Bombs Rock The South Again

[Jai Dee]

Seven more bombs hit Yala

Narathiwat - At least seven more bombs hit Yala province on Friday, a day after a wave of explosions ripped through the province, police said.

In the worst attack, explosives hidden under a government pick-up truck went off in a crowded market in Ka Bang district, wounding the deputy district chief driving the car, his wife and three police officers.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra expressed concern and said he had left his deputy, Justice Minister Chidchai Vanasathidya, in charge of dealing with the insurgency's latest flare-up that killed two and wounded 24 Thursday.

"Today Chidchai will call a meeting and adjust security plans," said Thaksin before leaving for a three-day visit to Kazakhstan.

In Friday's other six bombings, small improvised devices hidden in garbage bins and restrooms hit railway stations and other targets in the Yala and Narathiwat provinces but injured no-one, police said.

Southern regional police raised the number of Thursday's attacks against police posts and cars, government offices, tea shops and other businesses to 65 -- with 26 each in Pattani and Narathiwat and 13 in Yala.

Source: The Nation - Breaking News - 16 June 2006 - Last updated 12:13 pm (Thai local time)

[nikster]

ACM Kongsak: the possible explosions have been warned in advance

Besides, he said that the explosions did not cause a severe damage. The officials are rapidly finding more details on the matter. However, he has reminded the provincial governors in the Deep South to instruct their officials to put more efforts to ensure the security in their areas.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 15 June 2006

I thought that 2 people died! And loads were injured! How is that "not severe damage"? How can he say that to the families who lost loved ones or have their son in the hospital?

This statement is either extremely cynical, or extremely jaded, and unbefitting of an official.

Edited June 16, 2006 by nikster

[nikster]

How long before the situation escalates and we start to see reports like we just saw in Sri Lanka? Trying to fight fire with fire never works with insurgencies, because one side is duty bound by international law to play by the rules and the other is not.

The fact that the ruling party doesn't know who is leading the insurgency shows an ineptitude beyond belief. Keep your friends close but your enemies closer. Their priority should be to find out who is ordering the bombings and engaging in dialoque. That is the only possible way to stop these bombings. They seem to be relatively small weapons, impossible to search for effectively.

For once I have to say 'Come on Thaksin, please talk'

Indeed, the s*** hit the fan today. It was a demonstration of power, and a very successful one. The only way to deal with this is to talk to the insurgents, see what they want, and give them enough of what they want so the general population in these provinces doesn't support the terrorists anymore.

The people who make bombs and blow up stuff are responsible, but frankly it would be impossible for anyone to sustain unrest for so long and to execute such a large scale attack without significant support from the people living in the region. Without support in the population, at least some of the culprits would be found and behind bars already.

Nepal is talking to the Maoists, surely Thailand can talk to the southern separatists?! Please! Any other course of action will with 100% certainty increase the cycle of violence, scare away all the remaining tourists, kill more people in the south (most of which are completely innocent in this conflict) and make Thailand into a war zone.

[nikster]

"The apparent only solution would be to sit down and see exactly what "They" want. Naw, that would likely be seen as weakness and a loss of face. Heaven forbid Thaksin put the safety of OTHER people ahead of his pride..."

I think you have hit on the real problem...The Thai government (politicians, Army and Police Generals) have no idea who the actual head of the insurgency is, assuming that there is a head to the insurgency. You can not sit down and talk to the rebels if you do not know who they are.. The only ones that are seen or caught seem to be motorcycle pillion riders...

Yeah, but the government needs to officially say they want to negotiate, and meet on neutral ground or something like that. There are ways to express willingness to talk.

Then the ball would be in the insurgent's court. If they don't want to talk and want to continue bombing, they will lose support in the population rapidly. The government could even publicly say that they are willing to negotiate independence of the southern provinces... even though it's clear the government can't grant full independence - what about all the other people there, national sovereignty etc - it can still offer to talk. There are many ways of autonomy that would be acceptable.

