A TIME investigation sheds light on the growing strength and radicalism of the new breed of Islamic militants fighting in southern Thailand

There's something striking about Ma-ae, but it takes a while to work out what it is. It's not his looks: he's a lanky teenager who, like most Thai youths, wears blue jeans and a T shirt. Nor is it his religion: he's Muslim, like almost everybody else in Thailand's three southernmost provinces. What's striking about him is this: in a part of the country where a separatist insurgency has claimed more than 1,800 lives since it flared anew three years ago, and where ordinary people are gagged by fear and secrecy, Ma-ae talks. He talks about growing up in a remote, militant-held village that has become a virtual no-go zone for Thai security forces. He talks about how insurgents are recruited, initiated and dispatched to commit mayhem and murder. And he talks about his father, a government official and?claim the men who gunned him down?a military informer. He says he knows the names of the killers (they're his neighbors) but dares not confront them. "If I did," he says, "they'd kill me too."

Continued here:

http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/art...1563009,00.html

A TIME investigation sheds light on the growing strength and radicalism of the new breed of Islamic militants fighting in southern Thailand

There's something striking about Ma-ae, but it takes a while to work out what it is. It's not his looks: he's a lanky teenager who, like most Thai youths, wears blue jeans and a T shirt. Nor is it his religion: he's Muslim, like almost everybody else in Thailand's three southernmost provinces. What's striking about him is this: in a part of the country where a separatist insurgency has claimed more than 1,800 lives since it flared anew three years ago, and where ordinary people are gagged by fear and secrecy, Ma-ae talks. He talks about growing up in a remote, militant-held village that has become a virtual no-go zone for Thai security forces. He talks about how insurgents are recruited, initiated and dispatched to commit mayhem and murder. And he talks about his father, a government official and?claim the men who gunned him down?a military informer. He says he knows the names of the killers (they're his neighbors) but dares not confront them. "If I did," he says, "they'd kill me too."

Continued here:

http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/art...1563009,00.html

This is what is going on with muslims. The "good" muslims are intimidated by the thugs. I am concerned about this because Thailand is a ally of the United States. If this area of the world really flares up will the US go and fight alongside an ally in south east asia.

A very interesting, if disturbing article.

Thank You for posting it

A TIME investigation sheds light on the growing strength and radicalism of the new breed of Islamic militants fighting in southern Thailand

There's something striking about Ma-ae, but it takes a while to work out what it is. It's not his looks: he's a lanky teenager who, like most Thai youths, wears blue jeans and a T shirt. Nor is it his religion: he's Muslim, like almost everybody else in Thailand's three southernmost provinces. What's striking about him is this: in a part of the country where a separatist insurgency has claimed more than 1,800 lives since it flared anew three years ago, and where ordinary people are gagged by fear and secrecy, Ma-ae talks. He talks about growing up in a remote, militant-held village that has become a virtual no-go zone for Thai security forces. He talks about how insurgents are recruited, initiated and dispatched to commit mayhem and murder. And he talks about his father, a government official and?claim the men who gunned him down?a military informer. He says he knows the names of the killers (they're his neighbors) but dares not confront them. "If I did," he says, "they'd kill me too."

Continued here:

http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/art...1563009,00.html

This is what is going on with muslims. The "good" muslims are intimidated by the thugs. I am concerned about this because Thailand is a ally of the United States. If this area of the world really flares up will the US go and fight alongside an ally in south east asia.

Not unless their is some oil we don't know about in Yala, or they can convince the American People That Bin Ladin his hanging out down there catching up on his tan.

Tough drama really. On one hand I can respect a people, who were forceably occupied by an outside culture, fighting against his oppressor. In the same way I can respect Cochise (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochise) fighting against the white man in the States or Palestinians fighting against the Zionists that occupy their lands. However, it's the tactics that the oppressed (irregardless of what religion they claim to believe as people tend to put their God behind what ever cause they belive in, ie Christians with the Spanish inquisitions or the drama between Catholics and Prodistants in Ireland, Jews stealing away more land in philistine because they believe their god gave it to them, ect ect) tend to use these days that I find appalling and flat out stupid. Killing children, bombing cafe's to murder innocent people, non combatants is just dead wrong. And morality aside for a moment, tactically unwise when you are a minority.

It would behoove these people to pick up a F'ing book and read about Gahndi or ML King, especially king as the Black peoples plight in the States is the closest to theirs. At the time ML King was fighting against oppression our people had it MUCH MUCH worse than the Thai Muslims. I mean so many thousands of us were being lynched, we dealt with forced segregation, and all manner of vile discrimination on a level that Thai Muslims should say "Hemdullah" (Thank God) they don't see.

What they need is a strong eloquent leader who pushes the tactics of ML King and organizes non violent protest. Nothing else will work for their cause and nothing else will garner them any respect or sympathy from the outside world. And before people all negative, it works, We see that non violent protests can even push the PM out of office in Thailand. They can get what they want non violently as well. They just need to work for it, stop being keekiyet and put down the IED and pick up a book.