Prachachat Party pledges peace dividend for restive deep South if elected
The Prachachat Party will bring peace and economic development to the insurgency-hit deep South if its candidates win MP seats in the May 14 election, party leader Wan Muhamad Noor Matha said on Sunday.
The chief and PM candidate of the southern-based party was speaking after leading Prachachat Party members on a train trip from the border town of Padang Besar to Kuala Lumpur to meet Thai people there.
Malaysia is facilitating the latest round of peace talks between the Thai state and southern Malay-Muslim insurgents aimed at ending the decades-long conflict.
The Prachachat Party will meet with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to discuss the peace talks, said the party leader, who is better known as Wan Noor.
"The southern insurgency affects both Thailand and Malaysia, especially when it comes to tourism and the economy," he said.
His party would push peace talks to succeed as soon as possible, he added.
Wan Noor explained that Sunday’s train trip from the Thai border to Malaysia’s capital was aimed at gathering information to upgrade the railway in southern Thailand.
"This move aims to study opportunities and guidelines to develop rail transport in the South."
He added that Thai rail development was too slow as the government had focused too much on building roads.
"The development of a high-speed railway will help stimulate the economy and improve people's quality of life in the next 10 years," he said.
The party would use the Malaysia trip to draft guidelines for railway development in Thailand.
He said he had proposed high-speed and medium-speed rail projects when he was transport minister from 1995 to 1996 and 2001 to 2002, but government budget was spent on the Village Fund and 30-baht healthcare scheme instead.
He said Thailand had lost opportunities to join hands with Malaysia on high-speed rail connectivity that would have boosted economic development while saving costs and preserving the environment.
Wan Noor added that he would discuss Thai migrant labour issues, including difficulties obtaining work permits, with Malaysian Foreign Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir and Home Affairs Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail on Monday.