The offer would certainly weaken the terrorist's support in the population, and that's what's most important. If the entire population of the southern provinces was seriously watching out for and against insurgents, they would not stand a chance. Say you have some crazy islamists out of Malaysia - they would not get far at all in Thailand if the population was opposed to them and united with the rest of Thailand. They would not even make it over the border and they could not hide in Thailand. So winning the population over - which the government is currently very far removed from - must be the main priority. As it is the southern population is pretty much united against the government thereby enabling the terrorists to do whatever they want. Even if they don't directly support violence, they still won't cooperate with military or police as long as it's as corrupt and hated as it is now.

[Jai Dee]

Security measures geared up in Deep South

Deputy Prime Minister Chitchai Wannasathit(ชิดชัย วรรณสถิตย์ ) has called for a meeting with concerned agencies to find ways to boost security in the three southern border provinces.

Gen. Chitchai has called for a meeting at Justice Ministry with related agencies as to adjust the security strategies in the southern provinces following the bombing incident in Pattani(ปัตตานี) province yesterday (15th of June).

The meeting was attended by Commissioner General of the Royal Thai Police, Kovit Wattana(โกวิท วัฒนะ), Chief of the Police Region 9, Pol. Lt-Gen. Adul Sangsingkaew (อดุลย์ แสงสิงห์แก้ว) and Narathiwat(นราธิวาส) provincial governor Pracha Terat(ประชา เตรัตน์) as well.

Yesterday militants set off 12 bombs in Yala, 18 in Pattani and 20 in Narathiwat, killing at least three people and injuring scores of state workers and civilians in one of the biggest challenges to state authority in several years.

Authorities believe that the morning blasts, in 29 places, were intended as a display of force and to send a message that insurgents could hit both government offices and private property.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 16 June 2006

[Jai Dee]

Seven more bombs hit Thai south

At least seven more bombs hit the Thai south early Friday, a day after a wave of explosions ripped through the insurgency-plagued and mainly Muslim region, police said.

In the worst attack, explosives hidden under a government pick-up truck went off in a crowded market in Ka Bang, Yala province, wounding the deputy district chief driving the car, his wife and three police officers.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra expressed concern and said he had left his deputy, Justice Minister Chidchai Vanasathidya, in charge of dealing with the insurgency's latest flare-up that killed two and wounded 24 Thursday.

"Today Chidchai will call a meeting and adjust security plans," said Thaksin before leaving for a three-day visit to Kazakhstan.

In Friday's other six bombings, small improvised devices hidden in garbage bins and restrooms hit railway stations and other targets in the Yala and Narathiwat provinces but injured no-one, police said.

Southern regional police raised the number of Thursday's attacks against police posts and cars, government offices, tea shops and other businesses to 65 — with 26 each in Pattani and Narathiwat and 13 in Yala.

The wave of attacks started just days after mainly Buddhist Thailand wrapped up major festivities to celebrate the 60th year on the throne of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 78, who is deeply revered in his country.

Separatist violence has simmered in the south since Thailand annexed an independent ethnic Malay sultanate there a century ago. Insurgencies errupted in the 1970s and again in early 2004, claiming more than 1,300 lives since.

Widely held grievances in the south have focused on Thai repression of the local language, script and religious practices.

A majority of southern voters boycotted national elections in April, and breakaway members of Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party plan to register two new Islamic parties ahead of polls set for mid-October, reports have said.

Thaksin, a controversial premier accused of abuse of power and corruption as well as heavy-handedness in dealing with the south, has rejected claims that his policies worsened the insurgency there.

The militants have consistently failed to claim responsibility for attacks, fuelling speculation over exactly who is behind the violence, including regular drive-by shootings of Buddhist officials, monks and teachers.

Analysts are divided on whether the insurgency is mainly ethnically and culturally driven, or whether the rebels have extensive ties with Islamist extremists elsewhere in Asia and the Middle East.

