More needs to be done in the far South

[Lite Beer]

EDITORIAL
More needs to be done in the far South
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Reconciliatory acts are needed as well as peace talks, as the junta has little to show a year after the coup

For the past three days, the city of Yala has been in a tailspin with bombs going off one after another about an hour after sunset.

Ambulance and police vehicles, as well as ordnance teams, were seen rac?ing up and down the city's roads like there was no tomorrow.

Nearly 30 small bombs went off on Thursday evening. The following morning, four more blasts occurred and yesterday morning, a furniture store, along with nearby shop houses, went up in smoke.

In a sign the culprits gave no heed to security forces, some of the bombs on Friday morning were tossed, whereas they had been set off remotely the previous evening.

Temporary roadblocks went up all over the city but they don't seem to serve any meaningful purpose except to slow down traffic.

Officials told people to stay at home but no curfew was set, possibly out of concern that it would generate more bad press for the city and the country.

The blasts were not just a slap to the face of security chiefs. They also pose a big challenge to the security grid put in place to combat them.

Fourth Army Area commander Lt-General Prakarn Chollayuth said the attacks were efforts by insurgents to boost their morale.

The Fourth Army's spokesman also suggested that they may have been done in retaliation for the fatal shooting of a suspected insurgent in Mayo district in Pattani on Thursday.

According to a photo circulated on social media, the suspect, Niyiduerae Jaehae, 28, was handcuffed.

The official explanation was that he was released to go back inside the house to retrieve another handgun he admitted having. But once the weapon was retrieved, the suspect shot at three police, who then returned fire and ended in his life.

Sounds fishy, indeed. But the general public doesn't seem to care much about the details, especially when it comes to questionable conduct by the authorities in this historically contested region.

As for the local Malay Muslims, such explanations do little to bridge the long-standing mistrust between them and the state.

Speaking to reporters in the aftermath of the attacks, Prakarn pointed out that a number of Muslim residents were injured and that some bombs were set off in old Muslim quarters.

What he didn't say was that most of these bombs were not packed with shrapnel, or that the real target was the credibility of the state security apparatus.

Prakarn was correct to point to the irony of the attacks - that the people the insurgents profess to be liberating are being injured by their actions.

But the spin about local Muslims being affected can only go so far. Because in the final analysis, Prakarn and the state cannot dismiss the political underpinning of these violent acts. And if they are willing to acknowledge this, they will understand that this political conflict requires a political solution.

The state can start by coming to terms with the fact the country's policy of assimilation has failed. There has been talk about kicking off another round of peace talks with insurgents. But more than a year after taking over power through a coup, the junta still has little to show in relation to this.

Spinning and demonising opposing forces can only do so much in terms of generating sympathy from the public.

Sad to say, Thailand's spin doctors have been sounding like a broken record for some time. The violence has claimed more than 6,000 lives since early 2004 and an end is nowhere in sight. It's time to change the tune.

Essentially, the military will have to acknowledge the historical root causes of the conflict. But reconciliatory action and gestures must follow.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/More-needs-to-be-done-in-the-far-South-30260277.html

-- The Nation 2015-05-17

[BSJ]

My solution to the problem is the best. Build a wall like the Israeli wall that keeps the Palestinians and other terrorists on the other side, invite all the mooslums to leave Thailand and join their cousins in Malaya. After the wall is finished anyone on the Thai side of the wall who shouldn't be there will be shot on sight.

[EricBerg]

The Germans beat the RAF terrorists, the Brits beat IRA, the Italians got rid of the Red Brigades. All were successful with force and heaps of intelligence. The Thai army seems to lack the huge intelligence resources in the south. They should work on that. Fanatics will stop when they see their peers getting killed or arrested. The terrorists in the south do not seem to have the suicide bomber mentality which is a direct ticket to moslim heaven and a reward of 40 or so virgins.

Besides that authorities should work on emancipation of the Thai moslims and not treat them as second rate citizens.

[impulse]

My solution to the problem is the best. Build a wall like the Israeli wall that keeps the Palestinians and other terrorists on the other side, invite all the mooslums to leave Thailand and join their cousins in Malaya. After the wall is finished anyone on the Thai side of the wall who shouldn't be there will be shot on sight.

Because it's working so well for Israel, right?

[zaphod reborn]

My solution to the problem is the best. Build a wall like the Israeli wall that keeps the Palestinians and other terrorists on the other side, invite all the mooslums to leave Thailand and join their cousins in Malaya. After the wall is finished anyone on the Thai side of the wall who shouldn't be there will be shot on sight.

Because it's working so well for Israel, right?

And stick the Rohingya in there as well. Humanitarian crisis solved.

[lemonjelly]

Thailand as a rule, don't really acknowledge the Thai muslims existence. Ive yet to see their culture included on Thai tv soaps, dramas, etc.

It's all about Chinese looking Thais wai-ing each other and buddhist tradition. They're being ignored in their own country. I feel for them, they really are nice people, I recommend going south to anyone who hasn't done it yet.

[impulse]

Thailand as a rule, don't really acknowledge the Thai muslims existence. Ive yet to see their culture included on Thai tv soaps, dramas, etc.

It's all about Chinese looking Thais wai-ing each other and buddhist tradition. They're being ignored in their own country. I feel for them, they really are nice people, I recommend going south to anyone who hasn't done it yet.

+1. I've spent considerable time in Songkhla, and I've spent some time in Pattaya/Jomtien. I enjoy both, but give me Songkhla town any day...

[Local Drunk]

Small bombs like that could be the work of anyone. Terrorist like to create terror with a body count. This almost looks like a distraction for the police, the military and the press. I'm not saying it isn't terror related, but someone in the south is clearly worried.

[Srikcir]

The historical root causes of the conflict is an issue of autonomy for the Malay-Thais whose centuries-old Islamic culture in the South cannot embrace Buddhism nor the Buddhist Head of State. From that perspective the Royal Thai Military is INCAPABLE of reconciliatory action in its mission of Protecting Buddhism and the Sovereignty of the Kingdom.

[northernjohn]

My solution to the problem is the best. Build a wall like the Israeli wall that keeps the Palestinians and other terrorists on the other side, invite all the mooslums to leave Thailand and join their cousins in Malaya. After the wall is finished anyone on the Thai side of the wall who shouldn't be there will be shot on sight.

I want to send all the Muslims to Antarctica and give them an unlimited supply of explosives and let them get it out of their system The ones left standing can return to Yemen or some other small Islamic country. There won't be many left.

As for the far south

In a sign the culprits gave no heed to security forces, some of the bombs on Friday morning were tossed, whereas they had been set off remotely the previous evening.

That can also be taken as they are desperate. They feel they are running out of time and their supporters will turn on them if there is peace talks.

Just a thought.

[northernjohn]

Thailand as a rule, don't really acknowledge the Thai muslims existence. Ive yet to see their culture included on Thai tv soaps, dramas, etc.

It's all about Chinese looking Thais wai-ing each other and buddhist tradition. They're being ignored in their own country. I feel for them, they really are nice people, I recommend going south to anyone who hasn't done it yet.

+1. I've spent considerable time in Songkhla, and I've spent some time in Pattaya/Jomtien. I enjoy both, but give me Songkhla town any day...

My step daughter and family were working in Nonkong Si Thammarat. Right next door to these wonderful people. The company they worked for wanted to transfer them to Yala. Living next door to it they were very aware of what was going on. They quit their job and moved to Chiang Mai. If you have to pick Pattaya/Jomtien to compare Songkhla to I will give it a pass.