South, another black day : several attacks, 10 deads

Suspected militants opened fire inside in a mosque in Thailand’s restive Muslim-majority south Monday, killing at least 10 worshippers and wounding another 13, police said.

Up to five gunmen armed with assault rifles slipped through a back door into the mosque in Cho-ai-rong district in troubled Narathiwat province, a police official said.

“They opened fire indiscriminately at about 50 worshippers inside the mosque. Ten people were killed, including the local imam,” the official said, adding that all the wounded were in a serious condition. (Bangkok Post)

This attack follows a string of others that happened in the last few days.

While we focus on the thai economy and the scandals that start to tarnish the Abhisit’s administration… the massacre continues in the South.

Unabated.

Abhisit promised some “changes” in the South following the artificial euphoria of his election (smoke and mirror)… He’s unable to deliver.

Just before the attack against the mosque, Abhisit was giving a speech in Malaysia.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said he is optimistic he will see an end to the violence in the South and promised new opportunities for people in the restless border provinces after talks with his Malaysian counterpart on Monday

Mr Abhisit was speaking at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.

“Let me reiterate that my government’s approach is based on the belief that the key to peace and security is justice and opportunities,” he said. (Bangkok Post)

Justice ? Justice ? Opportunities ? ! As usual, Abhisit loves big -but empty- words… It’s enough to see how thai courts have closed the Tak Bai case…

Court clears security officials over Tak Bai deaths

In one of the most controversial verdicts passed in decades, a court yesterday cleared security officials of misconduct in the October 2004 Tak Bai incident in which 85 Malay-Muslim protesters died at the hands of the authorities. (Nation)

That happened one week ago…

Again and again, Abhisit should shut his mouth, and stop toying with “concepts”, get back on earth and handle the reality. On the ground.

Enough of the fantasies, enough of the Rabbit Hole, enough of the lies, enough of the double-speak, enough of the scandalous gap between reality and statements, enough of the Potemkin Village…

Conflict in the south : a striking report from Al Jazeera

Why “striking” ? Because made on the ground. Because we don’t see such report on thai TVs. Because victims are shown… victims of torture by thai military… because some people say that so called “spokemen” in Indonesia do not represent the real insurgents… because of the last scene, with the muslim call to prayer on friday… interrupted by… loud thai disco music.

Such report helps to understand that this conflict is likely to continue… for a very long time.

And actually, looking at history… it never really ended (since the annexion of southern regions by Bangkok).

What changes through times… are the means and the intensity of the struggle.

But the fundamental truth is : Bangkok’s authority is rejected by the muslim population of the south.

We can look at the problem by all angles… the population in Pattani, Yala… is not thai and doesn’t like Thailand. And Thailand gives them back the same… feeling.

To reconcile the two communities would take a long time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PACjeINxbcM&

South horror : 2 soldiers and a couple beheaded

2 attacks occured this week end in the South with beheadings… In 3 weeks, 6 people have been beheaded (the previous attacks occured on february 2, read here).

Suspected Muslim separatists killed and then beheaded two soldiers on Friday in Thailand’s rebellious Muslim-majority south, a police officer said.

The soldiers were shot dead on their motorcycles as they guarded teachers going to school in Yala, one of the three southern provinces caught up in a separatist insurgency in which more than 3,000 people have been killed since 2003.

“At least 10 gunmen using army weapons ambushed the group, killing two soldiers. Then they beheaded them and took away their guns and bullet-proof jackets,” the officer told reporters. (Reuters)

A group of insurgents gunned down and beheaded a couple of local rubber farmers in the southern border province of Yala on Sunday morning.

The two victims, indentified as Kongphet Janyarerk and his wife Yenjai, were brutally killed by the gunmen while they were travelling to work at a rubber plantation in Yala’s Raman district. The gunmen decapitated them and took their heads away before escaping from the area. (Bangkok Post)

From january 2004 to december 2007, 35 people have been beheaded, according to an official count.

Then in 2008, I count 6 beheadings.

Terror in the south : 2 soldiers beheaded

While our Prime Minister is doing ski jumping in Davos, so proud to be invited to this elite club, the reality rings some bells. On the ground.

The economy is tanking… and the terror continues in the South, with this latest gruesome attack.

Violence continued Monday in a deep south province when suspected militants killed and burnt to death two soldiers in Pattani’s Yarang district.

Police who were alerted at about 2pm and rushed to the scene on a road in the district found two burnt bodies. Their motorcycle was also burnt.

