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April 24, 2006

Thailand: Bombs, Ballots And Shootings In Muslim South

Today, the Bangkok Post reports that during local elections in the troubled south, a bomb went off yesterday near a polling station in Rueso in the province of Narathiwat. The bomb was placed in a gas station toilet 100 metres from the polling unit, but fortunately did not cause any casualties. In 40 constituencies nationwide, by-elections were being held, with most of these in the restive south, the provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.

In Yala province, a 27-year old Muslim man was killed on the same day after Islamic militants opened fire on his shop. On Saturday in Yala, a bomb went off at a school which also had been used as a polling station. The blast happened shortly after the provincial governor had come to announce that security forces would protect against attacks by militants. When police came to investigate the blast, a second bomb went off. A policeman, Senior Sergeant-Major Somai Rittitham was seriously injured when militants at the scene shot him in the head.

In another incident on Sunday, 43-year old Royalee Yaena, a paramilitary officer, was killed in a drive-by shooting by suspected Muslim militants in Rangae district in Narathiwat. His wife was seriously injured in the gun atack. A senior police spokesman said: "Though the killing was not near a polling station, it's clear that militants are trying to cause trouble during the by-elections." His body is pictured above left, being carried by a soldier.

Last week there elections held for the Thailand senate, and here two, Islamic separatists tried to disrupt proceedings with violence. On Wednesday (19 April) in Si Sakhon district, Narathiwat, as security groups were delivering ballot boxes, militants struck in two incidents. At 7.30 am bombs were thrown and shots were fired at a truck carrying ballot boxes in Ban Pa Nan. Two people were injured by shrapnel, village headman Adiya Balo and a police lieutenant corporal, Pipat Samgmani.

Later at Ban Ai Bue Tae in Si Sakhon, another polling station delivery was attacked, with 34 year old police corporal Sakchai Inlek shot in the head. He died instantly, and six other police were injured. In another part of Narathiwat, a 15 kilogram bomb, located in a mosque in Cho Airong district, was found and defused.

In Pattani, spikes were scattered on Highway 42 in Nong Chik district to prevent people reaching the polling stations, and in Yala, in Betong and Raman districts, home-made bombs went off near polling stations, causing no injuries.

That afternoon, in Muang district, Narathiwat, a security chief was shot dead at a polling unit. A policeman was also shot in the leg during the attack.

In Rueso district in Narathiwat a poll worker was killed when a bomb went off beneath a truck delivering ballot boxes. Eleven other officials were also injured in the attack. And later in the same day, in Bannang Sata district in Yala, a patrol car ran over a bomb, injuring three soldiers.

These attacks from the 19 April, came only shortly after a speech by an army commander, who claimed that the killings in the troubled southern provinces appeared to have shown a marked decline. Lieutenant-General Ongkorn Thongprasom, head of the Fourth Army, said on Sunday (16 April) that: "The situation in the three southern border provinces should improve since the militant network has been weakened by the arrest of its top members."

"The militants may have also temporarily scaled down their missions because they may have felt that the ongoing political turmoil had overshadowed media coverage on the southern violence."

On the same day that he spoke, a home-made bomb went off at a construction site in Sugai Kolok district in Narathiwat, where construction workers were building a wall at a school. No-one was hurt.

There were further bomb attacks on the following day (Monday 17) in Pattani and Narathiwat, and two people were shot dead by gunmen. In the shootings, a hospital worker was killed in a drive-by attack in Mae Laen district, Pattani and in the same province, a 32 year old defence worker was shot dead as he rode his motorbike through Muang district in Narathiwat.

The bomb attacks happened in neighbouring Muang district in Pattani, where Buddhist monks being escorted by soldiers narrowly escaped the force of the blast. In Narathiwat, a motorcycle bomb went off in front of a noodle shop. There were no injuries.

The situation in Thailand politically is currently unstable, following the stepping down of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. He called for elections on April 2, but these were boycotted by the opposition Democrat Party. Thaksin, of the Thai Rak Thai party, left on 4 April, following allegations of corruption. The country is being run currently by "caretakers"

The Washington Post reports that the weekend elections failed to fill several seats, and thus a further, third election will need to be held. It is standard procedure for a Parliament to be convened within 30 days of an election, but also the Lower House of Parliament must have all its 500 seats filled, before it can convene. Many seats remain empty. On Friday, the Supreme Court nullified 42 candidates from minor parties, causing Thai Rak Thai candidates to stand unopposed in Sunday's elections.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at April 24, 2006 2:18 PM

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