EXPANDING COMMUNITY APPROACHES IN SOUTHERN THAILAND | KM NOTE 11 Deep South Incident Database: Context, Development, Applications and Impacts 1. Context of Violent Conflict Development of the con ict-monitoring database is a new Patani Darusalam (Patani Kingdom) prides itself in its concept in Thailand. The escalation of violence in the history spanning over 1,000 years as an independent state Southern border provinces [Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and in the Malay peninsular, and as “center of Islam in 4 districts of Songkla province] since 2004, has a strong Southeast Asia.” The Siamese Kingdom invaded it 200 impact on academics, practitioners as well as policy years ago. Con icts between Siamese state and Patani makers, who sought appropriate tools for analyzing cause Malay Muslims have developed over hundred years since and consequences of the violence that, over years, has Patani kingdom was subjugated by Thai state in 1786 and become protracted and indeterminate. Systematic and subsequently fully annexed to the Siamese centralized objective collection of data about violent con ict, administrative system in 1909 as a result of particularly selecting relevant data in space and time, is a Anglo-Siamese Treaty. crucial component in the effort to develop policy and academic tool for better analyses to nd a peaceful Violence and con ict in Thailand’s Deep South have solution. This article aims to elaborate on the origins, unfolded as a result of a variety of factors. Central to these context, development, applications and impacts of the factors is identity politics, which is the claim to power of Deep South Incident Database (DSID) towards the a particular identity, be it national, clan, religious or solutions of violent con ict in the southernmost region of linguistic. In the process of nation-state building, Thai state Thailand. had transformed Patani’s elite and political structures, including Islamic education and legal systems, into more secularized, Thai-oriented system. As Duncan McCargo puts it, Malay-Muslims in the Deep South of Thailand 1 Expanding Community Approaches in Con ict Situations are very proud of their identity, the distinctive nature of the Against the backdrop of this discursive process, academic communities, as Malays (Melayu), as Muslims and as research about con ict played a signi cant role in shaping people of Patani, an ancient kingdom and center of Islamic the understanding of people about the violent con ict. learning and culture (McCargo, 2008, 4). Without going Deep South Incident Database has emerged from an fur ther into details of the academic and popular academic research undertaking that was subsequently historiographies one can argue that from post-World War II re ned into a valid fact- nding tool for the general public area to end of1970’s a body of knowledge was generated and local civic groups in particular. Further development of from a Patani “resistance” and “liberation” perspective as the dataset and related research would enable more well as from the Thai state perspective to justify their quantitative work conducive to con ict resolution and respective interpretation of political developments in the peacebuilding. As has been proven in con ict settings region (Jor y 2007, Puaksom 2009, Aphornsuvan elsewhere, valid and reliable data and data sets could 2009,Walker 2013, Suwannathat-Pian 2013, Mansurnoor effectively generate inputs for policy formulation leading to 2013). con ict transformation. (Kreutz, 2010). On the other hand, in recent years the public sphere in the 2. Origins and Development sub-region has been signi cantly expanded (ICG 2012, of Deep South Incident Database (DSID) 23 - 24). Three areas of visible civilian engagements are obvious: civil society, alternative and local media, and the Dataset on incidence of violence in the Deep South was academia. Some of them are also closely linked with each originally developed at the Faculty of Humanities and Social other and a general trend is the development of Sciences of Prince of Songkla University at Pattani by network-structures to encourage the collaboration among Srisompob Jitpiromsri, then as the Associate Dean for a broader spectrum of people and organizations. In parallel Research and Outreach, with a view to understand and to this development three content-related discourses have analyze the upsurge of violence since January 2004. By emerged: on issues of “Southern Autonomy” and March 2004, the data collection process was launched, decentralization, peace talks and dialogue and justice. The using Microsoft Access version 2003. Sources of data following diagram indicates the links between the social included daily newspapers, such as mass-circulation Thai spaces and the content-related discourses. Rath, DailyNews, Khaosod. The researcher aimed to develop database of incidence of violence in the Southern border Picture Discursive Formation Model region spanning Pattani,Yala and Narathiwat province and 4 districts of Songkla. The database