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November 13, 2006

Thailand: Killings Continue In Muslim South

On Wednesday November 8, 122 Buddhists from villages in than To and Bannang Sata districtc, Yala province, fled their homes to take refuge in the grounds of the Wat Nirotsankharam temple in Muang district, Yala. They had fled following threats of violence from Muslim insurgents. On November 5, an elderly man and his daughter were killed by gunmen at their roadside home and set fire to the house in Bannang Sata district.

Since the initial exodus, more villagers have taken refuge in the temple, bringing the number of refugees to at least 200. Those at the temple have received donations from Queen Sirikit, and private well-wishers have sent gifts of goods and money. A mobile medical team from Yala Central Hospital has also visited the refugees.

On Monday, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn will be meeting with the refugees, and the prime miinister, Surayud Chulanont, has said that he will be returning soon to the south, and will be visiting the Wat Nirotsankharam villagers. Chulanont said: "I understand that some Muslim people have gone to visit this (Thai Buddhist) group of people already. I believe that unity and mutual understanding among people of different cultures are vital to our society. We have to respect others' beliefs."

Since the coup of September 19, the leaders of the coup, as well as members of the puppet government, have promised to make life easier for Muslims in the south and to avoid the confrontational methods employed by ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra of the Thai Rak Thai party. The new prime minister, Surayad Chulanot, has visited the south and has even promised Muslims the hope of Sharia law. Yet despite these concessions, and peace negotiations brokered by neighbouring Malaysia, the violence seems to be intensifying, rather than lessening.

In Narathiwat province, monks have decided to abandon their regular alms rounds. On October 22, five monks were seriously injured when a bomb detonated as they went on their traditional alms-gathering promenade. One of their police escorts died in the blast, in Muang. This attack seems to have spurred the monks to have come to their decision, which was taken after a meeting at Wat Prachum Cholthara in Sungai Padi district. They have said that people wishing to donate alms must now go to the temples to present offerings.

Attacks in the south proliferated over the weekend. On Friday night, (November 10) the house of a group of teachers from Ban Ya Ba Uoopakarn Witaya School was set on fire in Rueso district, Narathiwat province. No-one was in the house at the time of the attack.

On Saturday morning at 7.55 am in Yaha district in Yala province, two police officers who were on a motorcycle were attacked by a group of four insurgents. The assailants shot the police officers dead with M-16 automatic rifles. When their victims, Srichan Ayeyawan and Prasert Piddam, lay on the ground, the insurgents then hacked at their faces and heads with knives, mutilating them. The insurgents then fled with the police officers' weapons.

On Saturday in Bacho district at 6.45 am, Narathiwat, a remote controlled bomb went off at a roadside, as a patrol of seven Thai marines was passing. Two soldiers, chief Petty Officer 1st Class Songkran Kudwongkaew, 36, and Seaman Chokechai Maithong, 23, were injured, though their wounds were not considered serious. The bomb had been detonated by a mobile phone.

In Sai Buri district, Pattani province, a 48-year old farmer, Jemudor Phma, was on his way home when two gunmen shot him near a mosque in tambon Troh Bon. He died in hospital.

In Rueso district, Narathiwat province, two men shot an assistant to a village head man. 59-year old Saari Yuso was riding his motorcycle from his home in Ban Koksator village when he was shot. He died in hospital. Police later said that Saari had acted as a government informant, which is why he was killed.

Late on Saturday evening, Muslim insurgents on a motorcycle attacked a teashop in Baluka village in Rueso district, Narathiwat. Six men were inside the teashop, watching television, when the gun attack happened. 23-year old Mahama Toluboh and his brother Sofi Toluboh, aged 30, were hit several times by fire from an M 16 rifle. After the initial shooting, another motorcycle drew up and more gunshots were made. Then the first motorcycle returned and an M79 grenade was fired at the teashop. Mahama Tolubog died at the Rueso hospital.

In a separate insurgent attack in Rueso, a man was killed and his wife was injured.

The army in the south (the Fourth Army as it is known) has been introducing new technology to boost the confidence of soldiers in the region. This includes communication jamming equipment, bomb suits to be worn by defusing units, bullet-proof clothing and vehicles, and solar power generators for use in remote military camps.

Lt Gen Apichai Timsuwan said that unmanned aerial reconnaissance vehicles would be introduced to the south within the coming months, and the development of bomb-clearing robots, already under way, would be speeded up. Better quality bomb suits should be ready for use by June next year.

Meanwhile, support for the coup, though still high, appears to be waning, according to a poll by ABAC Assumption University in Bangkok. The poll surveyed 3,224 people nationwide on November 3 to Novmber 11. 80% of respondents wanted the government to resolve the insurgency in the Muslim-majority south. This insurgency, which began on January 4, 2004, has already claimed more than 1,700 lives.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at November 13, 2006 12:24 AM

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