The Massacre in the South (More Crap Reporting from The Nation)

The Nation:

The massacre at a mosque in Narathiwat was aimed at creating mistrust in the government and worsening the conflict between Buddhists and Muslims, senior officials said yesterday.

A group of masked assailants stormed into Al Pukon mosque in Joh I Rong sub-district on Monday night and sprayed devotees with gunfire, killing ten people on the spot and injuring a dozen others. A victim also died on the way to the hospital.

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Army Commander-in-Chief General Anupong Paochinda, who rushed to region immediately, denied all claims of soldiers being involved in the massacre.

"I condemn any group that has perpetrated this violence," he said, adding that insurgents were trying to pass the blame onto the authorities for this "barbaric act".

"They simply want to raise this issue to an international level by making it look like state authorities are violently suppressing villagers. They want to create a climate of fear," Anupong said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva voiced his concerns, saying his government would work hard to improve the situation.

"The pattern of the attacks has changed and we need to adjust our tactics," Abhisit told reporters.

The PM's deputy secretary Panitan Wattanayagorn said militants staged this attack to get back at the authorities because they were losing territory in the region.

The zone that state officials cannot access has dropped sharply from 400 villages to 200 villages, he said.

"As a result, the militants are using violence and brutality to keep people fearful and gain media attention," explained Panitan, who is also a security expert.

Internal Security Operation Command (Isoc) spokesman Colonel Prinya Chaidilok said the attack was aimed at creating conflicts between Buddhists and Muslims as well as discredit the government.

"They want to make the international community believe that there is a religious conflict between the government and the Muslims," he said. "The insurgents have tried to provoke religious conflict several times before, but it was impossible."

It really is disgusting how The Nation acts like a propaganda arm for the Democrat Party and the army.

How can you write a story of this magnitude without actually talking to people who were actually at the massacre?

Never any quotes from any Muslims or villagers in the South. Even for a human interest story, The Nation doesn't even have the decency to find out what happened to the families of those massacred.

Being a reporter and editor for The Nation must be the easiest job in the world. Just wait for the quotes from the government officials on TV and reprint them in the newspaper. Sources from other people are irrelevant.


To be fair, I just caught this column by Pravit at Prachatai. But Pravit is the journalistic exception to the rule.

The Bangkok Post has reporting here, here and here.

BP is more balanced, but still disturbing that neither of these news organizations think they have to do any independent investigating on their own and just wait for the government to tell them what to print.

In 5 years, thousands of Thais have been killed in this conflict and it doesn't really seem to matter much.

But make sure you dedicate front page after front page for years to Thaksin's every breath and movement.

Incompetent Samak Administration and The South: Does the Right Hand know what the Left hand is Doing?

South's rebel leader announces end to separatism


The Nation


A self-proclaim spokesman of eleven "underground" separatist groups announced a ceasefire in the three southernmost provinces, ending secessionist movement in the Malay-speaking region.


Speaking through a translator, the spokesman announced an end to all violent attacks and separatist activities in the Muslim-majority region.


He added that any armed groups resisting the order would be considered renegades and could be eliminated.


"We want to see peace and stability in the region. All forms of attacks has come to an end," the spokesman said. Names of the leaders were unknown.


All forms of attack have come to and end? Really? Read about a fresh attack here.


He said the ceasefire goes into effectively on July 14, 2008. However, the videotape was not broadcast until today at noon. The statement was aired today through Thai TV5, an Army-run station and TV 7.


Did the army give permission for this statement?


But attacks in the restive region continue unabated with police headquarters in Pattani and Yala coming under bomb attacks this past week.


Former army chief and defence minister Chetta Thanajaro claimed credit for the so-called breakthrough.


Why is General Chetta, a former army chief and minority member of the government, making announcements on his own? Shouldn't Defense Minister PM Samak be making these sorts of announcements?

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Hurman Right Watch's Sunai Phasuk said Chetta may have "jumped the gun" with the announcement but added that only time will tell.