Source: NineMSN News - Friday Jun 16 14:32 AEST

[Jai Dee]

More blasts in Thai south, Indonesian arrested

YALA, Thailand (Reuters) - An Indonesian was detained with bomb-making equipment in Thailand's rebellious Muslim south on Friday as another rash of small explosions wounded at least five people there, police said.

The man, identified by police as Sabri bin Emaeruding, 37, from Sumatra, was held in a dawn raid in the region, where more than 1,300 people have been killed in two years of separatist insurgency.

Emaeruding had 1 kg of urea fertiliser and 2 kg of nails -- commonly used in making bombs -- and was charged with entering the country illegally. He would be detained for further questioning, police said.

On Friday, a small bomb hidden under a truck exploded near a teashop in the southern Yala province, wounding the driver, his wife and three other people, police said.

Small bombs also exploded in toilets at five train stations in the three provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat near the Malaysian border where the separatist insurgency has been concentrated, but noone was hurt, police said.

The blasts in the Malay-speaking region came a day after a wave of bombings which Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said security forces knew was coming but failed to prevent. At least two people were killed and 16 wounded in those attacks.

Police said the Indonesian man was caught during a hunt for suspected militants behind the rash of at least 41 bombs which exploded on Thursday.

"Under current circumstances, we need to detain him under the emergency law and find out if he is part of an Indonesian rebel network in Aceh or elsewhere," Police Colonel Manoch Ananritkul told Reuters by telephone.

He was referring to the Sumatra province of Aceh, where rebels and the government made peace last year and spoke a day after Abu Bakar Bashir, reputed Indonesian spiritual leader of the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah network, was freed from jail.

Narathiwat Governor Pracha Taerat told Reuters on Thursday more than 200 small bombs the size of a soda can with a digital wrist watch as a timer, were smuggled from Malaysia in the past week.

He said the bombs were easily smuggled in the region of 1.8 million people, most of them ethnic Malays who feel more connected to Malaysia than predominantly Buddhist Thailand.

Source: Reuters - 16 June 2006

[giffarine]

Maybe time to consider handing Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat back to Malayasia....................

WOT ...cant do that.........

Eh and Why Not........

because......just cant......

OK what do YOU suggest......

(I am being retorical...... )

A shortcut solution?..... Impossible if you know the history & its roots.

[giffarine]

IMAGINE

peace and love once again??

IMAGINE

no more sick people spreading hate and death

Is America & the UN coming to protect or just ignore this part of the world???

IMAGINE...

real people who really cared...

If domestic affairs with the locals speaking the same languages couldn’t solve such conflicts, third party involvements only bring more chaos & further misunderstanding. Imagine those disturbed zones where America & UN goes with helping hands, it bring short term solutions ending with future suffering later. then ..?

[Jai Dee]

South shaken by coordinated bombings

Soldiers inspect the remains of a car destroyed in an explosion in Yala yesterday.

The government has launched an investigation into how militants managed to plant more than 50 bombs in and around government buildings in the South yesterday despite prior intelligence warnings, caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Chitchai Wannasathit said.

At least three people were killed and 20 injured when scores of coordinated explosions rocked the southernmost border provinces between 7:45 and 8:15am yesterday, catching government officials off-guard and shattering a week of relative calm in the region during the nationwide celebrations for His Majesty the King’s Diamond Jubilee.

Bombs in more than 28 districts across Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat ripped through cars and caused minor damage in and around government buildings.

Militants planted about 50 home-made bombs inside dozens of government offices with many of the devices hidden inside district office restrooms or in cars or restaurants near government buildings and detonated remotely by cellphone.

Chitchai said caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had demanded an explanation from regional security officials yesterday, saying security failures had led to the deaths of innocent people.

“The incidents have nothing to do with weak intelligence, as they had already forewarned officials that today was the anniversary of the Pattani state,” Chitchai said, following an urgent meeting with security officials in the region yesterday. “Officials should be more careful and governors have been assigned to investigate why officials were careless and where the gap or loophole in the operation was.”

