Call to solve unrest after six rangers killed

[rooster59]

Call to solve unrest after six rangers killed

By THE NATION
AFP

 

Fourth Army Region Commander Lt-General Piyawat Nakwanich presides over the bathing rite at Wat Bang Nara in Narathiwat's Mung district yesterday.

 

THAI NETIZENS have joined in the mourning for six rangers who were killed in a bomb attack in the troubled deep South on Thursday and called on the government to solve the unrest to prevent further deaths.

 

In posts about the incident shared by Facebook fan page YouLike Clipded (https://www.facebook.com/ceclip/) the six brave soldiers were saluted and many Thai members expressed condolences to their families and friends. 

 

Silver Rainart said that Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha must solve the problem and end the violence and deaths, while Yingkhid Gunkel expressed condolences to the deceased men’s families and said she could not believe that the rangers had to patrol on normal pick-up trucks in such a dangerous area. 

 

Suaming Arm-ik-kiew praised the men for sacrificing their lives to protect the country and other officers who stay apart from their families to serve in difficult conditions. 

 

Many others commented that the government should have spent money buying safer armoured trucks for those serving in the deep South rather than buying submarines.

 

In the latest suspected rebel attack that will undermine stagnant peace talks, the patrol team was gunned down in Narathiwat province after their pick-up truck was struck by a roadside explosive. 

 

“After the car tipped over on the road four (rangers) were shot dead at the scene,” provincial police commander Manas Suksamas said. Two other rangers died at hospital, he added.

 

Thursday’s attack came a day before the anniversary of the 2004 army raid on a mosque in neighbouring Pattani that left 32 insurgents dead and stoked the bloody insurgency. Militants often time their attacks to strike around anniversaries and other symbolic events.

 

Earlier this month the most active insurgent group rejected peace talks organised by the ruling junta in a rare press statement. The shadowy Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) is believed to be behind most of the violence in the region, although it never claims responsibility for attacks and shuns publicity.

 

Experts have long said the faction is not loyal to a group of rebel negotiators who have been meeting with the Thai junta, which seized power in 2014.

 

The BRN called for international involvement in the army-led talks, which have so far borne little fruit. The Prayut government has refused to talk to the group.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30313689

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-04-29

[edwinchester]

Sent out on patrol in a war zone in the back of a pickup.

Should be known as 'The Expendables' because the Govt obviously couldn't care less for their safety.

[phantomfiddler]

Well, that would be a good reason !

[soalbundy]

Tell the perpetrators not to do it again,works a treat when Thais are caught DUI

[ChrisY1]

How many years now....10...or more..ongoing from whenever.....and each Thai government, whosoever ever happened to be in office during the past 10+ years, have called upon (well.....been instructed) to utilise the "expertise" of the RTA.......Dads army with 1700 generals!......Not one has been successful in maintaining the slightest level of peace.

Patrol officers riding 2 up on a Honda Click were such easy targets.....patrols sitting in the back of pick-up.....again easy targets......armoured personnel carriers were used for a short (very short) time....but the generals thought they were too expensive to loose.....!

So now mid 2017......and they lose 6 guys and will anything change....will better equipment and machinery be provided.....they no doubt they'll continue to put the rangers in the front line...inexperienced with very limited training, but they're cheap and replaceable.....!

The situation in the south needs extreme pressure from the international community....whom it would appear...just don't care.

The only way Thailand will be pro-active, is with this kind of pressure.......after all these years..7000+ killed, umpteen permanently scarred.....it's just an ongoing case of ..som nom na......mai pen rai

[sgracer]

this is exactly why they need submarines

[Srikcir]

Just a couple of notables:

12 hours ago, rooster59 said:

In the latest suspected rebel attack that will undermine stagnant peace talks

You can't undermine that which doesn't exist. "Stagnant" means inactive. The military has treated the insurgency not as a political/ethical movement but as a criminal movement. The result has been that it is the military that has persistently undermined peace talks.

12 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Earlier this month the most active insurgent group rejected peace talks organised by the ruling junta

Peace talks organizied by the military has been the problem.

The military seeks to maintain control over the agenda for conducting talks. Basically the military has offered peace talks if BRN unilaterally disarms for an unspecified time period, identifies all its members and agrees that issues are purely local and not national (ie., related to sovereignty). It's not a wonder that BRN rejects such as approach. If talks were conducted more cooperatively as equals there might be some progress.

[lungnorm]

Yeah and when they fix this problem in the south send them to Syria and Luton and Bradford to sort there stuff out.