Is Southern Thailand safe???

[surbana]

(BangkokPost.com) - Insurgents killed four people and wounded two others as the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan comes to an end, police said Saturday.

In Yala, three Muslims were killed and one seriously injured when insurgents ambushed their car late Friday.

In the neighbouring Narathiwat, insurgents killed a 47-year-old Buddhist man and shot his older brother in a drive-by shooting.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said in a weekly television interview on Saturday that violence in the southern region has decreased comparing to last year.

"The degree of violence in the attacks has decreased while the frequency of attacks has also lessened," Gen Surayud said.

He said the fewer attacks partly result from the fact that villagers cooperate more with authorities.

[ProfessorOokami]

(BangkokPost.com) - Insurgents killed four people and wounded two others as the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan comes to an end, police said Saturday.

In Yala, three Muslims were killed and one seriously injured when insurgents ambushed their car late Friday.

In the neighbouring Narathiwat, insurgents killed a 47-year-old Buddhist man and shot his older brother in a drive-by shooting.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said in a weekly television interview on Saturday that violence in the southern region has decreased comparing to last year.

"The degree of violence in the attacks has decreased while the frequency of attacks has also lessened," Gen Surayud said.

He said the fewer attacks partly result from the fact that villagers cooperate more with authorities.

According to some samsters, not all southern Thailand are unsafe. Places to avoid are Sg Golok and the adjacent areas[where they are accessible via Malaysia], hot spot will be Takbai

Safest place so far is Dannok. Hopefully they dont spoil this place. :o

[Red_Tirak1099]

Imho its better to stay away from the south totally regardless of what anyone says, better to err on side of caution as life is precious....Thai pussies can be found in other parts of LOS.....situation volative suay suay go there kena lottery.

Many say lightning wont strike twice....they wont touch this place & that etc.....remember these pple are terrorists they wont adhere to logic. One example, during WWII, before the A bombs were dropped...Hiroshima & Nagasaki were not bombed like the other Japanese cities by the Americans thus many thought the 2 cities were spared & thus safe :(

[issan_madboy]

Imho its better to stay away from the south totally regardless of what anyone says, better to err on side of caution as life is precious....Thai pussies can be found in other parts of LOS.....situation volative suay suay go there kena lottery.

Many say lightning wont strike twice....they wont touch this place & that etc.....remember these pple are terrorists they wont adhere to logic. One example, during WWII, before the A bombs were dropped...Hiroshima & Nagasaki were not bombed like the other Japanese cities by the Americans thus many thought the 2 cities were spared & thus safe :(

Especially now when hari raya is here.now that they can eat they will have energy to start bombing again.the americans spared the two cities because they wanted to see the effects of a atom bomb on a city.a bombed city will not provide an accurate picture on the full extent of the damage done.learnt it when i watched discovery.:D

[Red_Tirak1099]

Especially now when hari raya is here.now that they can eat they will have energy to start bombing again.the americans spared the two cities because they wanted to see the effects of a atom bomb on a city.a bombed city will not provide an accurate picture on the full extent of the damage done.learnt it when i watched discovery.:D

Hello Bro issan cowboy, for a Thai farmer you are quite well read. I agree those Thai Muslims might start new campaign during or after the festivities :(
Wont see peace in the south....at least not in my lifetime

[Ngengheng]

What is roots of the problem???Why the muslim wants to rise again the Thai? Hope that Thai goverment will crush the insurgents.

[ProfessorOokami]

Especially now when hari raya is here.now that they can eat they will have energy to start bombing again.the americans spared the two cities because they wanted to see the effects of a atom bomb on a city.a bombed city will not provide an accurate picture on the full extent of the damage done.learnt it when i watched discovery.:D

I have another version on why Hiroshima was bombed...the A-bomb was originally planned to be dropped onto Osaka, which was then the place where the war material factories were located; but due to dense and low cloud base, the bombers overflew and dropped the A-bomb onto Hiroshima which was not an industrial area then. Anyway, dont be too convinced with US broadcasts...they even claimed that they saved Cambodia from a tyrant [Shihanok] but in fact they usurped the Cambodian government which was then a neutral country and was not directly involved in the Vietnam war, affording an invasion of Cambodian soil by US and South Vietnamese troops and incessant aerial bombings of the so-called Ho Chin Minh trial. Subsequently, abandoned Cambodia [with Lon Nol esacaping to the US] to the fate of the vengence seeking Khmer Rouge troops, and let more than 2 million Cambodians died in those killing fields. The US is also causing such havoc in Iraq now.

