Troubles in the South - April 2005 Troubles in the South index page Fear stalks Thai Muslim south, cripples economy - Reuters, April 29, 2005 Police leaflet - April 27, 2005 Translation of a leaflet distributed by police in Yala: Transfer your eyes to be capital The country needs participation, Yala residents' safety is in your eyes. Buying clues concerning security, crime and drugs The provincial police constabulary of Yala needs information and clues that lead to tranquility Your clues have value from 300 to 10 million baht You do not need to tell your name, information. There will be no record, photo, or inquiry. We need only the truth that you know and you see Method: Call to inform the information or clue including your bank account, your useful information and lead to the officer. We will transfer money to you immediately. The call is 3 baht. You may get 10 million baht. Call 0-7321-1800 or 0-1092-2678. The Investigative Provincial Police Constabulary of Yala Bangkok bomb threat dismissed - TNA, April 26, 2005 Thailand’s government has dismissed bomb threats to Bangkok as rumour and speculation. Recent newspaper reports had misinterpreted the police order to increase security in the capital city, the Interior Minister Pol. Gen. Chidchai Vanasatidya said on Tuesday. The chief of the Special Branch Police had earlier reportedly warned of a possible bomb attack in Bangkok. ''There is no such threat. He did not say so, but the media has misinterpreted it. He only said there was a need to tighten security,'' said the interior minister... Yesterday: Revenge bombing in city feared - Bangkok Post, April 26, 2005 [Recently, the Post has been quick to print 'bomb in Bangkok' stories. The last one they printed was quickly revealed to be a hoax--or at least the authorities insisted it was (Authorities step up security after Chao Phraya bomb plot reported - April 13, 2005, River bomb story dismissed - April 14, 2005). The Nation has steered clear of these types of reports.] Police are on the lookout for a separatist who has arrived in Bangkok and may be preparing a car bomb in the capital on the first anniversary of the fatal crackdown on militants at Krue Se mosque in Pattani province on April 28 last year, a police source said. A reliable source at the Metropolitan Police Bureau said yesterday that deputy Bangkok police chief Pol Maj-Gen Krisada Pankongchuen had a meeting with senior investigators from all sub-divisions of Bangkok police over the weekend and discussed the arrival of the suspected separatist terrorist... (Photo: Dr. Has for 2Bangkok.com) Almost like being there: Yala Dr. Has reports: April 22, 2005 - Thousands of Yala residents from many Amphurs in Yala came out to protest the terrorists. The banner below reads 'understand, access, development.' [We think this is a quote from privy councilor Gen.Prem Tinlasulanond.] (Photo: Dr. Has for 2Bangkok.com) A tale of two newspapers: Krue Se and Tak Bai reports 'censored?' - April 25, 2005 [The Post and Nation basically have the same story of Krue Se and Tak Bai reports, explaining the reason for the redactions, but The Nation puts 'censored' is in the headline. TNA skips over the redactions entirely.] Commission to release reports into Krue Se, Tak Bai deaths - Bangkok Post, April 22, 2005 The reports on the Krue Se and Tak Bai clashes will be released on Sunday but some details about how almost 200 Muslims died in the encounters will be withheld so as not to inflame unrest in the deep South, National Reconciliation Commission chairman Anand Panyarachun said... He would release as much as he could, but some sections would be left out since they may affect ongoing court cases, inflame religious and racial conflicts or have an adverse impact on people who gave accounts of what happened. ...Nideh Waba, chairman of the group of Islamic schools in the five southern border provinces, welcomed the decision to release the reports saying he was one of those who had given accounts to police... SOUTHERN TRAGEDIES: Reports to be censored prior to publication - The Nation, April 22, 2005 The National Reconciliation Commission will release the official reports on the two bloody suppression operations at Tak Bai and Krue Se Mosque last year, but only after screening them for sensitive sections. “The government authorised the commission on Monday to distribute the reports as it sees fit,” NRC chairman Anand Panyarachun said yesterday. Apart from passages endangering personal safety, prejudicing the ongoing judicial review or fanning religious strife, the public will get full access to the reports, he said. Two independent committees completed their investigations last year but the government would disclose only some of the findings. Information on events leading up to the high death tolls was withheld. ...“Justice, legitimacy and transparency must prevail before social strife can end...” Independent panel descends to deep South - TNA, April 21, 2005 ...The commission would also look into reports on official investigation of last year's violent unrest at the province's Krue Se Mosque and at the Tak Bai Police Station in the nearby Narathiwat Province, in which scores of Muslims were killed, at its next meeting, scheduled for 24 April, said the journalists... Also: 'A tale of two newspapers' archives A tale of two newspapers: Krue Se and Tak Bai reports are released - April 25, 2005 [The Post has more details from the reports and just a passing mention that the report was released 'almost in full.' The Nation again focuses on the 'censorship' of the reports and has few details of the report itself.] Use of force at Krue Se condemned - NRC releases reports into southern deaths - Bangkok Post, April 25, 2005 The two independent reports into the Krue Se and Tak Bai clashes fault the use of overwhelming force and want officials to be held accountable for the tragedies. The reports were released almost in full by the National