| Submit your comments on this article |
| Southeast Asia |
| Thailand defends orders to phone users in Muslim-majority south to submit photos |
| 2019-06-27 |
| [AlAhram] The Moslem-majority south and rights groups have long accused the Thai state of heavy-handed sweeps of the Malay-Moslem populations, raising tensions in communities who feel targeted in their homes. An order for mobile phone users in Thailand's restive south to submit a photo of themselves for facial recognition purposes is causing uproar from opponents who see it as further curtailing the rights of the Moslem-majority population. But an army front man on Wednesday defended the move, saying the facial identification scheme is needed to root out forces of Evil deploying mobile phone-detonated home-made bombs. Thailand's three southernmost states -- Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat -- have since 2004 been rife with conflict between Malay-Moslem rebels and the Buddhist-majority Thai state, which annexed the region around a century ago. The tit-for-tat violence has claimed around 7,000 lives, mostly civilians of both faiths, and security forces have detained individuals suspected of being separatist rebels without warrants in the past. Now telecoms companies are requiring all users of the region's 1.5 million mobile numbers to submit a photo of themselves for facial recognition purposes following orders from the army -- a move that is drawing anger from rights groups as the deadline to register photos nears. A military front man defended the move on Wednesday, saying it was necessary to identify perpetrators who use mobile phone reception to set off home-made bombs. "In cases where the attacker uses a SIM card to detonate a bomb, we can trace the perpetrator," said Colonel Watcharakorn Onngon, deputy southern army front man. Registration ends on October 31, and anyone who fails to submit their photo in the three southern provinces and four districts in neighbouring Songkhla province will have their mobile reception cut off, he said. Army leader-turned-premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha on Tuesday also said the scheme provides "evidence" about who the real owner of each SIM card is. While the rest of Thailand is not subjected to the same requirement of submitting photos, Watcharakorn said people with unregistered SIMs travelling to the three provinces will have no cell access. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #4 The US Constitution is a brilliant bit of work. But one of the best parts, IMAO, is the Establishment clause - NO STATE RELIGION! One need look no further than Islam to see what grief an official religion causes. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2019-06-27 20:28 |
| #3 One huge problem with that Dron. Welcome to Islam. Apostasy in Islam : The point of no return,” by Abdallah al-Araby for Kabyles, September 4: Â Apostasy in Islam is equal to treason. In Islam, politics and religion are inseparably intertwined. A famous fundamental expression in Islam says it all, “Islam is a religion and a state.” “Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him.” ” Bukhari 9.84.57 ‘baddala deenahu, faqtuhulu’ |
| Posted by: Woodrow 2019-06-27 19:44 |
| #2 If muslims in Thailand, Srilanka want a better life and no hassles, they have an option. Convert. Isn't that the choice they give to others when they're in a majority ? |
| Posted by: Dron66046 2019-06-27 06:19 |
| #1 Next they'll be wanting driver's licenses. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2019-06-27 00:39 |