A source at the National Intelligence Agency said an intelligence warning had listed a number of buildings, most of them in Narathiwat, that would be targeted in a show of strength by insurgents yesterday.

Analysts agreed that, given the warnings, yesterday’s bombings should not have been allowed to occur. “It’s a truly remarkable failure of security, both in general terms and specifically, that people were able to walk into such significant targets,” said Tony Davis, a security analyst with Jane’s Information Group. “They’ve been waiting for this for over two months, it was long overdue.”

In Narathiwat, 19 explosions occurred in the morning with three more later in the afternoon. Five marines were injured when a seven-kilogram device was detonated as they moored their boat on the banks of the Bang Na River in Muang district.

In Pattani, at least three people were killed and a dozen or more injured in 17 explosions that hit every one of the province’s 12 districts. In the central Muang district, a security officer was killed and two others injured when a bomb hidden under a local official’s car was detonated during a security check at City Hall.

In Yala, a 65-year-old tea shop owner was injured and a number of buildings damaged in 11 explosions across the province, targeting local officials’ homes, district offices and two 7-Eleven convenience stores. Another bomb hidden underneath a Channel 11 news van exploded around 3pm. No one was injured in the attack.

Interior Minister ACM Kongsak Wanthana said he suspected the bombs had been assembled outside the country as security measures meant bomb-making materials were no longer readily available in Thailand. However, analysts said the bombs appeared to be similar to those commonly used by southern militant groups and unless there was evidence of new materials, such as TNT or C4 explosives, there was no reason to believe they were not made in Thailand.

Observers also said it was clear the attacks were meant as a warning to the government and not an attempt to cause widespread fatalities. “What they gained in quantity they lost in quality of any given device,” Davis said. “The propaganda value from the quantity aspect probably outweighs that of what two or three larger devices might have had.”

Last week, the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) recommended setting up a new administrative body to oversee policy in the embattled southern border provinces and called for greater participation by local administrators. Caretaker PM Thaksin has promised to implement “appropriate” recommendations of the commission. However, any recommendation requiring new legislation will have to be sidelined until a new Parliament is in place.

“I will apply suggestions made by the NRC to solve the current problems, but the new plan may take time,” Thaksin said from Chiang Mai yesterday. “The government has to work on two parallel policies of arresting suspects while also creating a better understanding with the local people.”

Government officials said four people had been arrested for involvement in the attacks in Yala but gave no further details. Chitchai has given officials two weeks to prepare a report detailing the problems that led to yesterday’s security failure and suggestions for improvements.

Meanwhile, a Thai News Agency report quoted Deputy Education Minister Rung Kaewdaeng saying yesterday that schools may be temporarily closed in the wake of renewed bombings. School administrators in Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala may decide on an individual basis whether or not to close their institutions as of today, he said.

Thawat Sae Hum, leader of the Narathiwat Teachers’ Federation, said schools in that province would remain open despite having received an anonymous call threatening to blow up Pathum Khongkha Anusorn School in Pattani’s Nong Chik district.

Additionally, a bomb blast near an Informal Education Office in Pattani’s Kapho district caused minor damage, but no casualties were reported.

Source: ThaiDay - 16 June 2006

[giffarine]

Why can't muslims live in peace with anybody, even their own kind? There's barely a country in the world that doesn't have a major or minor problem with muslim violence.

The name of their religion means PEACE.

Why can't they live that way??

Because their dream is to make the whole world muslim, ruled from Mekka.

They call their fellow Muslims as brothers, thus killing their own brothers were family affairs, so what do you expect them to treat non-Muslim?

[mogoso]

Indeed, the s*** hit the fan today. It was a demonstration of power, and a very successful one. The only way to deal with this is to talk to the insurgents, see what they want, and give them enough of what they want so the general population in these provinces doesn't support the terrorists anymore.

I know the goverment can state "can't we all just get along"

Give them enough, what is enough to a society that deals with incrementalism and time. Give a little bit here, give a little bit there pretty soon that adds up to a whole region, then a whole country. You just don't understand Islam, but I think of it as a cancer among humanity.