included daily, monthly for Conflict Transformation and annual statistics. The researcher initially intended to apply statistics re ned and extracted from this database in the situational analyses and predicting pattern of violence for policy recommendations (Srisompob, 2005). Academic Knowledge/ Southern Data analysis was published and disseminated to the geneal Researchers Autonomy public drawing attention from researchers, academics, media and government agencies, nationally and internationally. The database was also intended to support Local-National development of similar situation database amongst Media and Peace Talks/ agencies concerned and make it accessible for the public. Communications Dialogues The incident database was rst used for policy analysis in 2005, when the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) appointed a fact- nding research team to investigate the causes and effects of violent con icts since escalation in Justice Civil Society 2004. Movements 2 Knowledge Management Note Based on the research project, developed in 2004 by the However, it is noticeable that from 2008 onwards, there researcher at Prince of Songkla University's Pattani campus, were attempts at insurgency in the form that would sustain the incident of violence database was used and cited in the goals of the struggle, and would also cause the situation the NRC's nal Report to show that violence has been in the area to rapidly become very intense at intervals. coordinated and well-organized by unknown insurgency Therefore, from 2008, if we monitor the situation closely entity, different from the conspiracy theories alleging that and continuously, the situation of unrest in the Deep South local authorities orchestrated some of these incidents. would be of a continuous pattern with occasional spikes, re ecting an image of a never-ending situation of violence. Deep South Watch Database, later called Deep South The lack of stability and uncertainty of the situation, with Incident Database (DSID), has thus become a prominent uctuating frequency of incidents represents the dynamics source of reference in the public policy analysis concerning of continuity of the unrest, the prime nature of the con ict. con ict resolution and peacebuilding efforts. Beyond Such dynamics should be monitored with great care, as they reporting statistics of deaths and injuries, database may also have an impact on undermining the State’s applications could demonstrate variations and trend, legitimacy in the long run. signi cant patterns of violent con ict in the Deep South. This situation is later identi ed as the "protracted violence" As a result, the situation analysis of Deep South Watch due to the continuity of violence day in day out, every month, (DSW) could show that, in the overall picture, the statistics and every year. It is a state of violence that consists of of violence appeared to have declined as often described shooting different groups of people going about their daily by the State. If one takes June 2007 as the turning point, lives, bombing of public places and attacking targets that it would appear that the frequency of violent incidents are state of cials, attacking the base of the military, police, actually started declining in a certain way. or volunteer forces, armed clashes during the "surround, search, and arrest" raids of state of cials against the insur- gents, as well as killing of innocent individuals. Such incidents frequently appear in the news, and shown in the analysis (Jitpiromsri and McCargo, 2010). ความรุนแรงเชิงโครงสรางหรือวาความรุนแรงที่มี โครงสรางในพื้นที่ชายแดนภาคใต ขอมูลเกี่ยวกับ สิงหนตร เหตุรุนแรงในสองป (2004-2005) คณะกรรมการ อิสระตรวจสอบ และคนหาความจริงเพื่อ ควนเนียน การปรองดองแหงชาติ 2005 เมืองสงขลา รัดภูมิ บางกลำ หาดใหญ นาหมอม จะนะ คลองหอยโขง เทพา เมือง ปตตานี ยะหริ่ง ปะนาเระ หนองจิก ยะรัง มายอ สามบุรี สะเดา โคกโพธิ์ นาทวี แมลาน กะพอ ไมแกน ทุงยางแดง บาเจาะ เมืองยะลา สะบายอย รามัน ยี่งอ ยะหา กรงปนัง รือเสาะ เมือง นราธิวาส กาบัง ระแงะ ตากใบ เจาะไอรอง บันนังสตา ศรีสาคร จังหวัด จำนวนเหตุการณ สุไหงปาดี ธารโต จะเเนะ สุไหงโก-ลก นราธิวาส 1299 สงขลา ปตตานี 926 ปตตานี สุคิริน แวง ยะลา 764 ยะลา เบตง นราธิวาส สงขลา 102 3 Expanding Community Approaches in Con ict Situations The reliable sources of data have contributed to the further Causes of incidents varied, multiple motives including development of incident of violence dataset. In the process, insurgency, crime and other personal con icts. It has been the data has been collected from 4 sources: the Emergency dif cult to ascertain the causes of violence in the Deep South Call Center operated by the Ministry of Interior based in Yala violence for years. The data for entering process would be province, the daily military report compiled by the Internal selected to make sure that it includes only cases considered Security Operations Command Region 4 (ISOC 4), the security –related, as well as those under active investigation. Southern Border Provinces Police Operation Center, and the Cases that were clearly not related to