Guns given to deep south residents for self-defence: Thai Army

[mojorison]

Using guns for peace is like <deleted> for virginity

not being able to defends ones self and family is like a chicken waiting to have it's throat, cut the police and army cannot be everywhere all the time, most of these terrorist go for soft targets like teachers on there way to school or shooting young girls in the back of the head whilst on a motor bike.

As a policeman friend in Aussie said to me "we can't prevent crime we just arrive after the act to clean up and investigate" you are under a delusion if you think they can protect you, your personal safety and the safety of your family is up to you alone

Who gets the guns? Presumably the terrorists you refer to are Muslim? So the people who get the guns are non-muslim? Just askin'...

[ATF]

Handing out military grade assault weapons to a Thai civilian population fraught with corruption and no leadership. This makes a lot of sense, and I am certain that it will catch the eye of the international community.

I think the IC has it's hands full with IS at the moment. It is a very radical move but the Muslims aren't going to stop by any peaceful means.

Civilians shooting civilians is a lot lower profile than the military just doing a clean sweep of the area.

[simple1]

Using guns for peace is like <deleted> for virginity

not being able to defends ones self and family is like a chicken waiting to have it's throat, cut the police and army cannot be everywhere all the time, most of these terrorist go for soft targets like teachers on there way to school or shooting young girls in the back of the head whilst on a motor bike.

As a policeman friend in Aussie said to me "we can't prevent crime we just arrive after the act to clean up and investigate" you are under a delusion if you think they can protect you, your personal safety and the safety of your family is up to you alone

Who gets the guns? Presumably the terrorists you refer to are Muslim? So the people who get the guns are non-muslim? Just askin'...

The majority who are murderd are local Thai Muslims, more often than not by the armed Thai Muslim militants.

Various media reports claim the weapons "are for security volunteers who are stationed at provincial halls, district offices. They will also protect governors and district chiefs," he said, adding the majority of the weapons have gone to local Muslim villagers". An example...

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/thailand-arms-village/1452212.html

Edited November 8, 2014 by simple1

[mojorison]

Don't get me wrong... I am pro-American (I'm in the minority probably!) but the 2nd amendment typifies everything that is wrong with America. The parchment and the society it belongs to are from the 19th century. It has no place in a civilised world.

[rickirs]

NOTE: <script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Flooding the area with weapons in the pursuit of peace is a very Thai solution

Not really, a Democratic western nation has been doing it for years. Generally in other countries than its own though!

But putting more automatic weapons in the hands of the inexperienced is a cocktail for disaster!

While the USA ranks as the world’s number one arms supplier, it shares the arms market with many other industrial countries such as:;b++){var>

China, Iran, Russia, South Korea, Japan, UK, France, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Canada, Australia, Turkey, Finland, India, Germany, Brazil, Spain, Norway, Ukraine, Israel, Singapore, Sweden, and Kazakhstan.

While arms sales are very lucrative, the industry invites large-scale corruption.

With its sophisticated technology and corruption, Thailand would be remiss to not develop an arms industry for export. With its military-led government there would be an opportunity for the government to quickly finance startup companies to develop, manufacture, and supply arms for foreign markets. Stimulus spending, increase exports, and GDP growth: a win-win.

NOTE: China is omitted from charts as its sales cannot be independently confirmed.

[mojorison]

Using guns for peace is like <deleted> for virginity

not being able to defends ones self and family is like a chicken waiting to have it's throat, cut the police and army cannot be everywhere all the time, most of these terrorist go for soft targets like teachers on there way to school or shooting young girls in the back of the head whilst on a motor bike.

As a policeman friend in Aussie said to me "we can't prevent crime we just arrive after the act to clean up and investigate" you are under a delusion if you think they can protect you, your personal safety and the safety of your family is up to you alone

Who gets the guns? Presumably the terrorists you refer to are Muslim? So the people who get the guns are non-muslim? Just askin'...

The majority who are murderd are local Thai Muslims, more often than not by the armed Thai Muslim militants.

Various media reports claim the weapons "are for security volunteers who are stationed at provincial halls, district offices. They will also protect governors and district chiefs," he said, adding the majority of the weapons have gone to local Muslim villagers". An example...

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/thailand-arms-village/1452212.html

Fair 'nuff. I have strong doubts though that they'll end up in the right hands.

edit: by "militants", we mean gangsters don't we?

Edited November 8, 2014 by mojorison

[RigPig]

Using guns for peace is like <deleted> for virginity

not being able to defends ones self and family is like a chicken waiting to have it's throat, cut the police and army cannot be everywhere all the time, most of these terrorist go for soft targets like teachers on there way to school or shooting young girls in the back of the head whilst on a motor bike.

As a policeman friend in Aussie said to me "we can't prevent crime we just arrive after the act to clean up and investigate" you are under a delusion if you think they can protect you, your personal safety and the safety of your family is up to you alone

Who gets the guns? Presumably the terrorists you refer to are Muslim? So the people who get the guns are non-muslim? Just askin'...

The majority who are murderd are local Thai Muslims, more often than not by the armed Thai Muslim militants.