Even when they are alll of the same religion, they'll find a reason to make war on their countrymen. Look at the Sudan the arab muslims are practicing ethnic cleaning on black islamics, the sunnis fight the shiites etc

I kinda favor taksins drug dealer solution applied to islamics provatuers with pigs testicles stuck into the dead bodies mouths before creamation. Make em (islamics) mad sure, but'll it'll make them think.

[dvk1951]

I want to come to Thailand to Help fight the insurgents. I helped fight against the NPA insurgents in the Philippines, I can do it in Thailand. But I want to be granted immediate unlimited Stay in Thailand, and or Extended Visa or Immigration as a Thai Citizen. Anyone with the Authority to make it happen, can contact me at xxxxxxxxxxxx

Thank you.

SUA*

***email address removed***

Thaivisa is not into mercenary job placement yet.

This is a prime exsmple of the way the militants get into a country..my guess is that the "insurgents" would be Thais

[Johpa]

Indeed, the s*** hit the fan today. It was a demonstration of power, and a very successful one. The only way to deal with this is to talk to the insurgents, see what they want, and give them enough of what they want so the general population in these provinces doesn't support the terrorists anymore.

I doubt that the general population in the south supports the terrorists. And what the terrorists want is to separate the southern provinces from Thailand, join with Malaysia, and then create an Islamic nation there. What they want is to live in Dar El Islam and they intend to fight the Dar El Harb (this includes Thailand) until they reach their goal.

It sure would not hurt Thailand if the ruling elite in Bangkok would improve life in the other regions of Thailand (and the south is not the worse affected region) and reinvest their profits in-country rather than transferring profits offshore. But for the Islamic terrorists, local economics is simply not the issue, although they may use the issue for propaganda purposes.

[ColPyat]

I kinda favor taksins drug dealer solution applied to islamics provatuers with pigs testicles stuck into the dead bodies mouths before creamation. Make em (islamics) mad sure, but'll it'll make them think.

There actually is a recent precedent on how to solve an insurgency of this style.

A decade long insurgency in Aceh, not dissimilar to the one here in Thailand, was solved peacefully with the help of a proper crises management team that brought the two sides at the negotiation table, and compromises were worked out that gave Aceh greater autonomy, but stepped short of independence.

Read up the Aceh MoU, please, before making stupid statements such as the above.

There is no military solution for this sort of conflict situation, no side will win. An ongoing armed struggle will only prolong the conflict, and the suffering of the population will only get worse as both sides become increasingly brutal in the methods they use to fight their opponents.

[ColPyat]

And what the terrorists want is to separate the southern provinces from Thailand, join with Malaysia, and then create an Islamic nation there. What they want is to live in Dar El Islam and they intend to fight the Dar El Harb (this includes Thailand) until they reach their goal.

But for the Islamic terrorists, local economics is simply not the issue, although they may use the issue for propaganda purposes.

It is highly doubtful that the insurgents down South are "Islamic terrorists". The little intelligence that is available points more to the direction that they are basically seperatists (that are islamic), with loose connections to the Jihadis, but far tighter connections to the GAM, who have never been part of the International Jihad but have stayed separatists.

There is clear intelligence that while the war was still going on in Aceh, GAM fighters went on R&R in Thailand, received their weapons through Satun. There are also certain indications that now the flow of weapons goes back from Aceh into the Southern Provinces. Everybody knows that the hand over of weapons in Aceh was more symbolic based on unproven statements on the amount of weapons the GAM made during the negotiations. Realistically, there may be far more weapons in Aceh than have been counted.

By all accounts, it is high time that the Thai government finds a way to get the insurgents on the negotiation table. Otherwise the conflict will escalate.

[Johpa]

There actually is a recent precedent on how to solve an insurgency of this style.

