Eleven Dead In Thai Militant Attacks: Police

[McMagus]

One of the saddest things is nobody outside Thailand knows, and no Thai not living in the South cares. I talked to all of my family earlier this year about the number of bomb and deaths in the last few years. Nobody had any idea of it, not even my mum who watches nothing but BBC news and occasionally Al Jazeera and considers herself fairly well imformed about world affairs. Maybe one this big with 11 deaths will get a mention on BBC world or CNN, depending on how slow a news day it is, but usually there's nothing unless you go to the web site (BBC, don't know about CNN). Just another couple of people killed in a long running political dispute isn't newsworthy enough unless big or involving foreigners, where the country of origin of the deceased's media may pick it up.

Part of the problem is it is not a political dispute. It is armed militants acting on Islamic beliefs. [Kill the infidels] Thailand has more deaths than any other country at the hands of these rebellious thugs. Mohammed would be proud of them.

Read the Quran. Mohammed would not be proud of them. Nothing excuses this gutless thuggery for that is what it is. Similarly, there are no excuses for the way the government of the day handled the Krue Se Mosque and Tak Bai incidents. The militants don't want peace and the Thai governments are incapable of dialogue and protection.

[Credo]

The problem is complex for all concerned. The Thai military can't easily move more or better equipment into the area. The military have a distinction as being one of the militaries who have killed more of their own citizens than other nationalities. They need to have a presence everywhere because under the surface, this is a rather unstable nation--red/yellow; rich/poor, Village/Urban, Buddhist/Muslim--and a few other ways of cutting the pie that is Thailand.

The government has made it a priority to not allow the southern situation to be internationalized, that means keeping it out of the world media and downplaying the seriousness of the situation.

When it is Muslim vs. Infidel, the Muslims, as a general rule, will side with Muslims. Whether this is actively siding with insurgents or turning a blind eye to those that are creating problems makes little difference. They will not turn their own in to the authorities. If they do, they will likely be killed. What the Muslims think or believe as a group is of little consequence. They dare not side with the Thai authorities and they dare not turn their back on their own.

[atyclb]

How many more times must we read "ambushed whilst travelling in a pickup truck" or "whilst on a motorbike"?

When are the armed forces going to be issued with the mere basics of protective equipment?

When their commanders attain the mere basics of cognitive thinking. (critical, analytical, 2 + 2, connect the dots, etc etc)

[Yahooka]

Many of these people have been pushed to brink as well. You list Muslims being unhappy in the Middle East, this is the result of foreign policy and exploitation of all their resources for many years.

The Thai's in the South have a very low quality of life and have been kept down by the higher class for so many years and this is the result. People take extreme measures when they forced into extreme situations. Why do Muslims get such a bad rap, our countries sit back and profit from their exploitation and when they turn around and fight back it's called terrorism. What a joke.

Look at some of the actions Thailand has taken. The murdering of 2500 innocent civilians in the South 8 years ago, the Tak Bai incident, which involved the suffocation of 78 Muslims.

Know the facts before you start throwing out accusations and calling for war on a oppressed group of people. It's the same as telling the Iraqi people to behave after the US went in raped, pillaged and bombed their country while the world sat back and watched

" The murdering of 2500 innocent civilians in the South 8 years ago ".................where did that happened ??? I`ve been following the events in the South for more than 8 years on an almost daily basis,but those numbers Ive never seen before...........