"His credibility is on the line. Besides, there has been nothing to suggest that the militants on the ground would let up with their activities," Sunai said in a telephone interview.


Indeed, General Chetta's credibility is on the line, but I don't blame him, since Samak has pretty much abrogated his responsibilities as PM and Defense Minister to a minority leader in his government.


Can you imagine a low-level general in the Bush Administration making an announcement that Al Qaeda has capitulated while terrorist bombings are still going off? Hell, Bush is incompetent, but he is not that incompetent.


General Anupong and Pulo distance themselves from this wacky cease fire(courtesy of The Nation)

The Thai Army chief and leaders of Malay Muslim separatist groups distanced themselves yesterday from an announcement by the self-proclaimed spokesman of 11 "underground" separatist groups that the 100-year-old insurgency in the troubled South had come to an end.

Kasturi Mahkota, foreign affairs chief of the Patani United Liberation Organisation (Pulo), said he was unaware of the affiliation of the three men whose videotaped statement was aired on Army-run Channel 5, during which they declared that the struggle was over.

The Nation wrote a scathing editorial about this absurdity, which, for once, I agree with something it has published.

Despite Chetta's claims, the idea of an unconditional armistice in the South belongs in the realm of fantasy

It was somewhere between a cheap political ploy aimed at putting pressure on the Malay Muslim insurgents in the deep South, or a desperate bid for free publicity. Either way, former Army chief-turned-politician Chetta Thanajaro, who insisted yesterday that he has made a tremendous breakthrough towards bringing an end to the violence in the deep South, has raised more questions than he has answered.


Like I said before, I don't blame General Chetta for this mess. I blame Samak. What kind of moron would allow a renegade in his coalition to go off and make major policy pronouncements and agreements in public, especially on an issue as sensitive as the South, without first making sure all the ducks were stacked in a row?


This government is hanging on by a loose thread as it is, and has little to no credibility, and now it has decided to do something make its credibility decline even further, if that was even possible.

Bangkok Post/Thai News Agency: In the South, the Terror Goes on

Extremists have burnt 166 schools

Bangkok Post

Yala (TNA) - Insurgents have burned 166 southern schools since the separatist rebellion flared again in January, 2004, according to a senior education ministry official.

Pradit Rasitanon, director of the Inspector-General's Office of the Ministry of Education, said on Wednesday that between Jan 4, 2004 and Monday (April 30), 166 schools in the three southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat and some parts of nearby Songkhla province were burned.

Narathiwat saw the biggest number of arson attacks, with 68 schools targeted. In Pattani and Yala, 56 and 40 schools, respectively, were set on fire during the past three years. Two schools in Songkhla were targeted during that period, he said.

Mr Pradit, who supervises Yala province, said most arsons were carried out during the nighttime.

Since the latest school break beginning March 16, there were 32 schools burned in the region, 16 of them in Pattani, seven each in Yala and Narathiwat and two in Songkhla, he said.

In contrast to the manner of the violence previously carried out, he noted that the most of the latest attacks took place in the daytime.

He said the Inspector-General's Office in Yala is coordinating with agencies concerned to help the schools that were attacked.

Some schools may have to use tents as temporary classrooms, he said, adding that the Office of the Basic Education Commission would later provide budget for new buildings.

Office of the Basic Education Commission secretary-general Kasama Varawan Na Ayutthaya had proposed recommendations on security measures to the prime minister for consideration, he said.

The senior education official's recommendations were expected to be brought to the Cabinet meeting to assign to the agencies concerned, from ministry to department level, regarding revised security measures, he said.


On a daily basis, we have murders and beheadings, more than 2000 people have been killed. In two and half years, there have been 166 school arsons in the South.

In any other country in the world, except maybe places in sub-Saharan Africa, there would be outrage from the public about this type of violence without justice. No western democracy would stand by and allow this to continue.

The Thai military is incompetent. They are worthless. The only thing that the generals seem capable of doing is lining their own pockets.