A decade long insurgency in Aceh, not dissimilar to the one here in Thailand, was solved peacefully with the help of a proper crises management team that brought the two sides at the negotiation table, and compromises were worked out that gave Aceh greater autonomy, but stepped short of independence.

Read up the Aceh MoU, please, before making stupid statements such as the above.

The insurgency in Aceh lasted several decades. The Indonesian response to the insurgency was brutal and made Taksin, in his worst mood, look like Mother Teresa. The rebels basically gave up after coastal Aceh was devestated by the Tsunami and there was little left to sacrifice one's life for, Aceh now needed Indonesia without question.

Unlike the current southern Thai province malcontents, the Aceh rebels were fellow Muslims and not an irredentist population. The Aceh rebels, in the end, gave up on their ultimate goal of independence. The underlying root of the insurgency was the control of the natural resources, the oil. I am sure the majority of the Aceh rebels believed they were fighting for some sort of ethnic independence just as many of the Shan in Burma fought with the SUA while their fearless Chinese leader Khun Sa laughed his way to the bank. But these leaders were always just sacrificing poorer and less educated folks for their own personal dreams of control of the resources. Sort of like Geroge Bush in Iraq.

So one could argue that Aceh and Thailand are not similar and make for a poor comparison.

[Jai Dee]

Pol. Gen. Kovit has insisted that the officials in Deep South are performing at their utmost

Royal Thai Police Commissioner-General Kovit Wattana (โกวิท วัฒนะ) has insisted that the officials are performing their duties at the utmost to contain violence in the three southern border provinces.

Pol. Gen. Kovit spoke about the recent bombings in many areas of the southern region on June 15th, following a discussion with Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Chitchai Wannasathit (ชิดชัย วรรณสถิตย์). He indicated that the officials will have to perform at their utmost both in investigating and arresting the culprits. He added that all units will have to readjust their strategies so they could catch up with the insurgents.

Pol. Gen. Kovit stated that Gen. Chitchai will be the person who will reveal the details of the strategies.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 17 June 2006

[Jai Dee]

The Narathiwat governor condemns people behind several bomb attacks on the province

Narathiwat governor Pracha Terat (ประชา เตรัตน์) issued a statement condemning bomb attacks on several spots in the province.

Mr. Pracha said a few cruel thieves gave people in the southern border provinces a bad name despite the fact that they are peace advocates.

Mr. Pracha said the violence also affected trade, investment and tourism in Narathiwat which have just begun to recover.

He called on local people to help condemn those behind the explosions and give officials useful information that could lead to their arrests.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 17 June 2006

[Jai Dee]

Security agencies told to make good use of intelligence reports in protecting the South

The National Security Council (NSC) wants security agencies to make the maximum use of intelligence reports in safeguarding the three southern border provinces.

NSC secretary-general Winai Patthiyakul (วินัย ภัททิยะกุล) said at a security meeting yesterday that the Fourth Army and Police Region 9, which operate in the southern region, should pay more attention to warnings by intelligence agencies.

Gen. Winai said intelligence agencies had already warned about possible violent attacks in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat between June 7 and 15 and clearly named the districts where the incidents would happen.

A series of 50 explosions rocked the three provinces almost all day long on Thursday.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 17 June 2006

[sriracha john]

Pol. Gen. Kovit has insisted that the officials in Deep South are performing at their utmost

Royal Thai Police Commissioner-General Kovit Wattana (โกวิท วัฒนะ) has insisted that the officials are performing their duties at the utmost to contain violence in the three southern border provinces.

This is a bit of a "bomb" in itself by the Police Commissioner in light of "Dr." Thaksin putting all the blame on the Police.

[ColPyat]

The rebels basically gave up after coastal Aceh was devestated by the Tsunami and there was little left to sacrifice one's life for, Aceh now needed Indonesia without question.

This is the big lie that has been made up by the media, because it sounds much more dramatic than reality.

