Troubles in the South
- May 2006
Troubles
in the South index page
Separatist leaflet
- May 16, 2006
Above is an antigovernment leaflet from the south. This
unsigned leaflet was posted at mosques in Amphur Raman,
Yala. On the top it reads "The truth that happens
in the three southern provinces."
Counterclockwise from the top:
1. Muslim people are shot in their house. The caption
reads "Shot even when staying at home."
2. Muslim people being shot at a mosque. The caption
reads "Go to the mosque, get shot also."
3. A Muslim man just sits for a rest in front of his
house and a policeman shoots him.
4. A man slits rubber and is shot. The caption reads
"Even going to work, get shot also."
In the middle it says: "How long will we let them
oppress us and when we will realize why these events
happened and get up to resist the enemy. Is this religious?"
This leaflet contends that many of the random shootings
in the south are in fact the work of the government
to weed out suspected insurgents. This is an allegation
increasing being put forth by the separatists.
Separatists in Raman, southern Thailand,
hand out leaflets encouraging people to be anti-government
- translated and summarized from Krungtep Turakit, May 6,
2006
Separatists in the deep south are handing out leaflets
threatening religious leaders who have sided with the
government. The leaflets also have pictures of Muslims
being shot by police and military officers. A4-sized
posters with anti government messages are displayed
around the Raman district of Yala province.
The security forces' news unit said the leaflets and
posters show attempts by southern separatists to fool
the locals into believing that insurgency in the region
is caused by the government. To mislead the local people,
the assailants depicted, usually wear clothes that appear
to be the uniforms of government officers.
Privy Councilor suggests solutions
for southern unrest based on "understanding, trust
and development" - translated
and summarized from Krungtep Turakit, May 26,
2006
Today, the Office of the National Security Council hosted
a discussion of principles for solving the insurgency
in the deep south. Guest speakers included Privy Councilor
General Surayuth Chulanond, Supreme Court Secretary-General
Charan Pakdeethanakul, and President of the Center for
the Promotion of National Strength in Moral Ethics Paiboon
Wattanasiritham.
General Surayuth highlighted the importance of engendering
"understanding, trust and development" in
the deep south. Sarayuth told the meeting that HRH the
King always systematically studied the geography, culture,
and traditions of areas before traveling to them to
suggest solutions to their problems. Sarayuth further
explained that HRH the King usually considered such
problems holistically and then tried to solve each individual
small problem with simple solutions that local people
could understand and participate in. By solving such
small problems first, HRH the King felt it was possible
to develop the whole system up from the grassroots level.
Sarayuth added that HRH's development methods involved
the creation of self-sufficiency at the family level
first and then working up through the communal, district,
and provincial levels to the nation as a whole. General
Surayuth said that Thailand's civil service and general
population needed to develop a better understanding
of the problems in the deep south that harmonized more
with the outlook of its residents.
General Sarayuth expressed a belief that multiculturalism
should be promoted to bring peace to Thai society. He
thought that civil servants and southern locals needed
greater opportunities to share their ideas and experience
in order to build a long-lasting mutual trust and faith.
He also suggested that greater sincerity would be a
major factor in solving local problems. Surayuth was
also of the opinion that civil servants should learn
to speak the local language and dialect in order to
build closer relationships with the population of the
region.
(Photo: Dr. Has for 2Bangkok.com)
Almost like being there: Yala
Governor lends moral support -
May 23, 2006
Dr. Has reports: On May 23 after a policeman was
shot in the market of Krongpinang, the Yala governor,
Mr. Boonsit Suwanrat (middle) and Krongpinang sheriff
(right) come to visit and give moral support to teachers
of Ban Luemu School which is in a red area.
(Photo: Dr. Has for 2Bangkok.com)
Almost like being there: Gathering
in Krongpinang district - May
27, 2006
Dr. Has reports: On May 27, Krongpinang district
organized a gathering of people wearing the yellow t-shirts
for the campaign of save the energy and declare peaceful
villages celebrating the 60th anniversary of the King's
reign. Lots of government officials, people, and religious
leaders join the fair. Some people carry the banner
(above) that reads "Malaria disease... If you are
careless, you might die..."
The
Graveyard of the Unnamed - Bangkok
Post, June 1, 2006
Tough editorial from the Post.
...To douse public suspicion the unidentified corpses
might be those of slain Muslim villagers, a string of
high-ranking officials quickly came out to discredit
Mr Kraisak.
Caretaker Interior Minister Kongsak Wantana dismissed
the claim as probably one of the normal Muslim graveyards
that can be found in all Muslim communities there. It
turned out to be a big graveyard run by a Chinese charity
foundation in Pattani - which shows how much we can
pin our hopes on the man in charge of national security.
Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Wannasathit,
meanwhile, played things down by describing the graveyard
as an "old story" no one should get excited
about, for it was just one of those places where sop
rai yart, or mystery corpses unclaimed by relatives,
were buried.
Then Pattani Governor Panu Uthairat, in his effort to
calm local anxieties, backed police reports that most
of the unidentified corpses were mostly those of illegal
migrant workers.
The message was: these dead people are not our people,
so no need to bother.
If there is anything more shocking than Mr Kraisak's
disclosure, it is the responses from these fiercely
self-defensive officials.
...In any society, peace and order are not possible
without the rule of law. And the rule of law is impossible
when the government and its police still routinely allow
a large number of people to die without trying to identify
them, to establish the cause of their deaths and, in
cases of murder, to nab the culprits so as to ensure
that justice is done.
Ask the police, and they endlessly cite lack of budget
and personnel needed for body identification; so they
have to lump these mystery corpses together and let
charity organisations take care of them.
When space runs out, these bodies will be exhumed and
cremated to make room for a new batch of mystery corpses.
