KC: This Bangkok Post editorial is a response to a tumultuous week in the deep South defined by a militant attack on Thai-Muslim worshippers in a mosque in Narathiwat’s Cho Airong district. The attack killed 10 people. Reports and commentary on recent events can be found here, here and here via the Bangkok Post and here via Deep South Watch. To understand the historical roots of these contemporary events I would recommend reading Thanet Aphornsuwan’s “Rebellion in Southern Thailand: Contending Histories (2007). It is available here via Amazon.
The atrocities of the past week in the South, capped by the unprecedented massacre on Monday at the Al-Kulkon mosque, must serve as a warning.
The government and security forces are not simply stymied in this bloody conflict. They are in imminent danger of losing - if not the actual confrontation, then the confidence and energy of this vital part of the country. [KC: The Abhisit government has been largely ineffectual in the deep South and pre-occupied with Bangkok politics and his own legitimacy as prime minister. The neglected issues of the deep South have now blown up in his face.]
For some two weeks, violent forces have dominated [been reported in] the news and destroyed lives and property at will. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and others have appeared unable to influence the clearly deteriorating situation.
Mr Abhisit’s flying visit to Malaysia on Monday had tragic overtones. Just before he left to discuss the South with his counterpart Najib Razak, insurgent bomb and death squads killed two people and wounded 19 in attacks on volunteer guards and a business block. Just after he returned, armed men burst into a mosque in Narathiwat province and opened fire on defenceless worshippers at evening prayers. Ten innocent men were killed and 12 others were wounded.
The mosque attackers and bombers escaped. So did the men who shot and killed two teachers last week, one of them eight months’ pregnant. Still at large are the men who attacked and bombed a pickup truck carrying other teachers home. Also running free are the men responsible for attacks on schools in several southern districts the day after schools reopened.
Thousands of rangers, police and soldiers [and paramilitary groups] were unable to detect the planting of eight bombs in and around Yala province town on the day of the Red Cross Fair, or to find those responsible.
The past week has again demonstrated in the most bloody terms that the violent gangs of the South strike when and how they want. No one can doubt the bravery and dedication of the security forces on the scene in the South. They often achieve good results, by arresting extremist followers or finding a bomb before it goes off.
The truth, however, is that the men and women defending the South, and the solid citizens of that region, are being worn down by a bloody-minded force they know little about. Last week, Mr Abhisit admitted as much, and held a conference with security chiefs in Bangkok. In just three days following his pledge to rethink southern strategy, the bombs and bullets have taken an horrendous toll.
Mr Abhisit’s visit to Kuala Lumpur was distressingly familiar. He and Premier Najib Razak discussed the same old plans, harking back to the Thaksin days, of aiding the deep South in building economic prosperity, creating opportunities, building vocational skills. And it might be helpful if such plans ever materialised. But the South has become a major security problem. It is contained, but it continues to grow and could break out of the region.
The scale of violence requires a critical rethink of policy. Mr Abhisit needs to set aside or delegate the dreams of economic development. He must follow through on last week’s promise to come up with new strategy and tactics to suppress the violent gangs and treat this as a matter of urgency.
He must also follow up on his promise to give justice to the South, where little fairness actually exists.
The barbaric attacks of these past weeks in the South present a clear challenge to the government. Mr Abhisit must rise to the situation, take clear steps to protect southern people and provide them with true justice. Otherwise, he will be in danger of losing the confidence of that beleaguered region.
KC: This editorial rightly states that lack of justice is a key factor determining events in the southern border region, but Abhisit’s rhetoric usually centres on economic development as a solution to the southern violence. The deep South has been long neglected economically by successive Thai governments, especially compared with other regions and provinces across the country. However, it has been argued by prominent western scholars that economic disparity is not the principal factor motivating extremists (see McCargo, D., (2008) “Tearing Apart the Land: Islam and Legitimacy in Southern Thailand“). The southern violence is clearly a major security issue, but the real and long-lasting solution to the problem may be too bitter a pill for the politicians, miliatry and general population to swallow. It is the unmentionable word… ‘autonomy’. Until substantive autonomy is given to the southern border provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani the violence will continue, innocent people will suffer and die and the political and military mandarins in Bangkok will continue to look weak and ineffectual. Bangkok must accept the fallacy of the unitary , racially homogeneous Thai state and embrace the country’s real character as an ethnically and culturally diverse territory with complex peripheries which clearly want a say in running their own affairs.
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