Thai bombings draw attention to forgotten war in south

[webfact]

Thai bombings draw attention to forgotten war in south 
TODD PITMAN, Associated Press

 

BANGKOK (AP) — It happens with horrifying frequency in southern Thailand, a country much of the world associates with pristine beaches and alluring, sapphire blue seas: a bomb goes off. Victims are maimed or killed. Security forces comb through blood-spattered wreckage and debris.

 

On Thursday and Friday, 11 more bombs rattled seven Thai provinces, killing four people and wounding dozens more. But this time was different: the targets were not in the country's three southernmost provinces, where a bitter war waged by Muslim separatists has flared for more than a decade.

 

Instead, they shook towns filled with tourists further north, places like Hua Hin, where 11 foreigners were injured, most by a small explosive device that detonated in a narrow alley filled with bars, restaurants and massage parlors.

 

Ethnic Malay insurgents launched their armed bid for greater autonomy in Thailand's so-called "deep south" in 2004. But more than 6,700 dead and 12,000 wounded later, the struggle seems more forgotten than ever — a reality illustrated by a flood of weekend media coverage that dwarfed the usual trickle of reporting about the far-southern conflict.

 

"Sadly, people get used to violence. The media gets bored with it. The story becomes mundane," said Rungrawee Chalermsripinyorat, an independent analyst and expert on the insurgency.

 

If it turns out insurgents were responsible for last week's bombings, it would mark a dangerous new expansion of the low-level war that has plagued the mostly Buddhist country's southern border region with Malaysia.

 

It could also prove a dangerous incentive to carry out more violence.

 

With few exceptions, the militants have so far avoided attacking known tourist destinations because "they didn't want to be seen as a terrorist group," Rungrawee said. "But that could change if attacks like this prove effective" by attracting more attention to the war or pushing the government to make concessions at peace talks, she said.

 

While there has been no claim of responsibility and authorities have yet to blame any specific group, police investigators and analysts say the latest violence bears striking similarities to the methods used by the separatist militants who have traditionally limited operations to the Muslim-dominated provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.

 

The attacks Thursday and Friday took place in seven locations south of Bangkok, including the island of Phuket. The bombs were small and appeared designed to shock rather than induce mass casualties, and left no immediate major impact on Thailand's lucrative tourist industry.

 

Asked Monday about the possibility that insurgents orchestrated the latest violence, police commissioner Chakthip Chaijinda reiterated words spoken by other top officials over the weekend, saying "there are similarities in bomb-making methods and the equipment."

 

Authorities say some of the homemade bombs were triggered remotely by cellphones — a tactic used by insurgents. Some of the phones, recovered by police, were reportedly purchased in Malaysia, into which Thai militants are known to cross with ease.

 

Malaysian police chief Khalif Abu Bakar confirmed Thai authorities have reached out, and officials on his side of the border were searching for those who purchased and sold the phones.

 

The war in the south flared 12 years ago after security forces shot dead seven Thai Muslims during an anti-government protest in Tak Bai in Narathiwat province, and hauled away 78 others packed so tightly they died of asphyxiation.

 

Muslims in the south say they don't feel like full members of Thailand's majority Buddhist society and complain of discrimination, rights abuses and arbitrary detention. The provinces in the south once belonged to a Malay sultanate which Thailand annexed in 1902.

 

The insurgents are split into several factions, the strongest of which is the Patani-Malay National Revolutionary Front, or BRN. The groups' leadership, organizational structure and membership are secretive, so much so that Rungrawee said some recruits who have taken part in attacks were not even aware of which faction they belonged to.

 

The government of former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra began peace talks with separatists in 2013, although there was some doubt about whether the leaders attending fully represented insurgents on the ground. Yingluck's government was toppled in a coup a year later, and the junta that rules Thailand has continued the effort.

 

Talks, however, have gotten bogged down in such basic parameters as identifying the insurgents. Thailand's government insists on referring to them simply as "people with different opinions from the state," a position the militants reject.

 

John Blaxland, a senior fellow at Australian National University, said he believed militants could have launched last week's bombings to increase their bargaining power at the negotiating table.

 

"If my theory is correct, the message is: 'We want you to make more concessions in the south of Thailand,'" Blaxland said. "They figure that the message is better heard through actions."

 

Pongphisoot Busbarat, a lecturer at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, said if the militants were responsible for the bombings, they could be trying "to show that the hawkish approach adopted by the military is not acceptable."

 

Thailand's military junta has shown little tolerance for dissent since it overthrew a democratically elected government two years ago. Critical opinions are suppressed and critics are regularly whisked away to army bases for questioning.

 

On Aug. 7, the government held a successful referendum on a new constitution that will cement the military's powerful hand in politics for years to come.

 

In the week leading to the vote, insurgents registered their clear opposition to the charter by spray-painting the words "Referendum X" and "Constitution X" onto roads, street signs and schools across the south. Significantly, they did so in Thai, rather than the Malay script commonly used in the south.

 

They also carried out more than 50 bombings during the first week of August alone.

 

All were in the south; few made headlines.

 

On Monday morning, two motorcycle-riding soldiers were wounded in Narathiwat by another roadside bomb, police said. Explosive experts who arrived at the scene detonated a second bomb they believe was intended for those who rushed to the injured troops' aid.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-08-16

[Class C]

"The war in the south flared 12 years ago (while Thaksin was PM) after security forces shot dead seven Thai Muslims during an anti-government protest in Tak Bai in Narathiwat province, and hauled away 78 others packed so tightly they died of asphyxiation.
 