Reality was that after the first rounds of peacetalks broke down, a Skandinavian businessman who also works for a crisis management organisation contacted both the Indonesian government, and the exile leadership of GAM, and brought them back on the negotiation table. After months of negotiation the GAM ceased their demands for independence, and the GOI granted them unprecedented autonomy. The MOI was signed by both parties 1 day before the tsunami hit Aceh .

The problem of that conflict, and any similar conflict was, that both sides in the end have been equally brutal, and the normal population lived in fear of both sides. This is only a natural progression.

I think you overestimate the religious factor in the southern insurgency - it primarlily is a national/ethnical factor. That does not mean that religion might not one day pla a role.

If you see how, for example, how the Kashmir conflict progressed, which started as a purely separatist struggle by the JKLF. A few years down the line, most original JKLF fighters have laid down their arms, or even switched sides and started fighting for the Indian government, as their struggle was highjacked by Pakisthan's ISI and the Jihadi movement. Their aims, and the aims of the JKLF were not exactly the same.

Already ten years ago the Indian Army viewed the JKLF as a mostly spent force, and saw the real danger in the Paksithani trained fighters, and especially the Afghan arabs.

If the situation in the three Changwats is not solved soon, the conflict will go two ways, both not a very comfortable thought: either it goes the Aceh way of constant escalation, or, worse even, the Kashmir way in which the separatist struggle is highjacked by organisations that simply cannot be brought to the negotiation table, as their aims have nothing in common with what is negotiatable.

One thing though is clear - the simply is no military solution.

[sriracha john]

Malaysia urges Thailand to stop blame game

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Thailand should stop using Malaysia as a scapegoat for the insurgency in its Muslim-dominated southern states, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said.

"To overcome problems in southern Thailand, Malaysia should not be made the bogeyman," said Syed Hamid, calling on its neighbour to tackle the root causes of the violence.

"Finding a scapegoat to justify what has happened will not help in any way to ease the tension in the restive south but will only worsen the situation," he said.

"Pointing an accusing finger to this party and that party will not help in restoring peace and security," he was quoted as saying late Friday by the state Bernama news agency.

Syed Hamid also denied suggestions from Thai Interior Minister Kongsak Vantana that bombs used by the insurgents were smuggled into Thailand from Malaysia.

Thailand's southern states, which border Malaysia, have been rocked by dozens of small bomb blasts since Thursday that have claimed two lives and left more than 30 others wounded.

Kongsak has suggested that the bombs came from another country, without specifically naming Malaysia.

"I can assure that the bombs used in these attacks were made outside Thailand and smuggled into Thailand," he was quoted as saying by newspapers, adding that it was difficult to find bomb-making materials in Thailand.

But the Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Chidchai Vanasathidya has rejected the idea of outside involvement.

Open disagreement among Cabinet members?... that's a rarity...

He said he believed the bombs, mostly small and crudely-made devices, had oringinated in the Thai south.

Police have so far arrested an Indonesian and five Muslim Thais in connection with the blasts by suspected Islamic militants.

Malaysia, a majority Muslim nation, has an uneasy relationship with Thailand over its troubled south, which shares close ethnic and cultural ties with Malaysia's northern states.

In April, Malaysia was furious after the Thai media reported that it was hosting training camps for Thai separatists, labelling the claims preposterous.

Relations were already strained last year when more than 130 Thai Muslims from the south fled over the border into northern Malaysia, saying they feared for their lives due to the fighting.

A diplomatic spat ensued over the fate of the Thais, with Malaysia insisting the group should not be forced to return, particularly if their safety could not be assured, and Thailand refusing to talk to Kuala Lumpur.

[royboy]

cant we just blow up the militants

[sriracha john]

Blast kills one in karaoke bar

18jun06

A bomb blast in a hotel karaoke bar killed one man and wounded two women in Thailand's insurgency-plagued south overnight in the latest of over 70 blasts there in three days, police said.

The explosive triggered by a digital watch tore apart the unidentified man and seriously wounded two female staff aged 33 and 38 in a private room of the Yala Rama Hotel bar in Yala city, they said.

