Burke, Adam (2012) Foreign aid and peripheral conflict: a case study of thefar south of Thailand. PhD Thesis. SOAS, University of London http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/15635 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination. Foreign Aid and Peripheral Conflict: A Case Study of the Far South of Thailand Adam Burke PhD Thesis Department of Development Studies School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 15 June 2012 Declaration I have read and understood regulation 17.9 of the Regulations for students of the School of Oriental and African Studies concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work which I present for examination. Signed: Date: 15 June 2012 2 Abstract Many foreign aid agencies promote peacebuilding as a global policy objective. This thesis considers how they have operated in practice in subnational, ‘peripheral’ conflicts, using the Far South of Thailand as a case study. It asks how the characteristics and causes of the conflict affect aid agencies’ approaches and considers the properties of aid agencies that help explain why they act as they do. Semi-structured interviews with aid agency staff, supported by other empirical data, are used to examine the practical process of foreign aid provision. The thesis builds on the concept of horizontal inequality to help explain how typical patterns of violence in peripheral conflicts are associated with perceptions of political, economic, social and cultural status inequality along ethnic lines within nation states. Foreign aid agencies have a mixed record of addressing such inequalities. An assessment of aid agencies operating in Thailand, combined with detailed consideration of illustrative interventions, reveals a variety of responses to conflict in the Far South and its causes. Agencies with larger, more conventional programmes tend not to respond to the issue. Other agencies try but do not succeed in implementing their plans, while some agencies implement small yet relevant initiatives. The reasons for this pattern are identified through the research process with reference to existing literature on foreign aid, horizontal inequalities and conflict. Factors include: different motivations behind foreign aid including mixed levels of interest in addressing inequalities within conventional development approaches; the varied ability of agencies to negotiate with a reluctant recipient government; and practical barriers stemming from how agencies operate. The research highlights the challenges faced in using foreign aid to address peacebuilding. Some increased involvement might be possible if aid agencies place greater priority on addressing underlying inequalities as well as building local knowledge and relationships that enable them to respond to arising opportunities. 3 Contents List of figures 7 Acknowledgements 8 Abbreviations 9 Chapter 1: Introduction 13 1.1 Context 13 1.2 Defining peripheral conflict and associated terms 15 1.3 Development practice, foreign aid, and conflict 17 1.4 Research questions and analytical framework 18 1.5 Summary of thesis structure 20 Chapter 2: Peripheral Conflicts, Horizontal Inequalities and Development 23 2.1 The prevalence and common features of peripheral conflicts in South and Southeast Asia 23 2.2 National politics and peripheral marginalization 27 2.3 Cultural status inequalities: defining ethnicity and identity 30 2.4 National unity and oppositional minority identity in peripheral conflicts 32 2.5 Identity in peripheral conflict areas 36 2.6 Globalization and peripheral conflict 39 2.7 Can development interventions help end peripheral conflicts? 40 2.8 Chapter conclusion 43 Chapter 3: A Mixed Record: Foreign Aid and Peacebuilding in Peripheral Conflicts 45 3.1 Using development assistance to address conflict 45 3.2 How foreign aid agencies address peripheral conflicts 47 3.3 Motivations: diverse reasons for foreign aid 52 3.3a Foreign aid, political interests 52 3.3b The deeper roots of development intervention 54 3.3c Variety within foreign aid 57 3.4 The interface: donors and recipients 60 3.5 Constraints in practice 66 3.6 Chapter conclusion 71 Chapter 4: Methodology 73 4.1 Overview 73 4.2 Constructing knowledge and the positionality of the researcher 73 4.3 Using case studies 76 4 4.4 The research process 78 4.5 Classifying aid agencies: three groups of donors, three conceptual themes 82 4.6 Conducting interviews 86 4.7 Research ethics 89 Chapter 5: The Far South of Thailand: