Reconciliation through Communication in the Three Southernmost Border Provinces of Thailand

Abstract

The objective of this research were to study: 1) the context of communications for reconciliation in the three southernmost border provinces, 2) the process of communications for reconciliation in the three southernmost border provinces, 3) Prioritize the reconciliation in the three southernmost border provinces, and 4) the relationships of contexts of communications with the process of communication for reconciliation in the three southernmost border provinces. This research used mixed method approach between qualitative Research (In-depth Interview) and quantitative Research (Multiple Regression Analysis). The data were collected from government officials, media workers, leaders and citizens in the three southernmost border provinces. The results were as follows: 1) For the context of communications for reconciliation, it was found that the roles and responsibilities of government officials, media worders, and leaders were not integrated to their work. They should use integrated communication. 2) For the process of communications for reconciliation, it was found that government officials, the message receivers should know about information analysis and use the same media which were specific media and community media. 3) For the prioritization of the reconciliation, the results were as follows: 3.1) the government officials should start with building trust, understanding, and being sincere, they should work according to His Majesty the King’s strategy “understand, reach out, and develop”, and they  should provide people’s participation; 3.2)  the media workers should placed the importance on fairness, participation, and sincerity, they should also listen to the people’s opinions and 3.3) the leaders shoud start with building understanding in order to create trust, and also take fairness into consideration. 4)  For the relationships of contexts of communications with the process of communication for reconciliation, it was found that  the context of the communication method was positively related to the process of communication for reconciliation.