Thaksin Visits The South

[cojones]

November 7, 2004 3:30 PM

Thai Buddhists appeal for help

By Prapan Chankaew

TAK BAI, Thailand (Reuters) - Buddhists have expressed fear and frustration to Thailand's prime minister during

a visit to the country's Muslim-majority south where nearly two dozen people have died in reprisal attacks in a

fortnight.

More than 1,000 people gathered at a temple where Thaksin Shinawatra was taking part in an annual religious

rite in Tak Bai district in Narathiwat province.

Some in the crowd implored Thaksin to help end the violence in the region and calm tensions after nearly 80

Muslims died in army custody last month, triggering Muslim threats of attacks in the capital Bangkok.

"We are being treated like second-class citizens here," a Buddhist woman in her thirties shouted at Thaksin

during the visit to the temple on Sunday, just a few metres (yards) from the site where security forces beat seven

protesters to death last month.

"We have been given false hopes by the government. I am urging you Mister Prime Minister to take drastic and

decisive actions against those who have been behind the violence," the woman said.

At least 22 people, almost all of them Buddhists, have been shot dead by unidentified gunmen in drive-by

attacks since 84 Muslim protesters were killed on Oct 25. In some incidents, the assailants have left leaflets citing

revenge for the deaths.

More than 450 people have been killed in shootings or bomb attacks since the latest unrest began in January

when militants raided an army camp, killing four people and seizing hundreds of semi-automatic rifles.

Most of Thailand's six million Muslims live in the south and many feel alienated by the Buddhist administration in

Bangkok and by Thaksin's confusing approach to handling the crisis, switching from tough talk one week to

soothing words promising aid the next.

LATEST VIOLENCE

In the latest violence, two Buddhist residents were shot dead hours before Thaksin arrived for the visit in which

he also met security forces on the escalating violence.

Early on Sunday, a 63-year-old store owner in Narathiwat's Sukirin district was shot six times in the chest, arm

and hip by a gunman posing as a customer, police said. The killer fled on a motorcycle. The victim died on the way

to hospital.

Late on Saturday, unidentified men sprayed a Chinese Buddhist shrine in nearby Yala province. A Buddhist

man, in his sixties, was hit by two bullets and died at the scene, police said.

Anticipating more violence, Thaksin said in his weekly radio address on Saturday that he would urge security

authorities to work more decisively in their operations to restore peace to the region.

Thaksin also said he would launch a major crackdown on illegal assault rifles, many of which were used in

deadly attacks on security forces and civilians.

He said on Sunday those troublemakers were not from the majority of Muslims in the region, but the government

lacked help from local Muslims to find the culprits.

"We are revising our strategies," he told reporters.

"I believe we can handle them. I won't allow such incidents to last any longer," he said at the temple surrounded

by 200 troops and police with rifles using metal detectors and mirrors to check beneath vehicles. He gave no other

details.

Thaksin has cancelled his attendance at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Chile this month and

appointed Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh to lead a Thai delegation, his spokesman said on

Sunday.

Reuters