Authorities Paint A Misleading Picture In Thailand's Deep South

[webfact]

EDITORIAL

Authorities paint a misleading picture in the deep South

By The Nation

Claims that a large number of suspected insurgents have surrendered is just wishful thinking on the part of security agencies

The Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre (SBPAC) secretary-general, Panu Uthairat, recently claimed that the multi-agency outfit had achieved its target of getting 80 per cent of the people the authorities suspect of having links with insurgents in the deep South to turn themselves in to the authorities between January and March this year.

During the three-month period, Panu said a total of 1,692 insurgent "sympathisers" came forward to local authorities in the three southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat.

The figure sounds impressive, indeed. This may lead some to think that with only a few hundred insurgents still running around terrorising the region, it is only a matter of time before the authorities crush them all.

Not quite.

Why? Because Panu's claim is somewhat misleading. The SBPAC chief didn't want to explain the rationale behind these so-called "sympathisers" coming over to the authorities.

First of all, if the spike in brutal violence over the past six months is any indication, it is that the insurgency in the deep South is very much alive and well with roadside ambushes of security forces and car bombs being almost everyday occurrences.

And so where do the 1,692 surrendered sympathisers fit into this scheme of things?

Most if not all of these alleged sympathisers are people, mostly young men, who are on the authorities' "blacklist". Moreover, just about every agency has a blacklist of its own.

A suspect gets on such a list because local officials believe they are either a sympathiser or an active member of an insurgent cell.

Often the accusations come from local residents who come under the government-sponsored employment scheme - the so-called Bt4,500 per month work programme. Of course, this programme comes with a different price tag. To show loyalty to the state, one must spy on one's neighbours and report to the authorities anyone suspected of being a member of the shadowy network of Malay Muslim insurgents.

From the authorities' point of view, forcing local people to side with the state in exchange for employment seems to be a reasonable demand. But in effect the scheme instils a great deal of mistrust and insecurity among southern people, and as a result many of the suspected civilian informants have come under the insurgents' gun.

Once a person goes on a blacklist, getting one's name removed is not easy. SBPAC chief Panu suggested that nearly 1,700 individuals came forward because they had a change of heart. But local residents who are on a government agency's blacklist say they fear for their lives.

Over the years, a number of people on these blacklists have been killed, usually shot by a gunman from close range.

Given the culture of impunity among security officials in the deep South, there is good reason to believe that many of these killings were carried out by pro-government death squads.

Another option a suspect has is to leave his residential area and opt for a different location in the deep South or a neighbouring country for that matter. Few Malays in the deep South feel they will get a fair and just deal from the Thai system anyway. Besides, the history of legal cases reinforces the belief that Malay Muslims in the South are second-class citizens anyway.

Essentially, the SBPAC's claim of success is an example of how the Thai authorities are barking up the wrong tree. In Panu's case, he is boasting about something that has arguably done more damage than good - that is, if reconciliation and peace are the ultimate aims of the state in the first place.

Or perhaps the SBPAC, like other government agencies, is hard up for "good news", thus the misleading interpretation of nearly 1,700 men coming forward to give themselves up to the authorities.

-- The Nation 2011-04-28

[asiawatcher]

Why not just round up all the Moslems and then interrogate them one by - get their details and who they are related to - family, friends and cross reference but make sure they have their belongings packed and then send them back across the border. This is Thailand not Malaysia. This is a Buddhist country so whilst we 'tolerate' Islam, we do not know how to differentiate between good and bad Moslems as no-one is truthful! So until Islam sorts out its own people, best do that amongst your own kind, then Thailand can live a life of peace which it has, until Islam came here, lived. Now won't that get the daggers flying on the blogs! Hack off the heads of the non believers, bomb them, wipe out their families for such blasphemy. Islam, such a peaceful passive bunch!

[OzMick]

Why not just round up all the Moslems and then interrogate them one by - get their details and who they are related to - family, friends and cross reference but make sure they have their belongings packed and then send them back across the border. This is Thailand not Malaysia. This is a Buddhist country so whilst we 'tolerate' Islam, we do not know how to differentiate between good and bad Moslems as no-one is truthful! So until Islam sorts out its own people, best do that amongst your own kind, then Thailand can live a life of peace which it has, until Islam came here, lived. Now won't that get the daggers flying on the blogs! Hack off the heads of the non believers, bomb them, wipe out their families for such blasphemy. Islam, such a peaceful passive bunch!

Ummm............. the muslims didn't move across the border, the border moved across the Muslims. There are muslims in BKK, and as you move further south, the proportion of muslims increases steadily until after Ranong, moving down the west coast, nearly every village has a mosque. The change in proportion is slower on the east side, but quite noticeable after Had Yai. No hard lines, a merging of cultures over a couple of hundred km.

Do you think Malaysia would accept a few million Thai citizens because they share a faith? Before you answer, consider how the gentle Thai buddhists treated the Vietnamese boat people.

IMHO education of the southern children is the solution - mainly to give them the skills to earn a decent living, and to learn the language of the country where they live. as long as they are allowed to attend muslim madrassas, this won't happen.

[zzaa09]

Why not just round up all the Moslems and then interrogate them one by - get their details and who they are related to - family, friends and cross reference but make sure they have their belongings packed and then send them back across the border. This is Thailand not Malaysia. This is a Buddhist country so whilst we 'tolerate' Islam, we do not know how to differentiate between good and bad Moslems as no-one is truthful! So until Islam sorts out its own people, best do that amongst your own kind, then Thailand can live a life of peace which it has, until Islam came here, lived. Now won't that get the daggers flying on the blogs! Hack off the heads of the non believers, bomb them, wipe out their families for such blasphemy. Islam, such a peaceful passive bunch!

The real trick would be to modify the century of misleading and hidden history of the region, an entity which has seemed to have fooled Thais as well as outsiders.

[swillowbee]

... and ... to understand the truth of what is happening in the South, the Thai government cannot be relied upon to tell the truth ... this is Thailand, where manipulating information to uneducated and unquestioning masses is still quite effective ... (did you read recently that to clear mines, the animal Cambodians are marching its own civilians over mine fields up on the border? ... please?!).

... Thailand's Southern insurgency will not be understood by people inside OR outside of Thailand until there exists in Thailand a free and independent press with a tradition of investigative journalism, where truths CAN be discovered, exposed, and reported in an authoritative and dispassionate manner ... (oh, yes, ... and the independent reports can then be READ by the Thais ... another insurmountable challenge, by itself).

... that is simply a bridge too far for the Thais, their level of illiteracy, and their cultural values ... if it happens at all, it will be foreigners who do it (and at great personal risk from the Thai military).

Edited April 29, 2011 by swillowbee