Fear & Anger Grip Southern Thailand

NECF Malaysia "For Your Intercession" No. 16 – June 16, 2004 www.necf.org.my.

Security in southern Thailand has been an alarming issue since January this year. Martial law was declared in three southern provinces Pattani, Narathiwat & Yala on January 6 (The Star).

The Star reported that a bomb blast killed two policemen in Pattani province on Jan 5^th following the brazen attacks on Sunday in Narathiwat where four soldiers were shot dead and 21 schools were burnt down. Two days later, a band of unidentified gunmen opened fire on a remote police outpost in Yala province (Jan 22, Far Eastern Economic Review). On January 8^th, Thai officials acknowledged that the country faced a terrorist threat (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty).

The government's new security adviser, Retired General Kitti Rattanachaya, attributed the violence to the organized works of Muslim separatist movement (Jan 8, RFE/RL). He believed that the armed remnants of former Thai insurgent groups--the Pattani United Liberation Organization (or Pulo), New Pulo and the Barisan Revolusi Nasional--joined forces under a new umbrella group, Bersatu, or "united" in the local Yawi language (March 11, FEER). However, no known Thai insurgent group has accepted responsibility for the recent violence.

While some terrorist experts speculated the established network of JI (Jan 8, RFE/RL), the political analysts believed that the unrest might stem from a turf war between rogue officials in the military and police (Jan 22, FEER). Andrew Holt, journalist of Asia Media, added two possible factors for the insurgency:
(1) A resurgence of local unrest fostered by local resentment of central government, which includes administrative corruption and poverty; and (2) violence stemming from a convergence of vested criminal interests and official corruption

Situation in the south continues to escalate:

March 11 At least 45 people have been killed in almost daily attacks on police officers, schoolteachers and even Buddhist monks (FEER)

March 23 A bomb exploded near a hall in the south where the new interior and defence ministers were meeting and critically injured a woman (AFP)

March 28 A bomb blast in Narathiwat injured 28 people, including 10 Malaysian tourists (March 31, STI)

April 28 Series of clashes between Muslims militants & security forces left more than 107 people dead – 32 of them in the Krue Se Mosque of Pattani – marking the bloodiest day (Asia Media)

May 3 Violence continued in southern Thailand when groups of militants ambushed Thai soldiers and hit a police post near the Malaysian-Thai border with grenade launchers (NST)

May 7 A policeman was shot dead as Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was seeking to soothe Muslim anger over his tough military response to recent violence (Reuters)

May 16 Three separate explosions went off almost simultaneously in three Buddhist temples in Narathiwat, injuring two people and damaging the temples' sanctuaries (Nation Multimedia Group, Thailand)

Finally, the government admitted religious radicalism in the south and the Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh called on the Buddhists and Muslims to maintain their longstanding peaceful coexistence in a bid to defeat extremism (June 2-3, NMG).

Followed by another two deaths and a bomb-explosion in front of a local official's home in Yala's Betong district on June 10, the government tightened martial law in the southern region and intensified security measures to crackdown militants (June 12, The Nation). Fears rise and tension goes up. Most recently, a senior Sgt-Major, who had resigned from the force just a few days earlier, was shot dead by two armed attackers. Violence in the South continues unabated.

Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist nation with roughly 5% of Muslim population, majority of whom live in the 5 southern provinces (Satun, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat) bordering Malaysia. Historically, this region has served as a dumping ground for corrupt and/or incompetent civilian and military officials. It witnessed an Islamic insurgency for decades before it died down in the late 1980s.

If a militant Muslim movement is indeed emerging, does it mean that southern Thailand is another hot spot of Islamic extremism?

Updates:

Violence in the far south of Thailand has claimed 550 lives since January, reported AFP. The conflicts were aggravated further with the deaths of 85 Muslim protesters on Oct 25. More than 30 people (many were Buddhists) were subsequently killed in retaliation. A resurgence of Muslim separatist movement was assumed, as Reuters reported (Nov 17, 04). Fear grips the southern region with almost daily bombings and shootings taking place.

1. Pray that Thai Government to effectively address the issues, i.e. local law enforcement, regional intelligence, border cooperation, and eradication of militants and extremism
2. For equal opportunity & justice in socio-economic development programs (policies and implementation) for the southerners
3. That authorities and the majority (primarily Buddhists) to understand the culture and religious feelings of other minority groups in the country and that this current tension can turn out for greater religious liberty in the country for the furtherance of God’s kingdom
4. Pray for spiritual and physical renewal of the south, that the locals who are now living in fear and discontentment will find lasting peace in the Prince of peace. That reconciliation and healing of ethnic hatred and conflicts to flow in the region.
5. Pray against militants and extremists
6. Pray for the Malaysian police guarding the Malaysia-Thai border that they will do the necessary to ensure the safety and well being of Malaysians who are living near the border
7. Pray for safety of Christian workers who are called to reach out in the south and that they can be peacemakers in the midst of strife - peacemakers between God and man; also man and man (Matt 5:9)