Buddhist vigilantes blamed in Thai violence

Group believed to target Muslims in nation's south

Associated Press

August 12, 2007

KOLOMUDO VILLAGE, Thailand - The black-uniformed raiders roared into this Thai Muslim village, firing assault rifles and hurling grenades from a pickup truck at a group of teenagers relaxing near the mosque. When the attack was over, five of the youths lay dead.

As they have in the past, authorities initially said the killers were Muslim insurgents terrorizing their own people in their separatist war against the Buddhist-dominated central government.

But then the official line on the village raid changed. Senior military commanders shifted suspicion to Buddhist vigilantes, heightening fear that the four-year-old conflict in Thailand's southern Muslim provinces is entering an ominous new phase.

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never heard about buddhist vigilantes (which is an oxymoron) - I would rather suspect thai secrete security or military to have an access to a hard core military equipment. I wouldn't be suprices if they acted on an order from their superiors

Members of a Buddhist self defense group called 'Ruam Thai' (Thais United) stand guard in Kolomudo Village, Thailand, Saturday, July 14, 2007. There have been mounting allegations that the group has turned itself into a death squad responsible for recent revenge killings of Muslims in southern Thailand. (AP Photo/Sumeth Parnpeth)

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Thai Buddhist vigilante squads suspected

By RUNGRAWEE C. PINYORAT

ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

Last updated August 7, 2007 1:19 p.m. PT

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Maj. Gen. Samret Srirai, the military commander in charge of security operations in the south, said an initial inquiry suspects Thais United was behind the shootings in Kolomudo. He noted that about a month after the attack, the national police chief ordered Phitak, the Thais United leader, transferred out of the region.

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seattlepi.nwsource.com

Rethinking Thailand's military strategy

By Prashanth Parameswaran for RSIS (13/08/07)

While capacity and resource problems facing Thailand's military can be quickly rectified, it will take much more to improve the deep-seated myopia of the security forces.

In his most incisive public remarks since Thailand's bloodless coup, Thai Army Commander-in-Chief Sonthi Boonyaratkalin in June criticized security forces for their inefficiency, unprofessionalism and uncreative mindset that helped fan the flames of Thailand's southern insurgency. As more than 2,000 have died and the insurgency rages on into its fourth year, Bangkok's military strategy has been an unmitigated disaster, leaving the military fending off accusations of human rights abuses and engaging in mass arrests that produce little intelligence from tight-lipped insurgents.

The southern region is approaching the precipice of civil war, insurgents are gaining increasing support and violence has continued unabated. In order to turn its foundering military campaign around, Thailand must address a number of critical issues relating to resources, capacities, conceptual frameworks and policies that plague its counterinsurgency effort.

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Prashanth Parameswaran is a Harrison undergraduate research scholar at the University of Virginia, conducting field research on the Southern Thailand insurgency. He was also a research assistant at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University.