70 Said Killed in Thailand Gunbattles

[..]

"Now you don't see Jesus on U.S. passports, do you?"

 

No, but look at money ("In God we trust"), look at legal prodedures (swearing on the bible in courts, etc.), Pledge of Allegiance (...one nation, under God...), etc. Hardly impartial & secular, chai mai?

 

Being a non-christian, I prefer the French way of *really* seperating church & state.

 

Cheers,

SD

[spirit_of_town_hall]

When people are killed instantly they will carry on holding what they were holding before they were cut down.

 

From what I have gleamed talking to Thai people from the South its not really that much to do with Islam, its to do with gangsterism, ultimately money.

 

STH

[adikgede]

Respectfully, you are still not grasping my point - I am commenting that such violence, done by anyone or anywhere is committed only by persons that, in my opinion, are lacking. If the Mensa Club did exactly the same against the Micky Mouse Club then they too, both would be in neanderthal-level development stages. I don't condone brutal violence on a personal or group level at all. And I won't justify it for any cause or group, full-stop.

 

SC

Your right your point is not clear because while you are vilifying the alleged assailants on one hand you are lionising the security forces who killed 108 people. Not for a moment stopping to think what prevailing conditions would motivate people to rise up against the legitimate state authority nor asking in respect to 108 people killed how many were captured or wounded. That number of people killed in a short period of time should raise concerns by any reasonable person of conscience who is against violence committed anywhere.

[Guest]

Won't apologize terrorists myself. Shooting the bastards is fine by me.

[spirit_of_town_hall]

What about their human rights, surely they should have been given an opportunity to lay down their M16s and machetes? This is just another sick example of society eradicating peace loving muslims.

 

STH

[khwaimaisabai]

spirit_of_town_hall said:

.....their M16s and machetes......peace loving muslims.

Hi sth,

This is a joke - right?

Khwai

[Nervous_Dog]

Interesting, I haven't seen anywhere the issue of seperatism discussed, only muslims etc.

 

In the Nation was a very well written article that points out that the southern Kingdom was very wealthy and indepndant up until very recent times.

 

That Thais all remember the evil burmese (to this day, my mother on a trip to Auyutia was told "The burmese to this day are being punished by budha for there deeds against thailand")

 

 

This is the same mistake as the issue of Northern Vs Southern Ireland, Catholics Vs Prots, it wasnt about religion there, it was about terratory, that was once theirs and is now not.

 

The Nation gets it right, not many others do.

 

JB

[Fidel]

In The Six Counties in the North of Ireland the issue that brought things to a head was the Civil Rights situation.

 

Catholics were treated as second class citizens in an artificial state that was governed by a "Protestant Parliament for a Protestant people".

 

I believe that mistreatment of Thai Muslims, torture, the complete denial of human rights (martial law) and so on have inflamed the situation.

 

I remember a while ago hearing about 2 Muslim kids who were caught without helmets. The cop forced them to kneel and shot them in the back of the head.

 

Here is a clipping from the Wall Street Journal April 21st, 2004:

[color:"green"]

Thailand's Muslim community and international human-rights groups are critical of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's government crackdown on suspected Muslim insurgents, reports the Wall Street Journal. Since January, more than 100 Thai Muslims have disappeared in the southern part of the country; many of them in commando-style raids. Senior government officials acknowledge that police have been involved in the wave of abductions.

[/color]

 

I'm not trying to politicise this thread I'm just trying to point out that as Jimmie notes.. there is more to this than simple Islamic Fundamentalism.

 

This is where I leave this thread.

[harlequinbkk]

Southern discomfort

 

Apr 29th 2004

From The Economist print edition

 

 

A day of mayhem may herald trouble for a once-impregnable prime minister

 

 

TO SOLDIERS in southern Thailand, a spell with the Thai contingent in Iraq must seem like a plum assignment at the moment. In the provinces of Songkhla, Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, mysterious militants have been attacking security posts, burning schools, bombing government offices and sabotaging train tracks. Since the beginning of the year, they have assassinated some 100 soldiers, policemen, informants, and officials. On April 28th, the violence reached new heights, when the security services fended off a co-ordinated series of around ten attacks, killing 107 of their assailants in the process and losing five of their own men.

 

Thailand's Malay Muslim minority has long complained of neglect at the hands of the Buddhist majority. Over the years, various groups have taken up arms against the government, often in the name of unity with their brethren across the border in Malaysia. By 2002, however, the insurgency seemed to have petered out?so much so, in fact, that Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister, ordered the closure of the special joint command of local police and army units designed to tackle it. Since then, the fighting has gathered pace again.

 

Last year, hit-and-run attacks claimed the lives of one or two policemen a month. Now, there are daily assaults on a much wider variety of targets. The militants have bombed a bar patronised by Malaysian tourists and even hacked several Buddhist monks to death with machetes. The government has tried various tactics to rein in the violence, with no success. At first, Mr Thaksin declared martial law and sent in the security services to track down the perpetrators. But locals complained of harassment and abductions at the hands of the authorities. Mr Thaksin then replaced his defence and interior ministers, as well as the local army commander, and ordered a milder approach.

 

The authorities still do not seem to have any clear idea whom they are fighting or why the violence has escalated so quickly. The rapid turnover of officers, along with the dissolution of the joint command, has left the security services with little local intelligence. At various times, different officials have described the attackers as Muslim separatists, mafiosi, and arms smugglers. Many consider them terrorists, and have hinted at connections with outfits like al-Qaeda or Jemaah Islamiah.

 

Mr Thaksin, however, insists that the problem is purely domestic. He blamed the latest wave of violence on bandits backed by local politicians. But Mr Thaksin has provided so many pat explanations of the conflict that his assurance is beginning to look like bluster. He may also be vulnerable to the charge of disproportion: 30 of those killed on April 28th were said to be sheltering in a mosque, and most were armed only with machetes.

 

The situation in the south is more a source of bewilderment than alarm to most Thais, but it has dented the prime minister's aura of invincibility. What with a mishandled outbreak of bird flu earlier in the year, and an ongoing battle with the unions over privatisation, Mr Thaksin has found himself uncharacteristically on the defensive. An election is due by next January?and Thailand's once-despairing opposition are looking energised

[pattaya127]

Thanks, Harlequin.

I think we can debate on specific points brought out in the article and leave the "shoot the bastards", "it's muslim fanatics" and "long live thai police and PM Thaksin" snippets that add nothing to the discussion.