Thailand Vows to Launch Offensive in Restive South

BANGKOK: -- Security forces will go on the offensive in Thailand's restive south where more than 200 people have been killed in five months of violence, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Friday.

Thaksin, frustrated at his government's failure to restore peace to the mainly Muslim region and facing complaints of human rights violations by troops, said the military would step up patrols and intensify searches in the three southernmost provinces under martial law since January.

"We have to go on the offensive, otherwise bandits will come out and continue to kill our people one after another," Thaksin told reporters after chairing a meeting of security officials.

"We must utilise martial law, not just to have it there to be criticised. The law authorises soldiers to search and arrest, but we hardly do it. So from now on, we will use it, but judiciously," Thaksin said.

Despite sending thousands of troops to provide security and promising millions of dollars in development aid, Thaksin's government has failed to stop the violence in the Malay-speaking region, which borders Muslim Malaysia.

A Buddhist rubber tapper was beheaded last month and a Buddhist teacher was killed on Monday, raising fears of sectarian strife in a region home to most of predominantly Buddhist Thailand's six million Muslims.

Just before the high-level meeting in Bangkok, gunmen on motorcyles seriously wounded a Muslim policeman while he was driving home from afternoon prayers in Pattani province.

Authorities have blamed Muslim militants for the unrest which has revived memories of a separatist insurgency that convulsed the region in the 1970s and 1980s but almost petered out in the 1990s.

NOT SHY OF CLASHES

Defence Minister Chettha Thanajaro said troops would not shy away from clashes with suspected militants.

"There may be casualties during clashes. That's OK, but from now on we will move quickly and deploy more widely to prevent them from operating freely," Chettha told reporters.

Thai police and troops were accused by rights groups for using excessive force in killing 108 Muslim militants to crush an April 28 uprising. Another 100 people, most of them police and government employees, have been killed in gun and machete attacks since January.

Friday's shooting of a policeman followed a robbery in Pattani on Thursday night when masked gunmen overpowered village defence volunteers guarding a school and walked away with three shotguns and a pistol, police said.

Friday's meeting followed Thaksin's 30-day ultimatum issued to his ministers on Tuesday to restore peace to the area.

Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, the country's top security minister, said on Wednesday the most important task for security agencies was to prevent daily shootings.

"In 30 days, there will be no motorcycle shootings or killing by terrorists," he told reporters.

--Reuters 2004-06-11

Oh &$@^ here we go again

Sh#t is gonna hit the fan ....... keep low

When 9/11 happened I was hoping, GWB would seek the speach with the muslims in order to negociate and find out what was really happening. The result we now read in our dayly newspapers.

Somewhat likely I was hoping our PM could have the greatness to get deeper into the matter by seeking a mutual agreement with the chiefs of the resistance in the south.

Maybe I am a daydreamer but I could imagine that by negotiating some sort of accordance could be achieved rather than by just shooting. At least it would be worth a try, wouldn`t it?

When 9/11 happened I was hoping, GWB would seek the speach with the muslims in order to negociate and find out what was really happening. The result we now read in our dayly newspapers.

Somewhat likely I was hoping our PM could have the greatness to get deeper into the matter by seeking a mutual agreement with the chiefs of the resistance in the south.

Maybe I am a daydreamer but I could imagine that by negotiating some sort of accordance could be achieved rather than by just shooting. At least it would be worth a try, wouldn`t it?

Isn't it a bit beyond peace pipe stuff already ?

When 9/11 happened I was hoping, GWB would seek the speach with the muslims in order to negociate and find out what was really happening. The result we now read in our dayly newspapers.

Somewhat likely I was hoping our PM could have the greatness to get deeper into the matter by seeking a mutual agreement with the chiefs of the resistance in the south.

Maybe I am a daydreamer but I could imagine that by negotiating some sort of accordance could be achieved rather than by just shooting. At least it would be worth a try, wouldn`t it?

Isn't it a bit beyond peace pipe stuff already ?

He's right Doc, a Daydreamer, probably believes in Santa and the Easter Bunny too.

When 9/11 happened I was hoping, GWB would seek the speach with the muslims in order to negociate and find out what was really happening. The result we now read in our dayly newspapers.

Somewhat likely I was hoping our PM could have the greatness to get deeper into the matter by seeking a mutual agreement with the chiefs of the resistance in the south.

Maybe I am a daydreamer but I could imagine that by negotiating some sort of accordance could be achieved rather than by just shooting. At least it would be worth a try, wouldn`t it?

Isn't it a bit beyond peace pipe stuff already ?

He's right Doc, a Daydreamer, probably believes in Santa and the Easter Bunny too.

Jeez Bronco ... don't disillusion me. They are true ....... aren't they ?

When 9/11 happened I was hoping, GWB would seek the speach with the muslims in order to negociate and find out what was really happening. The result we now read in our dayly newspapers.

Somewhat likely I was hoping our PM could have the greatness to get deeper into the matter by seeking a mutual agreement with the chiefs of the resistance in the south.

Maybe I am a daydreamer but I could imagine that by negotiating some sort of accordance could be achieved rather than by just shooting. At least it would be worth a try, wouldn`t it?

Isn't it a bit beyond peace pipe stuff already ?

He's right Doc, a Daydreamer, probably believes in Santa and the Easter Bunny too.

Jeez Bronco ... don't disillusion me. They are true ....... aren't they ?

Sorry Doc, thought in your profession that would've been lesson 1, lesson 2 no such thing as a free lunch

When 9/11 happened I was hoping, GWB would seek the speach with the muslims in order to negociate and find out what was really happening. The result we now read in our dayly newspapers.

Somewhat likely I was hoping our PM could have the greatness to get deeper into the matter by seeking a mutual agreement with the chiefs of the resistance in the south.

Maybe I am a daydreamer but I could imagine that by negotiating some sort of accordance could be achieved rather than by just shooting. At least it would be worth a try, wouldn`t it?

In 1939 Neville Chamberlaine met with Adolf Hitler and came back waving a piece of paper and saying 'Peace in our time'. The rest is history.

Terrorists understand only terror - out-terrorise them. Destroy, destroy, destroy.

He promised is 30 days, WILL NOT BE motorcycle shootings or killing by terrorists...REALLY?

How can he know? Casandras gift?

AMAZING THAILAND

where is capone when you need him. Thailand should just let criminals carve out the sections they want and be done with it. Muslim only area is what they want

and they want what others work for but they do not want to work for it.