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August 8, 2006

Thailand: Politicians Considered Targets In Muslim South

Our last update on Thai violence in the south, on Saturday August 5, detailed how schools and teachers were demanding protections against the actions of insurgents.

On Sunday morning, according to the Bangkok Post, Thai Daily and also The Nation, a caretaker senator of Narathiwat province was shot at 6.40 am. 52-year old Fakruddin Bothor was shortly to leave his post as senator. The politician was riding his motorcycle in the district of Rangae, Narathiwat when he was attacked by two men, also on motorbikes, who had been following him.

The bullet entered his neck and exited through his left cheek. As the senator lay on the ground, the gunmen tried to get close to him to shoot again, but appeared to take note of the crowded nature of the location, and fled. He had been shot with an 11-millimeter handgun.

There was some dispute whether he had been shot by militants or relatives of students at the Darusalam Islamic school, which he owns. He had last week expelled 20 female and 35 male students for "conducting improper behaviour", and there were thoughts that this may have been a revenge attack by students' angry relatives. He was shot close to the Darusalam school.

Fakruddin was taken to Rangae hospital, and then transfered to the Narathiwat Rachanakarin Hospital. where he underwent a four hour operation. He was kept in intensive care, and was breathing with a respirator. He is now said to be "out of danger", according to the Interior Minister.

In Rueso district in Narathiwat, the son of the district mayor was seriously injured in a drive-by shooting incident. 20 year old Chanan Chanblya was shot twice in the back while sitting outside his home. The shooting of Chanan happened about four hours after the attack upon Fakruddin.

Chanan was not alone. Other attacks at about the same time in the district of Rueso included two coal workers who were shot and injured in a similar attack, a kilometer away, which police think was carried out by the same gunmen.

And around the same time as the three people in Rueso district were shot, a small bomb went off at a train depot. No-one was injured in the blast.

The governor of Narathiwat, Pracha Terat, said that he thought the attack upon Fakruddin may have been motivated out of revenge, but noted that separatist Islamists had already dispatched five gunmen to the provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala, to attack senior official figures. He admitted that even provincial governors were at risk.

Anantachai Thaireathan, who had been part of the now expired National Reconciliation Commission, concurred. He agreed that insurgents had now begun to attack officials. But he urged a conciliatory approach to the situation.

Kongsak Wantana, the caretaker Interior Minister, denied that politicians and officials were targets of the militants, but said that unusual activities were taking place in the south. He demanded that authorities take decisive action.

The hawkish caretaker Defense Minister, Thammarak Isarangkura na Ayudhaya repeated his claims that the authorities should be firm and take control of troubled regions. His remarks were tempered slightly from his comments made the day before. He had received complaints for his strident statements.

The adviser for the Democrat Party, Chuan Leepak, said of the Defense Minister's comments: "I agree that we need drastic action, but not if that means the use of violence. I mean, regardless of their religion, those who commit crime must be legally prosecuted and punished. We must not be subjective but instead let the judges do their work. Otherwise, it will increase the problems."

The caretaker Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, said that the resolution of the southern conflict would be an uphill task, as the situation also involved extremist groups, politics, "dark influences" and drugs. "It's a complicated problem and a difficult task to be resolved." he claimed on Sunday.

The leader of the opposition Democratic Party, Abhsit Vejjajiva said on Sunday that Thaksin's government needed to find more constructive measures to deal with the conflict. He suggested following the recommendations which were laid out by the National Reconciliation Commission, which had been a body originally set up to propose solutions, before it was wound down.

Elsewhere on Sunday, a rubber tapper was killed in fire from assault rifles in Krong Pinang district, Yala province, and in Nong Chik district in Pattani province, a defense volunteer was shot and killed.

Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat provinces, as well as two districts of Songhkla province, formerly comprised an independent Muslim sultanate called Pattani. Thailand invaded the region in 1786, and the provinces became officially annexed into Thailand in 1902. The population in these provinces is 80% Muslim, and 20% Buddhist.

Since January 4 2004, an insurgency has been carried out by Muslim separatists, who wish to see the southern region secede from Thailand. Almost 1,400 people have died in the violence so far.

According to Malaysian news agency Bernama: Police statistics showed there were 41 insurgency-related incidents like shooting and bomb blasts and 23 killings from July 16 to July 31 in the four provinces. Pattani has the highest number of incidents with 17, Narathiwat 12, Yala 11 and four in Songkhla. The casualties involved four government officials, mostly soldiers and policemen, 17 civilians and two militants.

Another development took place on Sunday, in which a group of 30 Muslims from Cambodia entered Thailand, on their way to the south. There was only one man amongst them, the group being made up of women and children. They said they were going to work in Sungai Kolok district in Narathiwat province. Apparently Islamic religious teachers in the south often promise work to Cambodian Muslims, but no-one was sure what the work entailed. Thai authorities monitored the group as it traveled southward.

Another group of Cambodian Muslims had been found to be smuggling medicines and the flavor enhancer monosodium glutamate into the country. Customs officers assumed these were to be given to the insurgents.

In November we wrote of a migration of 86 Cambodian Muslims across the border, who also said they were travelling to Malaysia, passing through the southern provinces affected by the insurgency. This group had made conflicting accounts of their destinations and intentions. Some claimed Malaysia was their destination, and others said they were going to attend Islamic schools in the south.

The shooting of outgoing Senator Fakruddin Boto is still being argued over. according to police accounts, such as shooting techniques and the type of gun involved (insurgents usually use rifles for drive-by shootings, rather than pistols), the shooting was not the work of militant insurgents.

Now in a Songkhla hospital, Fakruddin is in a stable condition. But the claims by Governor Pracha Terat, that the shooting was related to the expulsions at Darusalam school, was fiercely denied by a school administrator, states The Nation.

There were further allegations of what had led to the expulsion of students. The Rangae district commander, Police Colonel Manote Anandritthikul, assumed that the expulsion happened as a result of drugs and sex. He stated that the 20 female students who were expelled were all pregnant.

Santhan Renseb, vice principle of the school, yesterday denied the allegations. He said the students had left because of security fears in the troubled region, and not because of bad behaviour.

"They wanted to pursue their religious education elsewhere," he said. Additionally, fears for safety had led to an additional 50 students who had applied to join the school not enrolling.

Caretaker Education Minister Chaturon Chaisaeng stated: "People should not be making assumptions until the culprit is arrested as this could jeopardise attempts to solve the problem."

Early today, the younger sister of a member of parliament from Narathiwat province was shot in a drive-by shooting, states TNA English News. 50-year old Fauziya Uttarasin was slightly wounded in the attack. Her brother Areepen Uttarasin, was a former MP.

According to the Bangkok Post, Aziz Benhawan, president of the Yala provincial administration, said the violence had recently worsened in the stricken provinces. He demanded protection for local politicians.

Yesterday, the claims by Narathiwat governor Pracha Terat, that gunmen had been sent specifically to kill politicians and officials, was dismissed by the head of the Fourth Army, General Ruengroj Mahasaranont.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at August 8, 2006 10:48 AM

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