Muslims in the south say they don't feel like full members of Thailand's majority Buddhist society and complain of discrimination, rights abuses and arbitrary detention. The provinces in the south once belonged to a Malay sultanate which Thailand annexed in 1902."

 

Thailand needs to do some very deep soul searching here to fix this open wound.

[Colabamumbai]

Thailand's dirty war that the government refuses to deal with.  They think the problem is just going to go away. This should be a wake up call for the entire country.

[Eligius]

3 hours ago, Class C said:

"The war in the south flared 12 years ago (while Thaksin was PM) after security forces shot dead seven Thai Muslims during an anti-government protest in Tak Bai in Narathiwat province, and hauled away 78 others packed so tightly they died of asphyxiation.
 
Muslims in the south say they don't feel like full members of Thailand's majority Buddhist society and complain of discrimination, rights abuses and arbitrary detention. The provinces in the south once belonged to a Malay sultanate which Thailand annexed in 1902."

 

Thailand needs to do some very deep soul searching here to fix this open wound.

'Thailand needs to do some very deep soul searching': you are SO right. But soul searching is the one thing (amongst many) that the Thais have no aptitude for - nor do they even wish to gain such an inner moral encumbrance as conscience and reflection upon their deeds and consequences. Hence - everything continues as before. Sweeping unpleasant things under the carpet is always the preferred option with the Thais - until the hidden reality erupts and blows their very heads off!

[dcsw53]

The article sums the situation up well. Only criticism is the title, it not a forgotten war, it is a swept-under-the-carpet war. Relegate it to page 9, reduce the font size, and carry on ignoring it.

 

How many more have to die / get injured before the government does something incisive ? Not holding my breath, even with the change of venue for the explosive events. Then the next escalation will be drive by shootings in tourist areas, if the terrorists model themselves on groups in other countries.

[gchurch259]

They were Annexed in 1902, Why ? was there a conflict and these were captured ?

 

Do they try to practice Sharia Law there ?

[Enoon]

12 hours ago, gchurch259 said:

They were Annexed in 1902, Why ? was there a conflict and these were captured ?

 

Do they try to practice Sharia Law there ?

 

Result of British Imperial expansion in the Malay Peninsular:

 

British Malaya - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Prior to the late 19th century, the British East India Company was interested only in trading, and tried as much as possible to steer clear of Malay politics. However, Siam's influence (edit: not sovereignty or possession) in the northern Malay states, especially Kedah, Terengganu, Kelantan and Pattani, was preventing the Company from trading in peace. Therefore, in 1826, the British, through the Company, signed a secret treaty known today as the Burney Treaty with the King of Siam. The four Malay states were not present during the signing of the agreement. In that treaty, British acknowledged Siamese sovereignty over all those states. In return, Siam accepted British ownership of Penang and Province Wellesley and allowed the Company to trade in Terengganu and Kelantan unimpeded.

83 years later, a new treaty now known as the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 or the Bangkok Treaty of 1909 was signed between the two powers. In the new agreement, Siam agreed to give up its claim over Kedah, Perlis, Terengganu and Kelantan, while Pattani remained Siamese territory. Perlis was previously part of Kedah but during the Siamese reign it was separated from Kedah. Kedah's district of Satun however was annexed by Siam in the same agreement. Pattani on the other hand was dissected into Pattani proper, Yala and Narathiwat after the signing of the treaty.

Though the Siamese King Chulalongkorn was reluctant to sign the treaty, increasing French pressure on the Siamese eastern border forced Siam to co-operate with the British. Like Rama IV, Chulalongkorn hoped that the British would leave Siam alone if he acceded to their demands. Earlier in 1893, Siam had lost the Shan region of north-eastern Burma to the British. This demarcation as stated in the agreement remains today the Malaysia-Thailand Border.

Malay rulers did not acknowledge the agreement, but were too weak to resist British influence. In Kedah after the Bangkok Treaty, George Maxwell was posted by the British in Kedah as the sultan's advisor. The British effectively took over economic planning and execution. A rail line was built to connect Kedah with Siam in 1912 while land reform was introduced in 1914. Only in 1923 did the ruler of Kedah, Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah, accept a British advisor.

Perlis had a similar experience. The ruler did not recognise the 1909 treaty but the British were de facto administrators of the state. It was only in 1930 that the ruler Raja Syed Alwi recognised the British presence in Perlis by admitting Meadows Frost as the first British advisor in Perlis."

 

Britain wanted hard lines of control and ownership drawn on the map, replacing the previous traditions of suzerainty and tribute.

 

"Suzerainty (/ˈsjuːzərənti/ or /ˈsjuːzərɛnti/) is a situation in which a powerful region or people controls the foreign policy and international relations of a tributary vassal state while allowing the subservient nation internal autonomy."

 

There was a time when a return to suzerainty might have been acceptable to the separatists.  Unfortunately the intransigence and brutality of the "modern" Thai state may have made that impossible.

 

 

Edited August 16, 2016 by Enoon

[Kiwiken]

All the Thais need would be a more militant and Nationalistic Malay Government and they may find their dirty little Southern war becomes to hot to handle. I think they need to talk with the Groups concerned and the time for such dialogue is expiring fast

 

[Watchful]

My sense is the situation is a little more complicated than the "Muslims don't feel like full members".  Muslims the world over are the first to demand their rights, but these same wonderful people treat non-muslims like absolute dirt in Muslim countries. If you are not a Muslim in these countries, you have NO rights, zero, zip, zilch ....

 

Further making consessions to terrorists, breads more terrorism!  Look how Israel deals with terrorists ... there are consequences!   Muslims are evicted from their lands! Consequently Muslims have a vested interest in restraining the terrorists; instead of protecting them.