Najib On Historic Visit To Thai Province

Friday, 04 December 2009 01:20 |

Najib Tun Razak (left) welcoming his counterpart from Thai Abhisit Vejjajiva at Perdana Putra in Putrajaya.


Four years after hitting the lowest point in their otherwise excellent bilateral ties, Malaysia and Thailand are on the brink of an historic milestone as their top leaders meet in the kingdom on Tuesday.

On Aug 30, four years ago, 131 Thai Muslims from the southern Thai provinces fled to Malaysia to seek refuge in Kelantan. It sparked off a diplomatic row between the two countries.

It led to accusations that Malaysia was meddling in the domestic affairs of its neighbour which was battling separatists in the Muslim-majority provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat.

The situation almost turned ugly at one stage after former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad suggested that Thailand grant autonomy to the three Muslim-majority provinces, a sensitive issue in the kingdom which considered the concept as similar to granting independence.

But four years later, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his Malaysian counterpart, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who both came to power within the last 12 months, are scheduled to visit Narathiwat on Dec 9, the very province that the refugees left due to security fears.

Today, all the 131 Thai nationals are back in their homeland, both countries are enjoying the best of ties and more importantly, are working together to find a peaceful solution to the conflict that had claimed more than 3,500 lives since 2005.

In fact, Najib told two Thai dailies last October that Bangkok should consider granting autonomy to the restive provinces, but, unlike in 2005, the reaction here was mixed, with both pros and cons.

Najib is leading a high-powered delegation, which includes nine ministers, to the Fourth Annual Consultation at the Government House on Tuesday, and it will also be his first official trip to Thailand since assuming the premiership on April 3.

"This is unprecedented as nine ministers are coming. Both prime ministers have good rapport and enjoy personal ties," Malaysian ambassador to Thailand Datuk Husni Zai Yaacob said in an interview here.

Husni said this was a historic visit as it would be the first time that a prime minister of Malaysia was visiting the southern border provinces of Thailand.

He said the existing ties could be further strengthened with the visit, while demonstrating Malaysia's commitment to continue assisting Thailand to solve the southern conflict through the existing 3E Programmes (education, entreprenuership and employment).

The Thai Foreign Ministry said the consultation would allow both prime ministers to discuss ways to broaden and deepen the bilateral relations as well as cooperation between both countries for mutual benefit.

"The visit of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib will mark another significant chapter in the longstanding relations between the two countries and peoples," it said.

Malaysia is Thailand's fourth largest trading partner while Thailand is Malaysia's fifth, with total trade between the two countries amounting to US$19.6 billion (RM60.06 billion) last year.

A total of 1.8 million Malaysians visited Thailand while 1.49 million Thai tourists visited Malaysia last year. -- Bernama