the hearts and minds of the local Malay Muslims in this historically contested region where a 13-year-old insurgency has so far claimed about 7,000 lives. Promoting transparency and accountability is one way of winning their hearts and minds, as it serves as a testament that the government is serious about corruption and how the people’s money – taxes – are spent.
But while a special investigating committee for any questionable and shady projects should be welcome, we should also look at the mechanism that is already in place and ask what more could be done to improve transparency and accountability.
Corruption is so widespread in Thailand that one doesn’t have to look far to see it. People often complain about it while, at the same time, they are willing to turn a blind eye to it or be part of the problem.
We have become so used to it that it becomes a normal part of our daily lives. How to break out of this vicious cycle remains a great challenge for our state agencies, our governments and our society.
Investigating the SBPAC will not be a walk in the park, however. The centre is a multi-government agency that was dissolved during the Thaksin era but came back to life after the 2006 coup with its own legislation that allowed the agency to tap into the government’s central budget.
During the government of Yingluck Shinawatra, the SBPAC was given tremendous leeway as the then secretary-general, Pol Colonel Thawee Sodsong, was heading a panel of negotiators for a peace initiative.
But after the 2014 coup, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), the name the junta gave itself, placed the SBPAC under the regional Internal Security Operation Command (Isoc), which meant money for projects would have to be approved by the military.
It was not exactly a wise move given the fact that the SBPAC had been rejuvenated after it was dissolved by the Thaksin government.
Local Malays had decided to give the agency the benefit of the doubt as Thawee worked hard to reach out to the local residents, as well as the separatist movements. Yingluck gave Thawee so much leeway in terms of budgeting and expenditure that local Muslims called him Santa Claus.
In this respect, it was a surprise that Panu Uthairat, a Pattani native and a former SBPAC chief, quickly lobbied for the position after the May 2014 coup. He probably wouldn’t have wanted the post if he had known that the military would remove the enormous mandate and scope of work that the agency once enjoyed.
But if Prawit’s latest move is to have any meaning, he has to go a lot further and investigate other irregularities, such as the stupid blimp that wouldn’t float and the shady GT200 bomb and drug scanner that has been rejected by militaries around the world.
Military expenditure in the far South itself needs serious re-examination. The government has spent more than Bt30 billion this past year on the conflict in the far South alone. Considering the fact that Thailand’s 2017 defence budget amounted to Bt210.7 billion, the amount spent on  quelling the conflict in the far South is a very signifiant portion. After all, the Fourth Army Area is just one of  four Army regional commands – and let’s not forget that there are other armed forces that need modernisation, training and improvement.
We need to ask ourselves if the government is getting a good return on its money. If the Army can’t deliver, perhaps it needs to step aside and let other state agencies have a shot.