One has to wonder what exactly does the Thai military prepare for. Coups? They certainly don't train for counter-insurgency. They don't train for terrorism. They don't even train for defense of the civilian population.

I'm not saying that the Thai military should go in guns a blazing Iraq style. But at a minimum, the military should be protecting innocent civilians. Why weren't soldiers posted at every school in the district? 166 schools? That is outrageous. Not only do school children have to fear for their lives from terrorists, but now they have no schools as well.


Army backing for limited amnesty Reports of rebel rift seen as an opportunity


Bangkok Post Reporters


The Fourth Army is considering offering a limited amnesty in a bid to undermine the southern insurgency movement, which is said to be showing signs of division. Fourth Army deputy commander Kasikorn Khirisri said amnesty was being considered only for those wanted on insurgency charges.

''Punishment should be waived for insurgents on the condition that they do not face other criminal charges,'' Maj-Gen Kasikorn said.

Those granted amnesty would be expected to help the state fight the insurgency by educating the public and help keep them from being lured into the rebel cause, he said.


Now, instead of protecting the population, it wants to reward the terrorists with amnesty for being terrorists. I wonder what all those people sitting in jail for petty non-violent crimes think of terrorists getting off for their ourageous acts.

In the minds of the Thai generals, crime does pay, which isn't shocking, because they have made crime pay for themselves for such a long time.

PM Surayud Offering Amnesty to Terrorists in the South

INSURGENCY

Surayud pushes amnesty in South


Piyanart Srivalo

The Nation

PM wants to draw militants back into 'legal fold' in hope of restoring peace

Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has asked officials to explore the possibility of granting an amnesty to militants in the Malay-speaking South as part of a government strategy to restore peace in the Muslim-majority region, which has been plagued by more than three years of almost daily killings and violence.

There is part of me that says if this will stop the violence and bring stability, then do it. But my instincts tell me that rewarding terrorists for committing horrendous acts against the state and civilian population is sending the signal "commit terrorist acts and you get off."

Also, I think of the tens of thousands of poor Thais rotting in prison for committing non-violent acts, such as having a few tablets of ya ba. So this amnesty isn't fair to people who have made mistakes and never got a second chance.

In an attempt to restore peace and unity to the country, perhaps there should be a general amnesty for those accused of non-violent crimes and current prisoners who have committed non-violent acts. Allow many Thais who are in prison, and not just terrorists, to get a second chance in celebration of a new constitution and the king's 80th birthday.

It would be a practical move also. Such a move would free up an overcrowded prison system and ease the burden on judges who are backlogged.

Bangkok Post: Paramilitary/Vigilantes Murder Passengers Returning from Funeral for Gov't Official

Army admits southern killings


Bangkok Post

By Post Reporters

Village defence volunteers attacked a pick-up truck carrying students and other passengers returning from a funeral on Monday, killing four people and wounding five, the army admitted yesterday. The shooting, in Yala's Bannang Sata district, provoked angry protests by villagers.

"It should not have happened," army spokesman Acra Thiproj said, adding that the incident was regrettable.

Col Acra said not all the passengers in the vehicle were students. Some were insurgent sympathisers and they had provoked the defence volunteers who were on duty.

"It should not have happened," army spokesman Acra Thiproj said, adding that the incident was regrettable.

Col Acra said not all the passengers in the vehicle were students. Some were insurgent sympathisers and they had provoked the defence volunteers who were on duty.

The passengers were attacked on their way back from the funeral of the Khuen Bang Lang tambon administration organisation chief, who was shot dead hours earlier the same day.


I don't get this story. Vigilantes stopped a pickup and murdered the passengers, yet these same passengers were returning from a funeral for a tambon chief.

What the hell is the military doing? These idiotic generals have been ripping off the country for so long that they have forgotten to do their actual jobs, which is to defend the country from terrorists.

Why are vigilantes doing the army's work?