Reconciliation Commission yesterday... KRUE SE, TAK BAI INCIDENTS: NRC releases official version - The Nation, April 25, 2005 Anand says panel censored findings for witnesses’ safety and to assist reconciliation - The National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) yesterday released the government reports on the Krue Se and Tak Bai incidents with parts of the documents blacked out. NRC chairman Anand Panyarachun said the panel’s censorship was aimed at protecting the rights and safety of witnesses and preventing negative effects on its reconciliation efforts... Also: 'A tale of two newspapers' archives Queen condemns southern 'brutes' - Urges nation to decry bandits, whose actions are 'devoid of humanity' - Bangkok Post, April 24, 2005 ..."I must reiterate that my intention is not to tell you to take up arms to fight the enemy. That is not what we should do... but we have to help protect the country without holding a weapon.'' The Thai people, the owners of the country, can no longer afford to stand by since a grave danger now faced not only people in southern Thailand but the welfare of the whole nation as well as its future, she said. Thais have to help each other just as they did during the tsunami disaster, which had impressed her and made her proud to be Thai. "It is time. And I invite all of you to think about what you can do because the danger is upon the nation," Her Majesty said. Earlier: HM The Queen's speech - November 19, 2004 (Photo: Dr. Has for 2Bangkok.com) Almost like being there: Yala Dr. Has reports: April 21, 2005 - A phone booth in Amphur Raman, Yala Province burned by insurgents this week. This is the seventh phone booth vandalized by separatists recently. (Photo: Dr. Has for 2Bangkok.com) Almost like being there: Yala - April 18, 2005 Dr. Has reports: April 18, 2005 - A fire burns in a field of Amphur Muang and Ban Kuelae, Amphur Raman, Yala which damaged more than 100 rai [1 rai = 1600 square metres] and caused villagers evacuate in a disorderly manner. A strong wind made the fire spread quickly. JTIC Briefing: Thai insurgents widen their target base - Jane's, April 14 ...JTIC has learned from reliable sources that Thai intelligence agencies believe two Syrian nationals may have been involved in both the Hat Yai blasts and a car bomb attack in Sungai Kolok on 17 February. These suspicions throw into sharper relief the probability of some degree of active foreign involvement in the current campaign, in addition to the external funding that is understood to have fuelled its growth... (Photo: Dr. Has for 2Bangkok.com) Almost like being there: Yala - April 12, 2005 This is a billboard campaigning for peace in the deep south: ... People, put your faith and respect only the one God, Allah. And Nabimuhammad is the religious diplomat of Allah. Certainly, you will get the real success... Nobel Peace laureate Ebadi calls for troop withdrawal, dialogue to end bloodshed in southern Thailand - AP, April 10, 2005 Scare tactics - April 9, 2005 In the last few days this rumor-mongering email (right) has been widely circulated warning that terrorists are already in Bangkok and that everyone should avoid major shopping areas. 'Suspicious item' found Posted at 20:01, April 7, 2005 - The Nation Channel is reporting a suspicious item, approximately 4kgs, found in Central Latprao on the fifth floor (The item was in fact on the second floor, not the fifth). The area is cordoned off while they await the bomb squad. Posted at 20:43, April 7, 2005 - No updates on this story yet... Posted at 21:01, April 7, 2005 - The Nation Channel is reporting the item was not a bomb. When checked, it was found to be a bottle of water and a newspaper. Thai-language editorials - April 6, 2005 'Siang Sao Long' writes in his column in Manager Online on April 5, 2005 that he worried that there will be coup d'etat if the government does not start to demonstrate that it can see through the terrorists' plans. Bomb in the South Posted at 10:04am, April 6, 2005 - The Nation Cahnnel is reporting a bomb went off at Sungaikolok railway track, Narathiwat. One person found suspicions material in a planting basin so she pulled it out and it exploded. This happened shortly before 10:00am. Thai government urges citizens on alert in Bangkok - Reuters, April 5, 2005 The Thai government urged people in Bangkok on Tuesday to be on the alert for signs of militant attacks following the bombing of an airport in the commercial centre of the south by suspected Muslim extremists. "Please help us watch out for any threat because if it happens, it will hurt every one of us," said Defence Minister Thammarak Israngura in the first such appeal since separatist violence broke out in the far south 15 months ago... 'No sign yet of bomb attacks in Bangkok' - TNA, April 4, 2005 ...The explosions at the airport, a hotel and a department store in the southern town of Hat Yai were clearly the work of the BRN Co-ordinate, a separatist movement operating in Thailand’s three southern border provinces, Pol. Lt. Gen. Proong Boonpadong, a Special Branch police commissioner told reporters on Monday. ...But the public should not panic as there has been no indication so far that Bangkok would be a targeted, Pol. Lt. Gen. Proong said. The authorities did not plan to disable mobile phone services within airports, he said... Also: Govt agrees to step up security measures to 'APEC-level' - TNA, April 4, 2005 The Thai government has agreed to beef up security measures at the country's all airports, railways stations, bus terminals and other major public places to a highest international standard level equivalent to those in place during the kingdom's host of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Meetings two years ago (APEC 2003), according to Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Pol. Gen. Chidchai Vanasatidya. SONGKHLA BOMBINGS - April 3, 2005 Troubles in the South index page