The attack followed the pattern of the bombings launched Thursday by suspected Islamic militants, which killed two other people and wounded over 30, said Major General Vorapong Chewpreecha of the Central Investigation Bureau.

On Friday, Thai police arrested six suspects including an Indonesian man.

Separatist violence has simmered in the south since Thailand annexed an ethnic Malay sultanate there a century ago, and a bloody insurgency that resumed in early 2004 has claimed more than 1,300 lives since.

- news.com.au

[sriracha john]

The shootings... bombings... and killing continues unabated today :

One killed, six injured in shooting and bomb attacks in Narathiwat

Story here:

http://nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/r...newsid=30006721

[olaus]

Many of the leaders of PULO, BRN and Bersatu are living in Scandinavia, like the leaders of GAM in Aceh.The leaders of course have been asked by the newspapers what they want.

They want talks with the government of Thailand about autonomi for the southern parts of Thailand.

It is not possible for the Thai government to talk with terrorists officially. We also have to notice the differences between Aceh and the southern parts of Thailand. Aceh is a muslim area in the outskirts of a vast muslim country.

The muslim deep south of Thailand belong to a buddhist country since 1832. It is also close to the border of another muslim country, which sooner or later will benefit from these parts.

I think, it is totally impossible to solve this problem peacefully.

Somebody mentioned the importance of winning the confidence of the population in the three provinces.

In such conflicts the population use to be just as afraid of the insurgents as the police. The only chanse for the poor people to survive is to be strict neutral and never see, know or remember anything.

It is only one solution for the thais - leave the whole problem to the military.

[ColPyat]

Many of the leaders of PULO, BRN and Bersatu are living in Scandinavia, like the leaders of GAM in Aceh.The leaders of course have been asked by the newspapers what they want.

They want talks with the government of Thailand about autonomi for the southern parts of Thailand.

It is not possible for the Thai government to talk with terrorists officially. We also have to notice the differences between Aceh and the southern parts of Thailand. Aceh is a muslim area in the outskirts of a vast muslim country.

The muslim deep south of Thailand belong to a buddhist country since 1832. It is also close to the border of another muslim country, which sooner or later will benefit from these parts.

I think, it is totally impossible to solve this problem peacefully.

Somebody mentioned the importance of winning the confidence of the population in the three provinces.

In such conflicts the population use to be just as afraid of the insurgents as the police. The only chanse for the poor people to survive is to be strict neutral and never see, know or remember anything.

It is only one solution for the thais - leave the whole problem to the military.

Not logical.

Why can't Thailand enter talks with terrorits/separatists, and a country like Indonesia can? What is the difference between "terrorists" and "separatists" other than terminology giving "separatist" a slighly more neutral status?

Parts of the military in fact do want to enter into negotiations, while others don't. So which parts of the military is to is to be left to deal with the whole problem?

In a constitutional democracy you cannot leave the whole problem to "the military" as the miltary is subserviant to the political decision makers, and in Thailand in particular the military does try to avoid another coup, if possible.

Even if martial law is declared the military is still bound to certain constitutional rules.

[jdinasia]

As long as they are bombing ... just kill the ones doing it .... period

Now ... should the terrorists decide to stop and negotiate? .. then take a look at things.

<<Note ... this does NOT justify the killing of protesters etc etc> Nor does it give license for summary executions ... but a bomber is a bomber ... period

Edited June 18, 2006 by jdinasia

[Maejo Man]

The shootings... bombings... and killing continues unabated today :

One killed, six injured in shooting and bomb attacks in Narathiwat

...and of course it's really good for tourism

Most guests of Yala Rama check out following bomb attack

Most guests of Yala Rama Hotel checked out Sunday morning after a bomb exploded inside a karaoke bar inside the hotel Saturday night.

A staff of the hotel, who requested anonymity, said about 100 rooms were checked out Sunday morning. The hotel has about 130 rooms.

The bomb exploded in a room of the karaoke bar Saturday night, killing a patron and injuring two others.

The Nation