AN ATOL INVESTIGATION

Drugs and disaffection in southern Thailand

By Jason Johnson

PATTANI: -- It's 8:00 pm at a shop and cafe in a small village in Pattani province, one of the four provinces torn by violence and insurgency in Thailand's predominantly Muslim southernmost region. On this night, Sukarno, a 22-year-old ethnic Malay Muslim who helps run the modest establishment, is visibly frustrated and depressed.

His angst, however, does not stem from the Thai state's marginalization of Malay identity and language, or even its violence against other Malay Muslims - two key factors that have contributed to the protracted conflict between the Thai state and

shadowy, cell-based insurgents that has taken more than 4,000 lives since early 2004.

To the contrary, Sukarno also works part-time as a state-supported village defense volunteer, meaning he is officially "pro-state" and thus a potential target of the insurgents who have been known to kill Malay Muslims who collaborate with Thai authorities. But protecting the Thai state from the separatist threat is not among his major concerns: "I'm f*****g bored," he told this correspondent.

Although his village has been relatively unscathed by the brutal conflict, the three rifles belonging to state-supported village defense volunteers in the back of the shop are a palpable reminder of the ever-present threat of violence in this region that was once an Islamic kingdom known as Patani Darulsalam before being usurped by Thailand, then known as Siam, in the late 18th century.

continued http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/LB18Ae02.html

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Edited February 17, 201016 yr by webfact

churchill

did you or did you not realize that ...

a click on your posted link will also get you to some other 'might be or possibly be, objectional' sizzling websites as well....

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/LB18Ae02.html

on the other hand.... to each his/her own.... LOL

The link was OK for me. Interesting article. Touching on the multi-headed monster that is causing the problems down there. Which feeds on violence