Villagers parade charred body of victim for Gen Sonthi in Yala

The Nation

Some 200 people paraded the charred remain of a woman who was shot dead and set ablaze through streets in Yala's Muang district to to protest the unending violence in the deep south.


Militants shot dead Patcharaporn Bunmart, 26, on Wednesday and burned her body in Yala's Muang district. The victim was on her way to work.

The villagers wrapped her body in a white cloth and placed it at the staircase leading into a government building where Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin, chief of head of the Thai junta, was meeting with local leaders.

The villagers of her village they wanted to show Sonthi how gruesome the attacks have become and to demand protection for the Buddhists in the province.


You have vigilantes opening fire on pick-ups and villagers dragging terrorist victims through the streets in protest of the military's incompetence.

WTF is the military doing?

Bangkok Post's Solution to the Crisis in the South: Cut Off the Fertilizer

COMMENTARY

Bangkok Post

Cut access by militants to material of mayhem

Veera Prateepchaikul

Despite the deployment of tens of thousands of troops, police and paramilitary rangers in the three violence-prone southernmost provinces, the government appears to be fighting an unwinnable war against militants who have become more and more emboldened by their seeming ability to strike at will and escape scot-free. In a single night last week, the insurgents staged 51 coordinated bombings, shootings and arson attacks in Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala and Songkhla provinces which left six dead and dozens wounded. The apparent objective of the insurgents was to strike fear among locals as well as to challenge state authority.

Defence Minister Boonrawd Somtas told parliament on Thursday that the militants had infiltrated universities and were now capable of launching attacks in Bangkok. The New Year's Eve bombings in Bangkok might have been carried out by the militants as one of the suspects caught on a security camera at Seacon Square was identified as a southern militant on a police wanted list. The militants have also recruited about 10,000 young people to form a "united front".

Gen Boonrawd attributed the militants' success in recruitment and in expanding their base of support to complacency and ignorance by authorities monitoring militant activities.

By comparison, the security forces are better equipped and have more manpower than the militants. Still, they are fighting a war in which they have little chance of success, not because they are incapable, but because they have almost no information about the militants, their leaders, their organisational structure or their networks. Cooperation from locals willing to provide information is almost nonexistent because of fear of reprisal by militants as well as entrenched distrust of authorities. The security forces are up against an invisible enemy who is capable of striking at will and then melt away into a crowd of innocent locals.

The desperation of security forces amid their failure to separate the militants from innocent people was clearly reflected in the following statement made by the defence minister to parliament.

"We do not know them. We do not know who is working against us. As long as they mingle with ordinary people, it's difficult to tell them apart."

While the security forces have yet to figure out how to identify militants, there are things clearly visible that can be done to impact militants _ aside from the effort to win the hearts of our Muslim brethren in the deep South which must proceed _ such as deprive the militants of fertiliser and nails, the materials they use to make bombs and puncture tyres.

Chemical fertiliser has become the main ingredient used by militants in their bomb-making, while spikes are used to slow down vehicles in pursuit of militants. The purchase of the materials in the southernmost provinces must be strictly controlled.

For instance, buyers must be required to show ID cards and state clearly what they intend to do with the materials. A customer who shows up to purchase one or two kilogrammes of two-inch or three-inch nails, but has no valid reason, should be suspected of wanting to use the nails for no good. Someone who does not own a rubber plantation should not be buying chemical fertiliser.

Shopowners, too, must be required to keep a record of customers for periodic submission to authorities.

Sale and purchase of ammunition for handguns must also be strictly controlled. This should not be applied to just gun shops in Bangkok and elsewhere, but also to shooting ranges where ammunition is readily available.

Of course, the regulations will cause inconvenience to sellers and buyers. But if anything can be done to hurt militants or weaken their capability to kill and maim innocent people, it must be done.

It should be acknowledged and accepted by all of us that there is no place completely safe from ruthless militants who have no respect for human life. And there is no way that security forces alone can deal effectively with this deadly threat by militants without the full support of the public.