Police found that Sgt Niasun Niwae, 30, was beheaded. His body was riddled with bullets. Not far, police found body of volunteer ranger Chue Chotirat, 30, who was shot and burnt to death. His head was nearly cut off. (Nation)

More than 35 people have been beheaded from january 2004 to january 2008.

Even though the violence and the number of casualties have declined (see the paper of Bangkok Pundit with stats)… we still have fanatics on the ground who are still ready (and willing) to use horrible tactics to scare the population.

Those methods are terrorists.

And It would be foolish to think that the situation is solved in the South… when such people are still on the loose.

The South remains a political liability.

And Abhisit should start to come back on earth, and to deal with real problems, instead of launching crusade… against on line prostitution…

South : “systematic torture used by government forces”

Thai security forces pursuing a counter-insurgency campaign in the country’s violence-plagued southern provinces systematically engage in torture and other ill-treatment, Amnesty International revealed in a report released at a press conference in Bangkok on Tuesday 13 January 2009.

The 37-page report, Thailand: Torture in the southern counter-insurgency, documents people being brutally beaten, burned with candles, buried up to their necks in the ground, subjected to electric shocks, having needles stuck into various parts of their bodies, sodomized and exposed to intense heat or cold.

Survivors of torture told Amnesty that the most common torture techniques they faced were beatings, being kicked or stomped on, and having plastic bags placed over their heads until they nearly suffocated. Amnesty International established that at least four people have died as a result of torture.

Amnesty International has called on the Royal Thai Government to crack down on such practices immediately and to ensure accountability for any security forces engaged in torture. (Amnesty)

Another very embarrassing report for the thai authorities… Nothing happened in the past (after the Krue Se Mosque massacre, Tak Bai massacre, etc.)… so let’s see how the new Prime Minister Abhisit will handle the situation in the South…

Afterall, the Democrat Party can be seen as virgin… The violences started under Thaksin, the Krue Se and Tak Bai massacres happened under Thaksin… Then the violence continued under the Junta (september 2006 to december 2007).

Let’s see if Abhisit can deliver the “change” he promised.

Political reminder : New government = 2 bombs in the south

A crual political reminder. Just before the government composition was officially announced, 2 bomb attacks occured in the South. 1 killed and 11 wounded.

YALA

Four were injured when a bomb exploded in front a hotel in this southern border province Saturday evening.

Police said the explosion occurred at 6:30 pm in front of the Park View Hotel in Yala downtown.

Police said a homemade bomb hidden inside a pick-up truck exploded partially apparently because part of the circuit failed to be ignited. (Nation)

PATTANI

A bomb exploded in front of a department store in this southern border province at 6:10 pm Saturday, killing one person and injuring seven others.

Police said insurgents hid a five-kilogramme homemade bomb inside a motorcycle and parked it in front of the Pattani Supermarket and detonated it with a mobile phone. (Nation)

It can’t be a coincidence. Even though the level of violence has been reduced, the conflict in the South is still a burning political issue. Another one that the new Prime Minister Abhisit will have to handle.

Massacre in the south : car bomb in Narathiwat

71 wounded with 12 in critical conditions… Coordinated attacks… Car bomb + a bomb planted in a motorbike.

Suspected insurgents, blending in with some 300 village headmen and officials, set off a car bomb near the venue of a monthly meeting in Sukhirin district yesterday.

Seventy people were hurt in an attack police said was meant to inflict maximum damage.

At least 12 of the victims were in critical condition. A woman had been reported as dying from the explosion, but authorities said she was still fighting for her life at Sukhirin Hospital.

The homemade explosive was packed inside a fire extinguisher weighing about 50 kilograms and placed inside a sedan parked alongside the personal vehicles of officials attending the meeting.

Minutes later, a second bomb tied to a motorbike was detonated near a teashop. A third blast was heard soon after, but it was an exploding tyre, not a bomb. (Nation)

That’s a serious and painful wake up call… Even though the security has improved over the last months (see Bangkok Pundit who has statistics of violence in the South).

Ethnic cleansing : a village in the south… gets rid of its last buddhist family

The last Buddhist family in a village of this southern border province was attacked by Muslim insurgents Sunday, killing the mother and severely injuring the daughter.

The attack against the family in Moo 7 village of Tambon Laloh of Ruesoh district happened at 1:20 pm.

Police said the mother Ladda Sutthani, 72, owner of a clothes shop, was fatally shot and her daughter, Darunee Duangkaew, 39, was severely injured and sent to the provincial hospital.

Ladda, who was shot at her head and neck, died before she was sent to the hospital.