But the A-bomb did stop the war at a faster rate, before a great Allied invasion of Japan if Japan had not surrendered one month after the dropping of the 2 A-bombs.

[ProfessorOokami]

What is roots of the problem???Why the muslim wants to rise again the Thai? Hope that Thai goverment will crush the insurgents.

That is an interesting issue. To date the insurgents [as they are being labelled] had no co-ordinated strategy to stage an all-out war of secession. So, sporatic killings and bombings are their main stay to disrupt the social balance in those southern provinces.

If it is not an all-out war of secession, the Thai authorities could not do much to crush them, they are not sure whom they are in the first place..they could innocent villages one moment and terrorist in the next moment. To me, some of the killings [like ride-by shootings] may have been cases of murdering due to personal vendetta [e.g. if you owe me money and you are not paying up, well just shoot you and claim that you had been shot by insurgents, likewise you can also shoot the ah-longs if you cant pay up:D ]

[Red_Tirak1099]

What is roots of the problem???Why the muslim wants to rise again the Thai? Hope that Thai goverment will crush the insurgents.

The muslims there not onli want to rise they want declare an independent islamic state. Coup leader & PM wannabe Sonthi is a muslim so you think he will crush his southern brethrens?

[ProfessorOokami]

Actually according to history, the region had been an independent Malay state, known as the Pattani sultanate which was annexed by Siam [former name of Thailand] and they are fighting for secession and not establishing a new islamic state.

Below I would like to quote ad verbatim an interesting article on the past and present political situations of Pattani.

The kingdom adopted the name 'Patani' under the rule of Sultan Ismail Shah. According to local folklore, he was finding a spot for the kingdom's new capital, and when he arrived to the place he liked best, he shouted 'Pantai Ini!' which means in Malay, 'This Beach!' According to most accounts, this capital is thought to be today's modern Kru Se (Kampung Grisek).

It is widely believe that Pattani is one of the oldest kingdoms on the Malay peninsular. Pattani was known to the Western world, especially in 1516 when Portuguese explorer Godinho de Eredia landed on its port. The fall of Malacca five years before that increased Pattani's popularity with Indian-Muslim traders; competing viciously with northern Sumatra kingdom of Aceh.

During the massive Burmese attack from the north against the ancient Siamese kingdom of Ayutthaya, Pattani's Sultan Muzaffar Shah took this advantage and launched an attack on Ayutthaya in 1563. He however mysteriously died during battle.

Pattani's golden age was during the reign of its four successive queens from 1584, known as Raja Hijau (The Green Queen), Raja Biru (The Blue Queen), Raja Ungu (The Purple Queen) and Raja Kuning (The Yellow Queen), where the kingdom's economic and military strength was greatly increased and managed to fight off at least four Siamese invasions with the help of the eastern Malay kingdom of Pahang and the southern Malay kingdom of Johore.


Thai Annexation of Pattani
During the reign of Pattani's last Queens in the 17th Century, the kingdom fell into disarray and went into gradual decline. A Siamese leader, Phraya Taksin, drove off the Burmese invaders out of Siam in a war of independence. His successor, Rama I, established the Chakri Dynasty, which still rules Thailand till today. The reunited and stronger Siamese army was to face another Burmese raid and demanded troops from from a reluctant Pattani.

Prince Surasi, Rama I's prince, invaded Pattani and its Sultan Muhammad was killed in battle and his capital razed to the ground. According to local sources, 4,000 Malay men was taken to Bangkok in chains and made into slaves digging Bangkok's system of khlongs (canals) To further humiliate the Pattanese, the symbol of Pattani's military strength ' the Seri Patani and Seri Negara cannons, was brought to Bangkok and it is today displayed in front of the Ministry of Defense.

