  GRB031203 was a very low apparent luminosity gamma-ray burst (GRB). It was
also the first GRB with a dust-scattered X-ray halo. The observation of the
halo allowed us to infer the presence of a large soft X-ray fluence in the
total burst output. It has, however, also been claimed that GRB031203 was
intrinsically sub-energetic, representative of a class of spectrally hard,
low-energy bursts quite different from other GRBs. Reanalysis of the available
data confirms our original finding that GRB031203 had a very large soft X-ray
component, the time of which can be constrained to within a few minutes after
the burst, implying that while GRB031203 did indeed have a very low apparent
luminosity, it was also very soft. Notions propagated in the literature
regarding the uncertainties in the determination of the soft X-ray fluence from
the halo data and on the available constraints from the hard X-ray data are
addressed: the properties of the scattering dust along the line of sight (grain
sizes, precise location and the geometry) are determined directly from the high
quality X-ray data so that there is little uncertainty about the scatterer;
constraints on the X-ray lightcurve from the Integral spacecraft at the time of
the soft X-ray blast are not complete because of a slew in the spacecraft
pointing shortly after the burst. Claims that GRB031203 was intrinsically
under-energetic and that it represents a deviation from the luminosity-peak
energy relation do not appear to be substantiated by the data, regardless of
whether the soft X-ray component is declared part of the prompt emission or the
afterglow. We conclude that the difference between the soft and hard X-ray
spectra from XMM-Newton and Integral indicate that a second soft pulse probably
occurred in this burst as has been observed in other GRBs, notably GRB050502B.