Police said the two were sitting inside the shop with two other relatives and the insurgents arrived on two motorcycles. They initially pretended to buy clothes but opened fire at the mother and daughter while the two relatives managed to flee.

The shop was attacked with a bomb two years ago, injuring Ladda. Darunee’s husband was killed about a year ago.

Ladda and Darunee’s family is the last Buddhist family in the village. (Nation)

Okay, it must be a fairly small village… But I think it’s a perfect example of what the terror campaign is really about : ethnic cleansing.

And it’s working.

The history shows clearly the plan. This family was attacked a first time 2 years ago… And a second time one year ago…. and today the rebels, insurgents, terrorists, mafias, freedom fighters, muslims fanatics (whatever you wish to call them) have successfully finished the job.

South : banality of the horror… a garbage truck driver killed

The situation in the South makes less noise, eclipsed by more burning issues (political crisis etc.).

And the level of violence has been reduced (less bomb attacks for instance and less casualties).

But still, we can read some horrible and absurd news…

Yala – A garbage truck drive was fatally shot by insurgents Wednesday morning.

Samphan Teerasukhon, 40, was shot while driving his garbage truck on the road behind the Raman district office at 5:37 am. He died on the way to the district hospital, police said. (Nation)

If the “insurgents” are the real culprits for this killing… what could be the justification of such act ?

What’s the point to kill a garbage truck driver ? Is there any link or symbol between a garbage truck driver and the thai authorities ?

Willingness to create an atmosphere of terror (anybody can be a target) ? Or just random shooting ? Random shooting by drunken maniacs ?

Peter Sellers is not dead ! He’s in the South and announces a cease-fire

Look at those three pictures… Do you see any link ? Yes indeed. Peter Sellers is not dead !

He’s playing in a new movie. After the huge success of The Party, unfortunatly it’s likely that Cease-Fire In The South will be a total failure.

Less than 48 hours after the announcement of a cease-fire in the south by 2 mysterious men, with grotesque fake mustaches and make-up… everybody is laughing.

The general Chetta, from a small party of the Samak’s coalition… claimed that it was true and that he gave the tape and that Channel 5 TV (owned by the military) was kind enough to air it…

The thai army doesn’t know this. Some of the groups in the South are denying… And even the medias (usually perfectly gullible) are laughing.

It’s a total disaster, from a PR and a political point of view.

The smoking gun was easy to find. I’m not speaking about the flag (unknown), the fake mustaches, the language they speak… but one very specific sentence (translation confirmed by some thai friends, while watching the footage) : “He added that any armed groups resisting the order would be considered renegades and could be eliminated“.

I mean even by thai standards it’s the peak of the non-sense.

Have you ever seen a so called “insurgent leader” who threaten his “friends” like that ? On the contrary, any (real) leader would try to appear in total control of the situation and would certainly not speak about the possibility that his “friends” would not follow his orders.

The whole story is surreal. A perfect thai drama.

(read Nation and Bangkok Post for more details)

Last point… who is General Chettah ? Former Army Chief, former Science and Technology Minister in the Thaksin administration, former Defense Minister and current Leader of Ruam Jai Thai Chart Pattana Party, member of the coalition.

UPDATE
The general Chettha wants obviously a part in this new movie.

Former army chief Chettha Thanajaro insisted there are no military figures behind the talk with southern insurgency.

Gen Chettha, who engineered the TV appearance of a group of insurgents who announced a ceasefire on a state television, said he and his team engaged in a talk with them alone, and it has no involvement with the army nor the authority.

He insisted that it was done out of good intention, and he did not hope to win any political post as a result of the video.

He vowed to continue solving problems concerning insurgency in the deep South. (Bangkok Post)

It’s absolutly unbelievable. Only in Thailand.

By the way, I think I’m going to ask my maid to negociate a cease-fire. I mean, it will be done out of good intentions

Terror in the south : stress is taking its toll too

In the face of on-going deep-South violence, public health workers, police officers, soldiers and teachers are all suffering from constant stress.

“They feel something can happen at any time,” Mental Health Department director general ML Somchai Chakrabhand says.

From January last year to March this year, there have been almost 1,400 incidents involving violence in the region. They have claimed the lives of 735 people and injured 2,763.

Somchai was speaking at a three-day national seminar tackling the crisis at Songkhla. (Nation)

This can be seen as the success for the insurgents. The terror campaign is probably not -just- a matter of body count… but rather a mean to spread fear… leading the thais, officials (“teachers are fleeing“) and civilians… to just leave the battleground.

Eventually, it’s easy to think that… “ethnic cleansing is going on“.