On 1791 and 1808, there were several unsuccessful rebellions within Pattani against their Thai conquerors. Following which, Pattani was divided into 7 largely autonomous states ' Pattani, Nongchik, Saiburi (Teluban), Yala (Jalur), Yaring (Jambu), Ra-ngae (Legeh) and Reman. All these was ruled by the Raja Ligor. For several months, there was a period of independence when along with Kedah Malays, Pattanese drove the Thais out. This however was short-lived.

In 1902, Pattani was formally annexed by Siam, followed a 1909 Bangkok Treaty with the British recognizing it. All seven provinces were united into a monthon and incorporated into the kingdom. Later on the central government in Bangkok renamed certain localities with Thai-sounding names, as well as merging together some of the provinces. When the monthon was dissolved in 1933 three provinces remained - Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat.


Greater Pattani State
During World War II, Thailand was an ally with Japan and allowed its southern territory to invade British dependencies and colonies on the Malay peninsular. Tun Mahmud Mahyuddin, a Pattani leader, allied himself with the British in promises that after the war should they win, Pattani would be granted independence.

The major source of support came from the Malay people frustrated with the Rathaniyom policy during the reign of Phibul Songkhram where Malays were subjected to assimilation and forced to abandon large amounts of their indigenous culture.

The Malay leader collaborated with the British in launching guerrilla attacks against the Japanese. In 1945, a petition of Malay leaders lead by Tengku Abdul Jalal demanded from the British independence of the 4 southern provinces from Thailand. After the war, there was a period where the Greater Pattani State (Negeri Patani Raya) flag rose in Pattani. However soon enough, the British broke its war promises; reestablished Thai presence in Pattani and the hopes of an independent Pattani was shattered.

This immediately gave rise to many insurgency groups seeking independence. British reasoning behind this move however is to keep Thailand stable, because they are seen as a strategic counterweigh to the communist insurgency in China, Indochina and Malaya.


Islamic Republic of Pattani
During the World War II, along with the Greater Pattani Malay Movement lead by Tun Mahmud Mahyuddin, another guerrilla force under the leadership of Islamic scholar Haji Sulong Tokmina fought alongside against the Japanese. Their stated goal is to create a Islamic republic in Pattani, which frequently put it at odds with Tun Mahmud who wants to reestablish the Pattanese Sultanate (being a prince himself).

Today, the goals and ideas of Haji Sulong Tokmina is still carried on by minor terror groups interested in creating a Islamic republic closely imitating that of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. After the war though, hopes of any independent republic in Pattani was quickly dashed by the British and the Thais.


Pattani United Liberation Organization
PULO is the most notorious terror group in the south of Thailand. Its platform is shared between Islamic and nationalistic goals, calling Thai presence in Pattani as a breach of Islamic land by infidels.

Its goals however are more notorious and often placed Thailand's southern neighbor in the middle of this conflict. Its stated aims are to secede from Thailand through military and political means and unite with Malaysia as a state named Pattani Darussalam (Pattani, State of Peace). Their zeal is further enflamed when petroleum is found off-shore of Pattani's coast.

Their flag resembles closely to Malaysia's, having four red and white stripes and a black rectangular on the upper left with a crescent and a star. In 2003 and 2004, the unrest started by an arms theft in a Thai military installation was quickly blamed by the media on PULO, though Thaksin's administration blames bandits in what many say an effort to maintain warming relations with Malaysia.

PULO is widely seen to have connections with other regional terror groups, including Aceh's Independence Movement of Aceh (GAM). In 2004, Thaksin's administration admitted that weapons from southern Thailand made it across the straits to Aceh. Many speculated that PULO had supplied GAM with those weapons. In 2003 too, Thailand had demanded that several Thai clerics seen as PULO leaders be arrested by Malaysian police.

[paul]

Another reason for the unrest is that the south feel that they have been neglected economically and socially by the govt. And their Muslim brothers across the border are not helping matters much. (Sorry, but I don't think instigating violence is helping the people at all)

But who do we really blame, the people, the govt or outside influence??

And you are right, we won't see peace in that region in this generation.

But we digress, HDY is very much safer than Pattani & Yala (where all the violence is happening) but why take the risk if you want is pussy.

Paul

[Red_Tirak1099]

Thanks to Prof Ookami for the indepth history lesson....one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter.....jus pray for the end of violence & hope white doves can fly over southern Thailand so we can get back to our bonking safely...PEACE :)