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User:Brian McNeil/work/South Thailand insurgency/TPB-Archive 01

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Thai Political Background

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Current Reports

October 2005

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By-elections due in Pichit, Uthai Thani and Sing Bur. Positioning himself as "self-appointed disciple" of internationally respected scholarly Buhhdist monk, Phra Thamkosajarn. Contrasts with having been blasted by monk Luangta Maha Bua and compared to Buddha's evil cousin. Basic politiking for Thai Rak Thai party/candidates.

November 2005

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" Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said he would give special attention to those provinces that supported TRT" (Thai Rak Thai party). "... has made similar comments twice in the past ... priority would first be given to party provinces ... those who supported the opposition would have to wait in line ... " 1997 Thai Constitution: "All persons are equal before the law and shall enjoy equal protection under the law". Thaksin's comments may be violation of this. Remainder of op-ed piece is critical of Thai PM, he is currently the 4th richest man in the country.(Aside: 2nd place goes to the guy who owns the Red Bull brand.)
TRT lost 2 of the three provinces up for grabs in recent by-elections. The PM's public stance of favouritism towards areas where his party enjoys support is an issue as the troubled southern provinces predominantly voted for the opposition Democrats.
"About 20,000 residents will be trained and armed in the three southernmost provinces enabling them to defend their villages and spy on the movements of insurgents in the restive region, commander General Ruangroj Mahasaranond said yesterday."
"Muslim lawyers said police continue to use forms of torture, coercion or threats of bodily harm to obtain confessions from suspects ... issue was raised at a seminar on the judicial system and peace building in the three southernmost border provinces at Chulalongkorn University on Friday ... Kijja Aleehislah, a member of the Muslim Lawyers' Association, said few lawyers dared to represent Muslims facing security charges, fearing that their safety would be in jeopardy following the disappearance of Muslim lawyer Somchai Neelapaichit, who is feared dead"

December 2005

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Dropping of lawsuits against Sondhi (one for one billion baht). Follows mild rebuke from the King in a speech given on his birthday.

"More suspected insurgents in Thailand's deep South reported themselves to state authorities in the country's southernmost province of Yala on Saturday. ... The 137 ... surrendered to the authorities at Yala's City Hall ... saying they were lured by masterminds to get involved in the spate of unrest ... "All the men will be sent for training in nearby Songkhla Province before they return to the society as good citizens," the interior minister revealed."
" Despite the improving situation, it will probably take generations for peace to return to the deep South as the problems are deep-rooted for hundreds of years, Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya, the senior minister in charge of national security said on Tuesday. ... Chidchai denied newspaper reports that provincial officials were forcing hundreds of innocent villagers to attend re-education camps initially set up to handle militants arrested by security forces."
"The government plans to install 9,000 closed-circuit cameras in key government buildings, schools and temples in four southern provinces by the new year"
"Action plans and measures imposed under the government's emergency decree in the southernmost provinces have been initial successful, Deputy Prime Minister Pol. Gen. Chidchai Vanasatidya announced Wednesday. ... proposal that soldiers assigned to the insurgency-troubled region help local villagers work on their rubber plantations. Such assistance will be helpful in fostering considerably good relationships between civilians and the authorities ... closed-circuit cameras will be installed at some 9,000 places throughout the Far South as well as somewhere in Bangkok to help with the security measures."
"Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the Thai government to end the practice of blacklisting suspected militants in the Muslim-majority south, saying it is creating a climate of fear and distrust. ... increasingly using flawed blacklists to pressure Muslim villagers to turn themselves in to the authorities ... On December 10, HRW said Interior Minister Kongsak Wantana and other senior officials presided over a ceremony in Yala celebrating a highly publicized "peace-building" course. ... ceremony turned into a major embarrassment after many Muslim participants complained loudly that they had been forced to "surrender" and take part in 10 days of training at the "peace-building" school at an army camp...in Songkla"
"nsurgency-related violence in Thailand's Muslim-majority southernmost provinces is under control and unlikely to escalate, according to a senior government security official. ... local people have witnessed no major incidents recently, while operations to track down key insurgents have been continuing. ... security personnel have been instructed to provide maximum security for the public during the New Year's holidays. ... A few hours later, two villagers in Yala's Raman district were shot dead by a gunman riding pillion on a motorcycle. Police said that the incident was believed to be the work of insurgents."
"State forces are poised and prepared to cope with any changed tactics which insurgents in the country's deep South might apply, ... further disruptive activities could not be ruled out now -- at a time when the country's southernmost provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani are seriously affected by flooding and related dislocation ... Royal Thai Army is currently operating in small and maneuverable squads, instead of large units, in the restive South ... dismissed allegations of warnings that a group of foreign militants is currently standing by 'somewhere outside Thailand', waiting to secretly slip into the South for insurgency during the forthcoming New Year. ... army chief also discounted rumours that Muslim women had been assigned by insurgents to collect tin cans for use with the making of bombs."
"The government will review and continue to improve its functional strategies in the deep South to best fit the situation and effectively address southern woes, Deputy Prime Minister Pol. Gen. Chidchai Vanasatidya said here on Tuesday. ... told journalists after attending a four-hour meeting of the National Reconciliation Council (NRC), in which he is a member, that several issues concerning the southern unrest were proposed and discussed ... government would review and continue to improve its functional strategies in the deep South as proposed by the NRC."

