| Submit your comments on this article |
| Southeast Asia |
| Thai Army paranoia gives Muslim militants room |
| 2007-02-20 |
| Since its September coup, the Thai army has become so preoccupied with politics it is neglecting the Muslim far south, where 2,000 people have been killed in three years of unrest, analysts and officials said on Tuesday. "Their minds are elsewhere, playing at politics in the capital, so there's much less emphasis on the south," said one Bangkok-based security consultant who did not want to be named for fear of repercussions from the post-coup administration. Army-installed interim Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, himself a former army chief, has made several visits to the three southernmost provinces in his five months in office to try to break an intensifying cycle of Muslim separatist violence. But beyond his publicised meetings with community leaders in the 80 percent ethnic Malay Muslim region, military, police and government workers on the ground worry only about jockeying for position after the shake-up of the coup, the analyst said. The coup's top brass are so paranoid about a lingering threat from ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra they have moved radio- and phone-tapping kit from the south to Bangkok, he added. As a result, the authorities appeared to have had little prior warning of the series of around 50 bombs that exploded on Sunday evening across the region, killing eight people and wounding more than 50. "The operation must have involved maybe 200 people and taken a lot of coordination," the consultant said. "But most of the surveillance equipment has been moved to Bangkok to listen in to old politicians." A senior provincial official in the south confirmed much phone-tapping equipment had been moved after the Sept. 19 putsch. Political preoccupation is not only reason for the government's lack of progress in tackling the unrest in the south, which dates back to Bangkok's annexation of the independent Sultanate of Pattani a century ago. Muslims are terrified to come forward because they fear retribution from a militant movement which has never gone public and treats suspected informants or spies with savage brutality, including beheading. "When a teacher was shot and set ablaze in the middle of a Muslim village, nobody dared give police details," said Pranai Suwannarat, head of a multi-agency body charged with developing the relatively poor region. "No one wants to be seen as siding with the government, or they will face similar fate," he told Reuters. The militants, who have so far shown no desire to hook up with international movements such as al Qaeda, also appear to be cunning and sophisticated enough to adapt their tactics to keep one step ahead of security forces. For instance, since army patrols started carrying mobile phone signal jamming equipment, more roadside bombs were being detonated by remote-control triggers, such as those for garage doors or cars, officials said. Statistics show that in the three years since Bangkok pumped 25,000 troops into the provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani, which have a combined population of 1.8 million, the level of violence has risen dramatically. Pranai said the number of recorded incidents -- everything from arson attacks to bombs to drive-by shootings of both Muslims and Buddhists -- topped 2,000 in 2006, an increase on the previous two years. A vague bid by Surayud to enlist Malaysia's help to open a channel to the militants might also backfire as many in the Buddhist minority fear Bangkok becoming too pro-Muslim in its attempt to restore security. "Clashes between Buddhists and Muslims may be inevitable if the government fails to stop the attacks," said Srisompob Jitpiromsri of Pattani's Prince of Songkhla University |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #4 Given that "The militants, who have so far shown no desire to hook up with international movements such as al Qaeda..." -- would one be justified in saying that these "militants" are simply "hooked up" with Islam? would that mean that one should stop looking at the Long War as some sort of action against Al Qaeda? could it mean that the whole non-Moslem world is at war with Islam? if it's not something in the water, is there something in the Koran that would explain it? |
| Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) 2007-02-20 11:43 |
| #3 Agreed, and I don't expect a new muslim military leader to crack down anytime soon. He's too busy blaming Thaksin Shinawatra for bombings and kissing up to Malaysia. The govt might as well be run by ladyboys! |
| Posted by: Angenter Crolugum3645 2007-02-20 09:09 |
| #2 This is a feature, not a bug, and the entire reason the Thai gov't was overthrown in the first place. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2007-02-20 09:04 |
| #1 This has been my assessment, the govt has been ignoring the southern threat almost completely. |
| Posted by: Angenter Crolugum3645 2007-02-20 08:52 |