The Seven Pleas… and beyond?
It took more than six decades before the Thai government decided to talk face-to-face with the separatist movements in the Malay Muslim southernmost provinces. But looking back, the first negotiations between the government and the representatives of the Malay Muslims were organized in April 1947. The main ideas and objectives of the Patani People’s Movement led by the charismatic modernist Islamic leader, Hajji Sulong, were presented in the form of Seven Pleas: