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February 19, 2007

Thailand: Massive Bomb Campaign In Muslim South

Since Thailand's Muslim insurgency began in January 2004, the death toll has now officially tipped over the 2,000 mark. The bloodless army coup which took place on September 17, 2006 removed the government of Thaksin Shinawatra and his Thai Rak Thai party, which had been accused of widespread corruption. The coup was led by the then commander of the fourth army, General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, a Muslim. He instituted a new interim government, and placed a Muslim, Aree Wong-araya, as interior minister. Initially, there were some hopes that the new government, led by Surayud Chulanont, would be able to make good on its promises for peace in the troubled south.

Some bizarre notions of solving the insurgency involved bringing foreign Muslims from Malaysia, and studying Muslim insurgent activity in Indonesia to solve what should be internal problems, and even offering Islamic law to locals as an inducement to gain peace.

The insurgency is predominantly located in three southern provinces of Thailand - Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala - with additional activity sometimes taking place in two districts of Songkhla province. These regions formerly belonged to an independent sultanate called Pattani. Originally this sultanate was powerful, and had influence throughout southeast Asia, but by the mid 17th century had fallen into decline, and accepted its role as a vassal state of Siam (Thailand). Pattani was invaded by Siam in 1786. It was officially annexed by Siam in 1902.

80% of the population in the southern provinces are ethnic Malay, speaking a dialect called Yawi, and are Muslim. The rest are generally Buddhist.

What is certain that the new regime, and the new approach to dealing with the problems in the mainly Muslim south have spectacularly failed. Insurgent activity is taking place at its highest rate for nearly two years, and the death rates have increased dramatically since September's coup.

On Sunday (Feb 18) and Monday (today) a series of coordinated bomb and arson attacks have plunged the southern provinces into a state of chaos. On Sunday, seven people were killed and 53 people were injured in Narathiwat, Yala, Pattani and Songkhla. On Monday more attacks continued.

The initial bombing happened in Narathiwat on Sunday morning, at a bus stop in Rueso district.A second bomb went off nearby as officers arrived to ispect the damage from the first bomb. In Muang district, a bomb exploded in front of a food shop, wounding five people.

In Rueso district, a military team was attacked by a group of insurgents on motorcycles as it escorted teachers home from school. One military officer suffered severe injuries in the ambush. Also in Rueso, a roadside bomb injured five Border Patrol Police officers.

The Internal Security Operations Command stated that a total of 54 near-simultaneous attacks had taken place on SUnday , including 29 bomb blasts, 11 arson attacks upon public buildings (including schools) and five shootings.

In Yala province earlier today, two bombs went off in Raman district. One of these killed a paramilitary ranger, Major Prasan Naktang. His 12-year old son, Jetsada, was also injured in the blast. The explosion happened as Major Prasan opened the gate of his home as he prepared to go to work. The second Raman blast injured an adult villager and also a 7-year old boy.

In Bannang Sata district in Yala, a soldier was injured in an ambush by militants. Bombs were defused in a patrol station, beside an electricity pylon and at a karaoke pub.

In Pattani, a car salesroom in Muang district was hit by a bomb blast. This injured two military personnel, and four workers at the Chevrolet car sales franchise. 20 cars were damaged.

The strategy of dealing with the insurgency has been declared in need of revision by police and government. The acting national police chief, Gen. Sereepisut Temiyaves said on Monday that he will be visiting the southern provinces next week. But he stated that the current measures against the widespread terrorism, which are reactive - responding to events as they happen - should be pro-active.

Interior minister Aree Wong-araya said that police and military security officers should rethink their strategies. Wong-araya said that these agencies were too cautious to act upon intelligence, for fear of inflaming tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims. Such comments are hypocritical, considering Wong-araya has been himself trying to implement a policy of appeasement and compromise with the communities of the south. These arguments on how to deal with insurgents - pro-actively or reactively - beset the previous government of Thaksin Shinawatra.

Prime minister Surayud Chulanont met security leaders on Monday to discuss security measures in the upcoming weeks. The weekend saw the implementation of the Chinese New Year, and in March there will be a Buddhist public holiday. The Thai New Year (Songkran) wil take place in mid-April.

Chulanont warned security officers that there is a high likelihood of further attacks on Tuesday. Army chief of staff Gen. Montri Sangkhasap reported that Chulanont had said that more coordination needs to happen between the various government units charged with dealing with the insurgency. The police will additionally be increasing security at bus terminals.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at February 19, 2007 11:32 PM

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