Various media reports claim the weapons "are for security volunteers who are stationed at provincial halls, district offices. They will also protect governors and district chiefs," he said, adding the majority of the weapons have gone to local Muslim villagers". An example...

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/thailand-arms-village/1452212.html

To quote 2 paragraphs from your linked article :

"The main group is the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), which has often resorted to gun attacks, arson and car bombings. Their violent tactics are all part of their self-proclaimed campaign to remove symbols of the Thai state, and to drive out the Thai Buddhist population."

"A culture of violence runs deep within the fractured community of ethnic Malay Muslims and Thai Buddhists. A lasting peace in Thailand's restive South will depend heavily on the progress of renewed talks."

Enough said.....

[Thaiready]

So arm the terriosts

[hawker9000]

Don't get me wrong... I am pro-American (I'm in the minority probably!) but the 2nd amendment typifies everything that is wrong with America. The parchment and the society it belongs to are from the 19th century. It has no place in a civilised world.

'Not sure people that don't understand it do either.

[Tim1980]

wow whats going on now in this country? putting guns in the hands of civilians? is thats the benefit of having Military Government? if i suggest government should send all the soldiers from streets of bangkok to sort southern problem out. but well they need to show off here in bangkok with brigades of army walking around with deadly gears while letting buffalo herders in the south fight their way out by issuing guns...

[Jdiddy]

Don't get me wrong... I am pro-American (I'm in the minority probably!) but the 2nd amendment typifies everything that is wrong with America. The parchment and the society it belongs to are from the 19th century. It has no place in a civilised world.

The world is not a civilised place and removing guns from law abiding civilians will not make it a civilised place

[ChrisY1]

I guess it's better than having the insurgents steal them from the army depot.

It's going to be only a matter of time, and the rebels will have them anyway.......how many weapons has the military "lost" over the past 4 years alone??......hundreds...possibly thousands.

[ChrisY1]

Handing out military grade assault weapons to a Thai civilian population fraught with corruption and no leadership. This makes a lot of sense, and I am certain that it will catch the eye of the international community.

I think the IC has it's hands full with IS at the moment. It is a very radical move but the Muslims aren't going to stop by any peaceful means.

Civilians shooting civilians is a lot lower profile than the military just doing a clean sweep of the area.

The Thai military would not know how to do a "clean sweep" as you call it............

The best they seem to manage is sending out patrols, 2 up each on 2 Honda Clicks............these are basically suicide patrols using rangers as the patrolling men....cannon fodder!

[mojorison]

Don't get me wrong... I am pro-American (I'm in the minority probably!) but the 2nd amendment typifies everything that is wrong with America. The parchment and the society it belongs to are from the 19th century. It has no place in a civilised world.

The world is not a civilised place and removing guns from law abiding civilians will not make it a civilised place

I won't get into it here, other than saying an armed civilian militia in a western democratic civilized country is unnecessary and dangerous. It comes from a time when civil war wrought havoc... not the 21st century. The people don't need guns to protect them from their government... that's what the 2nd amendment was for.

[pitchag]

Don't get me wrong... I am pro-American (I'm in the minority probably!) but the 2nd amendment typifies everything that is wrong with America. The parchment and the society it belongs to are from the 19th century. It has no place in a civilised world.

And a civilised world is a world where only the criminal can be armed and you cannot protect your family or yourself from these law breakers what would protect my wife or daughter in the case of home invasion and rape, phone police ( 20 min response time ) rape whistle ignored by most people, condom maybe if they bothered, but good training in shooting and availability of a weapon

[mojorison]

Don't get me wrong... I am pro-American (I'm in the minority probably!) but the 2nd amendment typifies everything that is wrong with America. The parchment and the society it belongs to are from the 19th century. It has no place in a civilised world.

And a civilised world is a world where only the criminal can be armed and you cannot protect your family or yourself from these law breakers what would protect my wife or daughter in the case of home invasion and rape, phone police ( 20 min response time ) rape whistle ignored by most people, condom maybe if they bothered, but good training in shooting and availability of a weapon

Yeah maybe, but like I said, that was not the principle of the 2nd amendment.

[ATF]

Handing out military grade assault weapons to a Thai civilian population fraught with corruption and no leadership. This makes a lot of sense, and I am certain that it will catch the eye of the international community.

I think the IC has it's hands full with IS at the moment. It is a very radical move but the Muslims aren't going to stop by any peaceful means.

Civilians shooting civilians is a lot lower profile than the military just doing a clean sweep of the area.

The Thai military would not know how to do a "clean sweep" as you call it............

The best they seem to manage is sending out patrols, 2 up each on 2 Honda Clicks............these are basically suicide patrols using rangers as the patrolling men....cannon fodder!

The Thai Government is in a precarious situation because they are in the unenviable situation of trying to maintain order but at the same time protecting it's citizens.

Not all Muslims are radical but they do have radical sympathies, very similarly to the Catholics and Protestants in Ireland.

Again Muslims are discouraged from free interpretation of the Koran and have little real understanding of it.

