Remediation of administrative shortcomings is a perennial
feature of Bangkok’s responses to the southern problem.
Over three decades, nine special government agencies
have been established to resolve that problem, each
intended as a mechanism for better coordination across
existing agencies. One, SBPAC, has assumed greater prominence
over the past two years and has been busy courting
local elites, much as it did in the 1980s and 1990s. As the
resurgence of violence a decade ago demonstrated, however,
there are limits to this approach.102 Plans by the Yingluck
administration to stand up yet another coordinating
body reveal an inclination to stick with politically benign
responses. That these plans have stalled indicates persistent
bureaucratic squabbling, principally between military
and civilian leaders, about who should be in charge of Deep
South policy.