insurgency would be regional news centers of media agencies. All centers would dismissed. The original sources of data have already been report daily to Deep South Watch (DSW), where the database scrutinized by the authorities working on the grounds, team collected and triangulated the validity of data from including the military of cers, police of cers and district different sources. The data has thus been coded and entered of cers, to screen in only cases directly related to the into to the dataset that is updated on the daily basis. insurgency. In data entry process, the staff would conduct encoding and 3. A New Deep South Incident Database entering data every day. By the end of every month, there (DSID 2.0): A New Phase of Development would be editing process and fact-checking, and correction. Then data summarizing would be done. Monthly summary Since 2014, Deep South Watch (DSW) and Center for report is due to be issued by the fth of the following month. Con ict Studies and CulturalDiversity (CSCD) have Only signi cant data would be reported, such as total number collaborated with the World Bank and Asia Foundation to of violent incidents, deaths and injuries. The users of this strengthen the Deep South Incident Database (DSID). New repor t are mostly media outlets, domestically and concepts have been formulated, and set to restructure the internationally, foreign embassies in Thailand, public and database into a new one. With this undertaking, DSID has private agencies. A monthly summary would usually feature: to rede ne and recode about 15,000 incidents recorded in predecessor database. To this end, the process includes: Number of incidences including different forms of violence Number of deaths and injuries by religious background Using consistent codes and clear de nitions Number of deaths and injuries by occupations Making clear work processes Instituting and implementing two stage quality control Securing storage of raw and processed data. Working Procedure Raw data Scaning from media/other Analyzing & Coding and document and sources Selecting data entering data marking it PDF file Submitting Monthly Data being Interpretation data to report checked analyst Monthly/ Dissemination Annual Reports 4 Knowledge Management Note The reconstructed database will operate according to the Database Structure Incident Details following key principles: Rely on standard de nitions/codes where possible Incident ID Date Time Violence Admin Build on local capacity Keep it simple Province ID District ID Sub district Village ID Military The new version of database has improved accessibility, ID GIS reliability and speed of output. As a result, working process has become more complicated and quali ed, encompassing Civilian GIS Human Impact on Type of Cause of analyzing and classifying information, data entry on paper Impact Property Incident Incident forms, data veri cation, entry into database in electronic form, data storage – electronic and on paper, and regular reports. All steps need to be implemented by staff with Weapon One-sided or Vehicles Extreme Sources Used two-sided Used Violence functional differentiation and quality control. Working Process Database Structure Perpetrator Data Southern Border ISOC Provinces Police Call Center News Center Operation Center Incident ID Perpetrator Organization Numbers of Status of ID Perpetrators Perpetrators Analyze and Classify Information STAFF Actions Legal Name Alias Age Classification Data entry on paper form STAFF Sub district Data verification QC Province ID District ID ID/Municipal Vilage ID Civilian ID GIS Entry into database electronic form STAFF House no. ID Card no. Gender Religion Occupation Data verification QC Data storang - electronic and on paper STAFF Database Structure Victims Project Regular reports manager Incident ID Victims ID Victim Victim Status of Group Category Victim The new database enables preparation of monthly summary report by the 5th of the following month. Signi cant data is Title Name Alias Age Province ID reported, such as trends in incidence of violence, deaths and injuries. The users of these reports are primarily domestic and international media, foreign embassies, international District ID Sub district Village ID House no. Civilian GIS ID/Municipal organizations, government agencies and the private sector. ID Research use is facilitated by use of standard de nitions, coding and simpli ed extraction of data. A more complex ID Card Gender Religion Occupation CSO database structure comprises of three major components: incidents, perpetrators and victims. 5 Expanding Community Approaches in Con ict Situations Deep South Incident Database 2.0 also has a spatial 4) Institutions dimension of data to upgrade capabilities of data analysis. Schools Most research works on con ict examine national averages Religious institutions while neglecting spatial variations within the country. Spatial 5) Government information can improve conventional country-level measures Security operations and help our understanding of how local features and Security infrastructure (forthcoming) variations give rise to sub-national violence. DSID 2.0 project Development projects (forthcoming) is integrating GIS into the Deep South Watch Database. The initial version of the database includes spatial 4. The Next Step of Database Development data – addresses and military coordinates – but it still lacks structure essential for analytical purposes. A separate project was set up to code detailed standard GIS information into Development of Deep South Watch Database is under a the database. An initial obstacle was the lack of accurate critical phase, the turning point. There are 3 ways of technical base maps covering the area. To solve the problem, the and political developments. We are making a better database. database team has created the village base map. We have to develop the database that allows for better presentation and info graphics. We are trying to construct a monitoring database and bringing about people’s participation The program ArcView GIS is used for assigning coordinates in the peace process. to each village in the area. Village roster can be obtained from Ministry of Interior, with standard Thai ISO codes for On the other hand, we are developing more rigorous eld and province, district, sub-district and village as assigned by the survey researches in order to build structures that will directly Ministry of Interior. Sources of geographic information for support and strengthen local networks to engage people’s identifying coordinates would be secured to have existing participation in con ict transformation. In fact, DSID needs 5 village level maps. The satellite images are procured from further steps to: GISTDA (Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development 1) Strengthening quantitative skills Objective is to strengthen Agency). Some data can be obtained from Google Earth. As quantitative skills by matching violence databases with there is no standard Thai de nition of what a village center information from other databases. is, the team assigned the coordinates based on a centrally 2) Constructing violence intensity indices Objective is to located xed point such as road intersection, school, assess different ways of constructing these indices, their mosque. Eventually, DSID 2.0 can develop geocoding events. potential applications and policy relevance. Geocoding has been done for large number of incidents 3) Developing data presentation techniques Objective is to based on satellite images with locations of all 15,000+ increase capacity of the team to display their data in visually incidents. Satellite images are used for identifying location appealing ways via their websites of events, saving costs and time required of actual eldwork. 4) Developing violence monitoring capacity and peace process Objective is to draw on different experiences across the The next step is geocoding of supplementary data. The three countries, Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia to following data would be obtained and geocoded. highlight uses of violence monitoring data at different stages 1) Social and economic information of peace processes. Unemployment, employment and poverty 5) In uencing policy locally Education Objective is to assess the potential for in uencing the local Religion and language use governments in con ict areas to use violence data in their 2) Infrastructure decision-making. Roads Railways 3) Physical geography Forests Agricultural land Built up areas 6 Knowledge Management Note This note was prepared by Dr. Srisompob Jitrpiromsri, Director, Center for Conflict Studies and Cultural Diversity, Prince of Songkla University, Pattani Campus. Knowledge Management Notes are produced under the State and Peace-Building Fund (SPF) and Korean Trust Fund (KTF) For more information on the project, contact: Pamornrat Tansanguanwong ptansanguanwong@worldbank.org Poonyanuch Chockanapitaksa pchockanapitaksa@worldbank.org Tel: +662 686-8300 Knowledge Management Note Series No. Title 1. The In uence of Con ict Research on the Design of the Piloting Community Approaches in Con ict Situation Project 2. Gender and Development in Thailand’s Con ict Areas 3. Youth-focused Community Driven Development: Results and Lessons Learned 4. Creating “Space” for Interaction: Description of CACS Project Operations 5. CACS Project: Monitoring and Evaluation 6. Community Driven Development: Findings and Applied Learning 7. Peace-building Partnership Fund: Findings and Applied Learning 8. Practical Lessons for Improving Livelihoods Opportunities in Con ict Contexts 9. Facilitating Community Driven Development in Con ict-Affected Deep South 10. Access to Finance: The Case of Muslim Minority in Southern Thailand 11. Deep South Incident Database: Context, Development, Applications and Impact 7 World Bank Thailand 30th Floor, Siam Piwat Tower, 989 Rama 1 Road Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330 Tel: +66 2686 8300 Email: thailand@worldbank.org http://www.worldbank.org/thailand Supported by