Thailand promises peace 'within a year' in insurgency-hit south
BY AMY SAWITTA LEFEVRE

(Reuters) - Thailand's military government vowed on Monday to bring peace to the Muslim-dominated south within a year, despite stalled peace talks aimed at ending an insurgency that has cost thousands of lives in the past decade.

Sporadic violence has killed more than 5,700 people in Thailand's Muslim-majority provinces bordering Malaysia, where resistance to Buddhist rule has existed for decades and resurfaced violently in January 2004.

In the latest violence last Friday, one woman was killed and at least two injured in separate bomb attacks launched by suspected militants at three restaurants in Pattani province, police said.

"We are doing all that we can. We will try to bring peace within a year," Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told reporters.

He blamed the attacks on insurgents retaliating for recent arrests by the authorities.

"The attacks happened because we managed to catch many people, including leaders, of groups involved in instigating acts of violence," Prawit added.

The violence comes as Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha seeks to present an image of greater effectiveness in containing the insurgency, based in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat provinces in Thailand's so-called "Deep South".

Full story: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/03/us-thailand-insurgency-idUSKBN0IN0CG20141103


-- Reuters 2014-11-03

Bold statement!

A very silly statement

Based on the assumption the Muslim extremists will just stop? Maybe they've offered them Koh Tao as a peace offering as it's the only way to sort out both places with one fell swoop!!

Incredibly stupid statement to make never mind bold !!!

".....promises peace....." ".....vowed on Monday.....". Prett ambitios statements. then we read; " 'We will try to bring peace within a year'. Defence Minister Prawit Wonsuwan told reporters." One wonders where the 'reporters' who wrote the headlines were!

".....promises peace....." ".....vowed on Monday.....". Prett ambitios statements. then we read; " 'We will try to bring peace within a year'. Defence Minister Prawit Wonsuwan told reporters." One wonders where the 'reporters' who wrote the headlines were!

I noticed that too.

Prawit said he will "try to bring peace within a year",

Thailand's Military Government "vowed...to bring peace".

Who knows what the reporter heard.

...but someone is setting themselves up to fail.

Give it a decade and it will be the same or worse.

Possibly spread to Phuket and Krabi eventually if they don't get their way.

Since Prayuth takes over, violence in the south has drop dramatically.

Great job Prayuth.

At this rate, there shall be no violence left by X-mas.

Great achievement by our Prime Minister of Thailand.

I see they have taken a page out of the old Chalerm playbook; give every operation an impossibly short time frame.

Foot in mouth yet again!

Foot in mouth yet again!

Doom and gloom are out at every opportunity. Chalerm was working wonders for The Defense Minister (Yingluck) NOT...... during the 3 years ...............and because it has not been cleared up in 5 months ----look at the propaganda posters----5555555555

Edited November 3, 201411 yr by ginjag

Since Prayuth takes over, violence in the south has drop dramatically.

Great job Prayuth.

At this rate, there shall be no violence left by X-mas.

Great achievement by our Prime Minister of Thailand.

That was a Thai piss take, right?

Perhaps a magic hole in a field predicted it as such.

Good luck with that, take you magic wand with you.....

I hope they get it done as that area would be a great place to hold the Tour de France that is coming to Thailand next year.

Should be hired by the UN to taggle world problem nr 1.

Should be hired by the UN to taggle world problem nr 1.

like most of these seperatist issues they seem to end or start to end with exteme violence not negotiation, when one side steps up, and either emphatically beats the other like in sri lanka or like the ira did by upping the anti by hitting the opponants capitol and 'leaders'.

looking at it with a very 'hard nose' at its current state imo the authoroties see it as very managable. tucked away quitely in the south little or no international news coverage ,no big problem

from another point of view arguably every 'succesful political' regime has its banner waving scrapegoat would the southern muslims fit the bill for such action?

for me, to end it either the junta will step it right up with a huge miltary action or the muslims extend their campaign up to Bangkok and beyond and scare thailand into a compromise, you can nit pick and say its still bubbling on in sri lanka and the ira didnt win by that ect ect but broadly speaking imo to begin the end, its gonna start with one or the other, which will it be?

Part of the genius solution the think tank has come up with is to recruit 2700 civilians and give them guns!

Foot in mouth yet again!

Doom and gloom are out at every opportunity. Chalerm was working wonders for The Defense Minister (Yingluck) NOT...... during the 3 years ...............and because it has not been cleared up in 5 months ----look at the propaganda posters----5555555555

You really are quite amusing. I could never put you on ignore.

Foot in mouth yet again!

Doom and gloom are out at every opportunity. Chalerm was working wonders for The Defense Minister (Yingluck) NOT...... during the 3 years ...............and because it has not been cleared up in 5 months ----look at the propaganda posters----5555555555

You really are quite amusing. I could never put you on ignore.

My post /comment is quite clear, things cannot be put right in 5 months.

Yingluck and Chalerm did sod all in 3 years.

Your remark is that my post is quite amusing. Feel sorry for your strangeness.

Part of the genius solution the think tank has come up with is to recruit 2700 civilians and give them guns!

Arm teachers etc with anti motorbike heat seeking missile launchers.

Make sure the extremist muslims get the memo. By the way things are going with them world wide, I wouldn't be surprised if it got worse like in the southern Philippines.

".....promises peace....." ".....vowed on Monday.....". Prett ambitios statements. then we read; " 'We will try to bring peace within a year'. Defence Minister Prawit Wonsuwan told reporters." One wonders where the 'reporters' who wrote the headlines were!

Reporters don't write headlines. In fact in most publications they have no say in them. The headlines are written by editors or by some guy on the "rewrite" desk. Headlines are written to attract eyeballs and very often, especially in publications like the Washington Post or the Wall Street Journal, they have little relation to what's in the story.

Hiw? By giving 2700 pistols to volunteers so they can kill more Muslims?

If it is too good to be true, then it must be (fill in the blank ____________ ). After around a hundred years, violence in the south has not abated. What can they do to stop this within a year's time? Is this a credible claim?

Sporadic violence has killed more than 5,700 people

That's sporadic? Wonder how they define continuous?

Why is Gen. Prayuth so optimistic?

2014-07-05

Army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, who is also head of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), said the council was still working on the process to revive peace talks with the insurgent groups in the southern provinces.

2014-06-19

Junta chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha will head the new structure for administering the southern border provinces, …Banphot said Prayuth saw that the new structure would better facilitate operations to solve problems and tackle insurgency in the southern border provinces

2013-05-30

General Prayuth Chan-ocha, has suggested building a wall between Thailand and Malaysia, ostensibly to obstruct the movements of insurgents and explosive materials.

2012-09-17

Prayuth welcomed news that the Democrat Party had accepted a government invitation to take part in the renewed peace and reconciliation process aimed at ending violence in the deep South…..

Prayuth called on the media to "help facilitate" the process, through understanding and unbiased coverage…."Whether the situation improves depends on how you report incidents and editorialise on the situation.

they failed to mention which year this will take place in.

better consult a fortune teller to get and accurate estimate

??? ]resistance to Buddhist rule[ ???<< &lt;deleted&gt; ;;; The REAL scenario is all about who? gets to control tax the smuggling trade, tax revenue$, and other criminal activities, BKK or the local Nabobs. It's just the usual story, which is repeated all over the Planet at all times of History.