I spoke to a Southern Iman years ago that had been "educated" in Saudi and he didn't even know that the Old Testament was basically the same as parts of the Koran and Torah.

[boomerangutang]

Adding more guns to the mix is going to improve things? In every scenario where that's been done, except maybe Switzerland, adding more guns translates to more shootings and more troubles.

Here's something that will ease tensions: get outside investigators (not military) to investigate who gave orders to shoot protesters at Kru Sae and, more importantly, who gave orders to pack prisoners like logs in flatbed trucks, resulting in the deaths from suffocation of over 70 young Muslim men. Thaksin was top banana at that time, and he had made it crystal clear to all generals, that if there were any issues, that they were to call him on his personal phone. In other words, he knew what was happening before and during the time those young men were murdered by the military men he was in charge of.

If those sordid two chapters in Thai history were dealt with in impartial courts of law (not military courts), that would be a big step towards peace in southern Thailand. Of course, a thorough investigation and trial can never happen in that regard. So, violence will continue.

Also: what are Thai Imm authorities doing to gauge whether any Muslim Thais are going to fight with ISIS in the M.E.? Thai officials should do what Europeans are doing: detain and question any young men who come back from that region - to gauge whether they've been up to no good.

[SOTIRIOS]

...that makes it even worse than giving them to the peacekeepers as first announced...

...how can anyone think it makes sense ........or that it will contribute to peace in the region......

[klauskunkel]

Don't get me wrong... I am pro-American (I'm in the minority probably!) but the 2nd amendment typifies everything that is wrong with America. The parchment and the society it belongs to are from the 19th century. It has no place in a civilised world.

unfortunately the world is not civilised

[VINCENT2012]

giving guns to the population will not solve the probleme...never ever! this look more like impotence from the military government who is not able to handle the situation pacificly.

[southernhippy]

one of the most clever thing the thai government have done. let those insurgents kill the volunteers, rta will come in to clear the mess afterwards.

[smutcakes]

Instead of giving civilians weapons, why don't you know use more (all) of the 250,000 proper army personnel, its not like they are fighting lots of wars elsewhere.

While there at it, they should invite the head of the armed forces down there to actually do some work they are paid for rather than playing politics in BKK.

[MaxLee]

Flooding the area with weapons in the pursuit of peace is a very Thai solution

Fight violence with violence,... the easiest and most face-saving solution, Thai style indeed.

"None of our business, none of my responsibility, not my fault"

[diehard60]

Now more people will die. But that is ok it is in the deep south. That is all they know how to do anyway. But I wonder just how many of those guns got into the muslum reble's hands???????????

[Halion]

Children of a lesser God, This issue has been contentious since day one when two separate claims were made with the first being that they were handguns and then followed with the claim that they were assault rifles.

Either way the random distribution of such weapons into the public domain serves little purpose except to rubber stamp that the authorities have neither the will or ability to deal with the wanton acts of death and destruction that prevail in this forgotten sector of Thailand.

To put this into perspective ,a nation that holds tourism in high regard and so frequently brandishing claims of tourist safety is now openly admitting that it has had to arm it's public in order to deal with this

problem. The international press and media should use this story to highlight the exact state of affairs that pertain on a daily basis in the peaceful and welcoming country. Perhaps TAT could run a campaign to arm visiting tourist in order that they could feel safe and secure during their stay. Ready for some sightseeing, don't forget the sunscreen, camera and your M16 assault rifle.

[smutcakes]

I wonder how Mr.Prawit 7+bn baht budget will be disbursed and who will be accountable for it?

I presume given the promised reform which we are still waiting for, any expenditure will be open to public scrutiny

[Fat Haggis]

Handing out military grade assault weapons to a Thai civilian population fraught with corruption and no leadership. This makes a lot of sense, and I am certain that it will catch the eye of the international community.

I think the IC has it's hands full with IS at the moment. It is a very radical move but the Muslims aren't going to stop by any peaceful means.

Civilians shooting civilians is a lot lower profile than the military just doing a clean sweep of the area.

Unless it was happening in Bangkok !!

Being handed an assault rifle to protect ones self isn't much use to you when your home is being attacked on 2-3 different sides.

For starters how many magazines and loose ammo is being supplied too? As you will burn through 2-300( 6-10 magazines) quite quickly if using suppressive fire.

Whoever said the RTA doesn't have enough people is talking mince, they have enough to stage a coup country wide!!

Now let's take a look at the recent polls too, according to several members there's only a 7% of the population that doesn't support the Junta, but that's clearly aimed at the PTP/UDD redshirt lunatics, which means that ALL thre Muslims in the Sourh are all in love with the Junta and the PM, so can anyone tell me why there's still a civil war ongoing with deaths occurring weekly, if the country is 93% in favour of the PM and the Junta?

The RTA and it's super rich Generals don't want to send more troops into harms way where they might actually have to earn their salaries for a change!!

[godwish4love]

Here is how the war in the South is going to burst out, also killing each other for a simple and minor case is imminent to this people.

[kinmaew]

Guns guns and more guns and more deaths.