January 2006

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"Former prime minister Anand Panyarachun, currently head of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC), called on the Thakin government to become resolute and consistent in sustained efforts to put an end to unrest in Thailad's southernmost provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani."
"Deputy Prime Minister Pol. Gen. Chidchai Vanasatidya assured the public Sunday that Thailand's southern insurgency would be resolved within the current term of the Thaksin administration."
"In the space of just two years, a bloody insurgency gripping Thailand’s Muslim South has escalated, with militants combining shock tactics and more sophisticated methods of attack to take their violent campaign to a higher plane. ... local people in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat have never been more frightened. ... Dozens of soldiers were killed in ambushes last year, mostly by insurgents who hid in the dense forests waiting to attack troops riding in pairs on motorcycles or packed into pickup trucks. Sergeant Somjit Lorsaeng became the first such victim of 2006 when he was shot and decapitated while on patrol in Yala yesterday – one of at least 20 people to be beheaded since May 2004 in attacks bearing all the hallmarks of Iraq’s deadly insurgency."
"Former prime minister Chavalit Yongchayudh yesterday warned the government not to get carried away with its recent success in rounding up scores of suspected southern insurgents, saying the battle can only be won with a better understanding of the problem. ... “The solution for the problem is still confusing. The people in the South are easy to deal with if only we have understanding and know how to heal their pain.”"
"Marking what he termed a growing success of government forces against the simmering southern insurgency, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra warned security forces in the three southernmost border provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani to not become complacent. ... "Officials need to take extra precautions now as they (the insurgents) seem to be planning more attacks," he [Thaksin] said."
"Varied development schemes for the far South will continue to be implemented as planned in order to foster lasting peace throughout the border region, Deputy Prime Minister Pol.Gen. Chidchai Vanasatidya said Thursday. ... emergency decree, enforced in the border provinces since last July, had prompted more suspected insurgents to flee into the jungle or to turn themselves in, Pol.Gen. Chidchai said. ... Areas in which the insurgency is no longer evident will be declared as communities of peace -- 'peace villages' or 'peace sub-districts', he said."
"Deputy Prime Minister Chitchai Wannasathit yesterday refuted accusations of incompetence and human rights abuses in the government’s efforts to quell two years of bloody violence in the South. ... Chitchai’s comments followed a 29-page Amnesty International report on the southern insurgency, which condemned the government for its failure to restore security and uphold justice throughout the two-year crisis."
"Pattani – In this hotbed of separatist violence, where many ethnic Malay Muslims say they are treated like second-class citizens by their Buddhist-majority rulers, establishing a breakaway Islamic state seems the last thing on anyone’s mind. ...“We are not interested in independence,” says Masae, an elderly villager from Pattani ...Islamic insurgents behind two years of violence across this region say they want the Pattani kingdom back, ... oldest of the groups, the Pattani United Liberation Organization, or PULO, says Thailand rules the three southernmost provinces with “colonial oppression” ... Government decrees in 1921 and 1939 forced Islamic schools to close, banned traditional Muslim sarongs and outlawed the use of Malay names and dialects, while the 1960s transmigration of 160,000 Thai Buddhists lured by offers of free land, was seen by many as an invasion."
"Leaflets urging parents and teachers to pressure for military pullout from the southern border provinces were found Friday morning in Sungai Padi district."
"Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday dismissed the possibility of an impending terror attack in Bangkok after a Singapore-based security expert warned the government that southern insurgents would soon bring their bloody fight to the country’s capital. ... “Until now there has been no trace of a possibility of terrorism spreading to Bangkok as suggested,” Thaksin told reporters. “Thailand and Malaysia have consistently had good cooperation at every level. I believe there will be no problem.”"
"The government will soon begin to declare 'peaceful areas' in Thailand's three troubled southern border provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani and will speedily determine within one month which specific areas in the deep South, as well as some areas in Songkhla Province and Bangkok need to be installed close-circuit TV cameras (CCTVs), according to Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Pol. Gen. Chidchai Vanasatidya."
