Troubles in the South
- March 2005
Troubles in the South index page
| Almost like
being there: Bomb damage in the South
- March 26, 2005
Right: Damage to Raman Post
Office caused by a bomb on March 24, 2005 at 19:40.
Two police officers were injured.
|
(Photo: Dr. Has for 2Bangkok.com) |
(Photo: Dr. Has for 2Bangkok.com)
(Photo: Dr. Has for 2Bangkok.com) |
Above and below: More bomb
damage in Raman district, Yala Province at a wooden
pavilion where police usually sit.
Left: Detail of where the
bomb was planted at a drain near the pavilion. |
(Photo: Dr. Has for 2Bangkok.com)
Paper
peace cranes 'soured feelings' - Contrary to Islamic
faith, says Surin - Bangkok
Post, March 31, 2005
The government's use of paper cranes to show goodwill
towards people in the deep South ran counter to the
Islamic faith and might have soured feelings in the
Muslim-dominated region, Democrat MP Surin Pitsuwan
said yesterday.
Mr Surin, debating southern violence and peace restoration
measures, said that according to the Koran, God once
sent flocks of birds to carry rocks from hell and
dumped them on enemies of the religion invading the
holy city of Mecca... |
(Photo: 2Bangkok.com)
|
(Photo: Dr. Has for 2Bangkok.com) |
Almost like being there: Bomb
damage in the South - March
23, 2005
Left: A bomb planted at this pavilion near
the river on March 20 injured 11 people.
|
|
Right:
On March 15, 2005, a bomb was planted at this rail
kiosk at Nibongbaroo. This killed one policeman
and two were injured (one being a railroad officer).
|
(Photo: Dr. Has for 2Bangkok.com) |
(Photo: Dr. Has for 2Bangkok.com)
Almost like being there: Yala
- March 21, 2005
The billboard asks "everyone to ponder the importance
of the land they live in" from HM
The Queen's speech of November 16, 2004.
Muslim
Lawyer Club - March 16, 2005
This is the website
started by human-rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit who
vanished last year.
(Photo: Dr. Has for 2Bangkok.com) |
Almost like being there: Yala
- March 19, 2005
Left and below: Signs in Yala Province from the Department
of the Promotion in Peace which present photos and
quotations of speeches from HM The King and Queen
urging peace. |
(Photo: Dr. Has for 2Bangkok.com)
(Photo: Dr. Has for 2Bangkok.com)
This is a billboard from the Election Commission of Thailand
which quotes HM The King's speech for people to follow their
conscious to select good people to administer the country.
SOUTHERN
UNREST : 8 religious teachers indicted for treason
- The Nation, March 10, 2005
[Regular 2B readers will have seen photos from Thammavittayamoonnithi
School.]
...The eight defendants are said to be members of the
separatist group Berisan Revolusi Nasional Malayu Pattani
(BRN), which advocates violence to carve out a “Pattani”
state in the predominantly Muslim region...
(Photo: Dr. Has for 2Bangkok.com)
Almost like being there: Yala police poster
- March 10, 2005
Reduce lives lost and assets [of separatists]
Those who inform clues will get a reward
Inform to arrest, investigate, and seize the illegal things:
War weapon - 10,000 baht
Regular gun - 5,000 baht
Car - 10,000 baht
Motorcycle - 5,000 baht
If you have a clue, please inform
Tel. 191, 1340, 1341
P.O. Box 1340 Yala 95000
All information is secret. We guarantee for safety that
it will not be disclosed.
Tak
Bai soldiers ‘will not be dismissed’
- TNA, March 6, 2005
...“We need to consider whether heavy penalties
against the three officers could cause a loss of morale
among officers”, Gen. Samphan said in defence of his
decision, adding that the penalties also had to take into
account Thailand’s reputation as a nation.
However, he confirmed that the three men could also face
criminal charges, and that the issue would be put before
the prime minister within the next couple of days...
Thailand
to Explain "Harsh Policies" to OIC -
IslamOnline.net, March 1, 2005
With analysts seeing little chance of the Thai PM to
change his hawkish policies, Thailand said it was sending
envoys to meet with the head of the Organization of the
Islamic Conference (OIC) to explain its policies in the
violence-wracked Muslim-majority south...
Troubles in the South
- from Asia Security Monitor
No. 116, March 3, 2005, American Foreign Policy Council,
Washington, DC
February 23: Thailand is rapidly becoming a staging ground
for international terrorism. So concludes a new assessment
from the Agence France Presse, which reports that foreign
militants bent on exploiting local instability have penetrated
southern Thailand and have begun facilitating the proliferation
of sophisticated weapons in the country's troubled majority
Muslim Narthiwat, Yala, and Pattani provinces. Moreover,
according to the news service, the Thai government's hard-line
approach toward ongoing separatist violence appears to be
exacerbating the situation, and could cause localized fighting
to spill into Bangkok and Hat Yai - and possibly even into
neighboring Malaysia.
Regional experts are in agreement regarding the gravity
of the situation. Andrew Tan of the Institute of Defence
and Strategic Studies at the Nanyang Technological University
in Singapore says that "given the way the Thai government
is handling the issue, the separatists have no choice but
to link up with foreign groups." Srisomphop Jitpiromsri
of Thailand's Prince of Songkhla University concurs: "These
groups will be drawn to come in and recruit southern Thais
- those who are poor, unemployed and have no confidence
in the existing system - to join their cause."
Excessive
force by Thai authorities in south: US -
AFP, March 1, 2005
Thai authorities have used deadly excessive force against
suspects, particularly in battling Islamic separatists,
the US State Department says in its annual human rights
report...
US
Human Rights Report on Thailand 'Not Constructive'-Thailand
- AP, March 1, 2005
Thailand on Tuesday criticized a US government report
on human rights concerns in the country, saying the public
airing of the survey could hurt bilateral relations...
Thai
government scraps plan to cut off funds for insurgent-friendly
villages - AP, March 1, 2005
The Thai government has dropped a proposal to cut off
funding for southern villages considered sympathetic to
Muslim insurgents, an army commander said Tuesday, following
criticism that the policy would only prompt further violence
in the area...
Intelligence reports showed the ongoing violence does not
involve foreign elements, he said, but is linked to drug
and contraband smugglers, as well as local and national
politicians...
Critics
doubt Thai PM's openness on Muslim south -
Reuters, March 1, 2005
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has sought rare
advice from critics of his tough stance towards unrest in
the Muslim far south but is unlikely to change tack, analysts
and Muslim leaders said on Tuesday...
Thailand
to Explain "Harsh Policies" to OIC -
IslamOnline.net, March 1, 2005
With analysts seeing little chance of the Thai PM to
change his hawkish policies, Thailand said it was sending
envoys to meet with the head of the Organization of the
Islamic Conference (OIC) to explain its policies in the
violence-wracked Muslim-majority south...
A tale of two newspapers:
Prem's 'rebuke'
- March 1, 2005
Troubles in the
South index page
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