With cremation, any remaining evidence is lost.
We can imagine many police officers getting richer from
all this.
...It is an open secret that the Thai police strongly
resist forensic science, preferring to use their old
ways of squeezing confessions from suspects, which often
involve beatings and torture...
Thai
Interior Minister allays fear after 500 unmarked graves
unearthed in South - TNA,
May 29, 2006 Migrant
workers in 300 unmarked graves in Thai south: official
- AFP, May 27, 2006
Some 300 unmarked graves
found two months ago in Thailand's restive south appear
to hold bodies of slain migrant workers from neighboring
Cambodia and Myanmar, Thai authorities said...
Abhisit
calls on Govt to explain alleged mass graves -
The Nation, May 28, 2006
Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva Sunday called
on the government to explain alleged mass graves in
the deep South which over 500 bodies were reportedly
found.
Caretaker senator Kraisak Chonhavan made the allegations
on Saturday, saying the graves had been found in southern
border provinces by Khunying Pornthip Rojanasunan, acting
director of the Forensic Science Institute...
On the forum: Muangthai
rai Subdah 2
100
schools in Narathiwat to close indefinitely
- TNA, May 21, 2006
(Photo: Mr. John for
2Bangkok.com) |
Almost like being there: First
day of school - May 16,
2006
Mr. John reports: The atmosphere
of taking care and safety for teachers and students
in Yala for the first day of opening the semester
on May 16. The army, police and volunteers from
each area maintain strict security. In the morning,
they will picking up and sending off students
as usual and another team will reconnoiter and
another will stay at the areas at risk of violence.
They will check at the border of the town and
the routes into villages. This is to make teachers,
students and other people confident.
|
(Photo: Mr. John for
2Bangkok.com)
Almost like being
there: Delivering guns to volunteers -
May 16, 2006
Mr. John reports: Gen. Napon Boontap, Deputy of
the Chief Royal Guard and his team visit the King's
project for model farms and delivers 50 short guns
to volunteers of the Piyamitr Villages (formerly the
Chinese Malayu Communist village) of which are three
villages. The guns are to be used for the villagers
to protect themselves and the nation.
(Photo: Mr. John for 2Bangkok.com)
Almost like being there: Finding guns
- May 14, 2006
Mr. John reports: Soldiers of 41st Yala and Special
Soldier 11th investigate three guns with the bullets
found in a bag hidden under a tree at a pavilion near
a road in Thambon Kortortuela, Amphur Raman, Yala. The
result of the investigation is that there are three
war weapons--AK-47 and 28 of .762 bullets. The officers
brought the guns to the science department in zone 45
of Yala. It is believed that these guns were used many
times before.
(Photo: Mr. John for
2Bangkok.com)
Almost like being there: Cleaning
the statue - May 11, 2006
Mr. John reports: May 11, 2006 - Captain Pisai Sukwan,
Commander of Regiment 3, Chulaporn Camp, Narathiwat
Province take more than 60 soldiers and 50 students
to clean the area of the Buddha Park at Wat Khaokong,
Thambon Lampoo, Narathiwat where there is a Thaksinmingmongkon
Buddha that Buddhists in three southern provinces and
Singaporeans and Malaysians worship. This is an activity
for Visakha Bucha Day and for the 60th anniversary of
the King's reign.
(Photo: Mr. John for 2Bangkok.com)
Mr. John reports: An officer investigates a crater
in the road at Saiburi-Krapor Mu 4, Thumbon Kadunong,
Amphre Saiburi, Pattani Province. Last night 8 army
men were passing by and an explosion injured two of
them.
(Photo: Dr. Has for 2Bangkok.com)
Dr. Has reports: Here is Malayu-style house that
is rarely seen nowadays...
(Photo: Mr. John for 2Bangkok.com)
Mr. John writes: On May 7, the bad guy shot Mr. Sarawut
Kotan, 38-year-old volunteer of village safety from
Mu 7, Thambon Borthong, Amphure Nongjik. He died on
the spot as he and his wife were driving the motorcycle
carrying rubber. The situation in the south comes back
to be more violent again before the schools open.
Bombs continuously harass S. Thailand - Xinhua, May 6, 2006
Drug addiction behind insurgency in S. Thailand - Xinhua, May 6, 2006
..."Segregation and drugs have been long standing
problems in the region," Chidchai told journalists,
referring to Thailand's southernmost provinces of Yala,
Narathiwat and Pattani. "It has been learned that an
influential group has given financial support to the
militants..."
News from the south
- May 2, 2006
Mr John reports: On May 2, people from the
Alliance to Restore Democracy in Songkhla gathered
in front of Had Yai Railway Station to watch
a broadcast of the rally that was organized
at Lumpini Park in Bangkok concerning "Accepting
the King's speech." |
(Photo: Mr. John for
2Bangkok.com) |
(Photo: Mr. John for
2Bangkok.com) |
Left: People who came
to the assembly in Songkhla also donated money
for the next political movement meeting. |
| Right: The Department
of Medical Soldiers, Royal Thai Army, organized
the Soldier Medical Project in the three southernmost
provinces giving medical treatment to people at
Ban Juenue-rae Mu 3 , Thambol Budi, Amphur Muang,
Yala. Lots of people came to be checked for injury,
pulling out teeth, and general medical checkups
and medicine. |
(Photo: Mr. John for
2Bangkok.com) |
'Reliable evidence' found of insurgent camps
in Malaysia - Bangkok Post, May 4, 2006
An intelligence unit says it has obtained reliable
evidence backing a recent report that 50 female members
of a separatist group were trained across the border
in Malaysia. An intelligence source said security forces
had been advised to be on high alert after they verified
recently discovered evidence indicating that female
insurgents were trained in Malaysia...
Troubles
in the South index page
|