"The government will soon begin to declare 'peaceful areas' in Thailand's three troubled southern border provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani and will speedily determine within one month which specific areas in the deep South, as well as some areas in Songkhla Province and Bangkok need to be installed close-circuit TV cameras (CCTVs), according to Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Pol. Gen. Chidchai Vanasatidya."
"Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya dismissed rumours that further violence would occur in the three southernmost border provinces during a period of so-called "19 days of danger" coinciding with the Chinese New Year holidays. ... hidchai, who concurrently serves as justice minister, nonetheless, said he had instructed authorities in the South, especially Narathiwat Provincial Police commander Pol. Maj-Gen.Yongyudh Charoenwanich, to stay on alert during the approaching Chinese New Year holidays because of rumours that violence will take place between Jan 10 and Jan 29 in the border region."
"Thai statesman Gen. Prem Tinsulanond will assist the government in addressing the continuing insurgency in the kingdom's three troubled southernmost provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala, according to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. "
"About 900 closed-circuit television cameras will be installed throughout Hat Yai municipality in a bid to monitor incidents of violence which might spill over from the insurgency in the southernmost provinces. ... Songkhla governor Somporn Chaibangyang said the television cameras would be installed at places throughout the southern city within six months ... National Security Council has yet to approve the proposed use of closed-circuit TV against possible insurgencies."
"Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Saturday that he had instructed officials to speed up prosecution against suspected Muslim militants following their arrest."
"Ban Johor, Narathiwat – Deep in the jungles of the Muslim South, a much-criticized scheme to halt a wave of separatist unrest with free cable TV seems to have gone down well. ... But while happy with the government’s gesture, few here believe that peace can be returned to this troubled land by screening English Premier League football. ... “Free football is a good thing, but it won’t make any difference to the situation,” says Masae, the chief of this tiny rustic village in Narathiwat’s Rangae district, a hotbed of Islamic militancy awash with troops and police. ... “Someone who wants to kill won’t change their mind because of free Premier League football,” he says with a wry smile."
"The Ministry of Interior has launched a new short message service (SMS) on mobile phone networks in Thailand's deep South for people to provide tip-offs to authorities on insurgents' plans, according to Interior Minister Air Chief Marshal Kongsak Wanthana. ... Mobile phone users in the country's three southernmost provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani would begin to provide tip-offs to the authorities through the Dharmrongdharm Centre's special helpline, 1567, free of charges from February 1, ACM Kongsak told journalists here on Monday."
"Thai citizens in the country's troubled southernmost provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani will have their new electronic identity cards, or "Smart Cards" by early March, according to a senior Interior Ministry official. ... Director-General of the Department Provincial Administration Charnchai Suntornmath told journalists ... Ministry of Interior had issued nearly 454,000 "Smart Cards" ... in the three southernmost provinces ... more than 1,141,000 who had applied for the new electronic ID cards. ... All Thai citizens, age 15 and upward, must now apply for their electronic identity cards and renew their IDs within the specific timeframe indicated on each card."
"Thailand's Education Minister Chaturon Chaisang today offered monetary compensation to the families of those persons who were killed or wounded in the continuing violence in Thailand's three troubled southernmost provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala."
"Interior Minister Air Chief Marshal Kongsak Wanthana today dismissed as rumour reports that weapons stolen in a raid on an army barracks two years ago and hidden since then in Malaysia will be carried back into Thailand to provide arms for staging insurgent attacks."
" Victims of the southern violence complained about a lack of basic assistance from the state at the opening of a "healing clinic" in Pattani yesterday. ... Their complaints were heard by Education Minister Chaturon Chaisaeng, who presided over the opening of the clinic."
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