Governments ' In Denial About Crisis'

One of the most informed ,articulate and accurate articles that I have seen posted on Thai visa. His comments regarding the vacum in Governmental leadership and direction along with the lack luster actions and abilities of the media highlight the problems with this forgotten war. Also correct is that owing to the insular nature of the Thai public ,those who do not live in the restive south care little and do not have the foresight to comprehend what the continued consequense of inaction will bring to this country. Act now and act decisively .... or get bitten in the ass tomorrow.

I'm not convinced that guerilla warfare can be beaten unless a massive number of troops either side of the border flush them out. That won't be pretty.

Unfortunately this administration refuses to accept them as terrorists, preferring the term "insurgents". It also refuses to accept that there is 3rd party help and sponsorship.

In my mind it's just another of the hundreds of fundamental Muslim wars that is going on around the world and you'd be hard pushed to name a country that doesn't have this issue to some degree including the Arab states.

The big difference in the south is tactics. I can't think of any suicide bombings. In the main it has been shootings but the number of teachers being targeted and the number of larger bombings is on the increase.

Whilst the article above refers to the Thai press, how many on here have seen the Western press home in on 160 teacher deaths? Why the lack of interest?

It is almost impossible to defeat any guerilla war by force. This one needs negotiations which have been lacking in any meaningful way.

The Thai government is correct in my view not to describe them as terrorists. Acts of terror have been committed by both sides & there is no evidence of any 3rd party help.

Ah yes, the Islamophobia attitude rears its ugly head. There are many insurgencies around the world, many Muslim (the ones that get western media attention) and others not. Painting them all with a broad brush displays a lack of understanding of what the reasons are behind each individal case.

Let me say that I do have some support for the local people in the south, including the insurgents. However I do not agree with their tactics of targeting teachers & schools. Military & police is a different matter. As Mr McCargo says, the military should not be the ones in charge in the south, but then neither should a DPM who is afraid to even visit the area, with or without his ear medicine.

No Islamophobia from me.

A solid opposition to fundamentalist for sure