Veera Prateepchaikul is Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Post Publishing Co Ltd.

Why not just make everybody register their sim cards to the authorities? Oops. They tried that already and things got worse.

The thing that is incredibly idiotic about this analysis is that all the things that Veera mentioned can bought in informal or black markets, and probably at a better price.

The fact is that the Thai military and police corruption is coming back to bite them on the ass.


Guess who is responsible for the illegal arms and contraband trade in the South? Thai police and military mafia. They don't know who their customers are?


And why would shop owners help the Thai police and military when those folks are the ones who extort money from them?


The problem is that many Thai institutions are rotten to the core. But the Thai media refuses to do any investigative reporting to expose the corruption either because they are afraid or incompetent or both. The Thai media can't go after the mafia figures who run Thai society, because the mafia pays the bills.


Why would the Thai media expose a corrupt racket when it is an integral part of that racket and profits from the status quo? The media is on the scam. And that is the reason why no big shots are exposed and go to jail.


The Thai media covers up for the corruption and incompetence in Thai society rather than exposes it--and that is why nothing ever changes.


Access to information is what transforms societies. And one reason why I give the Thai media and the Thai academy such a hard time is because they are failing in providing the information Thais need to transform their society. Instead, they perpetuate the lies and pick up the checks from those running the rackets.

Analyzing the Thai South: While General Sonthi Cries about his Lost Satellites, Terrorism in Deep South Rages On

Trends in the Thai Insurgency: Early 2007

Counter Terrorism Blog

Wednesday morning saw an audacious bombing that appeared to target the beloved Crown Princess of Thailand, Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, who is visiting Thailand’s restive southern provinces. The bomb was placed near her helicopter’s landing pad. A security patrol that was sweeping the area, discovered the cell-phone detonated IED. The bomb was not a large one, compared to what has been detonated recently. Detonated in a controlled manner, it created a crater a yard in diameter and 12 inches deep.

While Bangkok is still abuzz over whodunit over the New Year’s Eve bombings, the southern insurgency continues to escalate. The level of killing has gone up to over two people a day, minor by Iraqi standards, but still the most lethal conflict in Southeast Asia, bar none; and it has the potential to grow dramatically in 2007.

It is not necessary to detail all the daily pillion killings and bombings, but it is worth recounting some of the more significant acts violence in 2007. The Minister of Defence, Boonrod Somthat glumly noted that the Barisan Revolusi Nasional-Coordinasi (BRN-C) "has refused negotiations so far as it is gaining the upper hand and winning greater support from local residents."

Continued

Dimming Peace Prospects in the Deep South

Asia Times

The hope that the military rulers of Thailand, headed by a Muslim, would bring a fresh and successful approach to the insurgency in the south is rapidly waning. Since prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted, the conflict has intensified, not subsided. - Shawn W Crispin (Feb 15, '07)

In need of help to douse the flames Feb 15th 2007 | BANGKOK

The Economist

Malaysia has offered help to tackle the violent separatist insurgency on their mutual border. But no end to the violence is in sight.

BOMBINGS, shootings or, more recently, al-Qaeda-style beheadings now happen almost every day in Thailand's southern provinces. Bloodthirsty but strangely publicity-shy separatists attack symbols of Buddhist Thailand's rule over a region whose people are mostly Muslim and ethnic-Malay. Teachers and monks, not just soldiers and police, are targets now. Muslims are also regularly murdered, either in revenge for killings of Buddhists or because the militants suspect them of collaborating with the authorities.

In the most gruesome incident of recent days, an elderly Buddhist man was beheaded in Pattani province on February 8th. His head was later found in a roadside plastic bag. A note reportedly left near his corpse said it was revenge for a grenade attack on a Muslim tea-shop. The conflict has risen and subsided several times since Thailand annexed the region, formerly a Malay sultanate, in 1902. Violence surged again in 2004, since when around 2,000 people have been killed.

Continued