Resistance, Identity, and Development 91 5.1 Overview: long-term peripheral conflict, limited political settlement 92 5.2 The local context 95 5.3 National politics: continued marginalization 99 5.4 Democratization, national protest and the peripheral minority 101 5.5 Divided peripheral elites 104 5.6 Perceptions of inequality 106 5.7 Nationalism and failed assimilation policies 110 5.8 Development and continued peripheral tensions 114 5.9 Using development to win 117 5.10 Locating the conflict in the Far South internationally 120 5.11 Chapter conclusion 121 Chapter 6: An Overview of Foreign Aid and Conflict in the Far South of Thailand 124 6.1 Introduction to foreign aid in Thailand 124 6.2 Group One: mainstream aid, not considering conflict 129 6.2a Historical overview: supporting state expansion 129 6.2b Donor decision-making 132 6.3 Group Two: reformists trying but failing to address conflict 135 6.4 Group Three: promoting peacebuilding with some programmes 139 6.4a Donor motivations that promote engagement with peacebuilding 139 6.4b Negotiating the interface 143 6.4c Practice 145 6.5 Chapter summary 147 Chapter 7: Conflict Blindness: the Asian Development 149 Bank and the Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand Growth Triangle 7.1 An overview of Asian Development Bank support for the planning of IMT-GT 151 7.2 Disputing the project’s initial direction 152 7.3 The role of the ADB 154 7.4 IMT-GT’s decline and reincarnation 160 7.5 How representative is IMT-GT? 164 7.6 Chapter conclusion 166 5 Chapter 8: The Interface between Donors and Central Government Agencies 169 as a Barrier to Addressing Conflict 8.1 UNDP and the World Bank 171 8.2 Encountering state institutions 174 8.3 UNDP and the World Bank’s approaches to conflict 177 8.4 UNDP’s frustrated attempts to address conflict in the Far South 178 8.5 The World Bank’s blocked efforts: interface barriers and practical constraints 181 8.6 Rhetoric and reality 183 8.7 Contemporary aid trends: problems with partnerships 185 8.8 Chapter conclusion 188 Chapter 9: Islands of Donor-Funded Peacebuilding 190 9.1 Background to Unicef and The Asia Foundation 190 9.2 How both agencies understand conflict in the Far South 194 9.3 Programming on the Far South: building relationships 197 9.4 Negotiating the interface with the government 200 9.5 Practice: some progress, some problems 204 9.6 Impact: small but significant 208 9.7 Chapter summary 210 Chapter 10: Conclusions 213 10.1 Overview of approach 213 10.2 Do foreign aid agencies pursue peacebuilding objectives in the Far South of Thailand 214 and what related patterns of aid practice emerge across different agencies? 10.3 How do the characteristics and causes of conflict in the Far South of Thailand 216 affect aid agencies’ ability to support peacebuilding? 10.4 What properties of aid agencies help explain the pattern? 218 10.4a Motivations 219 10.4b Interface 221 10.4c Practice 223 10.5 Can donors do more? 225 Interview references 230 References 237 6 List of Figures Map of Thailand 11 Map of the Far South of Thailand 12 Figure 2a Key data on significant Asian peripheral conflicts 25 Figure 3a Map of poverty levels in Sri Lanka used by foreign aid agencies 54 Figure 4a The research process 79 Figure 4b Aid to Thailand: three groups of donors, three conceptual themes 84 Figure 4c Case studies and interviewees 85 Figure 5a Religious composition of Thailand 96 Figure 5b Religious composition in the three main provinces of the Far South 97 Figure 5c Residents’ perspectives: the most significant underlying cause 104 of violent conflict in the Far South Figure 5d Gross Domestic Product per Capita: comparison of selected areas 108 Figure 5e Percentage of children 0-59 months significantly underweight 109 Figure 5f Krue Se Mosque, Pattani 113 Figure 6a Foreign aid to Thailand and the Far South, 2006-2008 127 Figure 6b Characteristics of the three groups of donors with reference to 128 conflict in the Far South of Thailand 7 Acknowledgements Thanks to all those in Thailand who supported this research in different ways, including: Barbara Orlandini, Anthea Mulakala, Oren Murphy, Nualnoi Thammasathien, Matt Wheeler, Tony Davis, Thanet Aphornsuvarn, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Luis Haji Salah, Nik Abdul Rakib bin Nik Hassan, Aphichaya Mahathanawong, Andrew Morris, Thomas Parks, Chanintira Na Thalang, the National Research Council of Thailand, various language teachers, too many interviewees to mention, and others.