5 Years of War in Thailand's Deep South

Kokaew Wongphan gives background context to the conflict in South Thailand and how it affects the local population

Academic Discussion on the Deep South Conflict

2009 saw many academic seminars on the conflict in Thailand, Kokaew reports on the need for more local voices in the discussion.

Creating Sustainable Peace in South Thailand

Kokaew Wongphan reports on the success of the Faith Community Network in involving local people in village decision making

Peace Volunteer Program

Local Correspondent for Thailand, Kokaew Wongphan, reports on how SPBAC are training peace volunteers to work in the villages of South Thailand

Uncertainty and Fear in Thailand

May 2010 analysis of the violent clashes between Red Shirts and military and police forces in Thailand, by Professor Otto F. von Feigenblatt. Will the Thai elite learn from the recent peaceful transition in Nepal?

Youth Peace Club And Careers Training

Kokaew Wongphan reports on how ARF-Pattani is breaking the cycle of violence through youth education in South Thailand

From the Editors

Reuters AlertNet: ‘Bombings kill 2, wound 42 in Thai south’ (6^th October 2009): Incidents such as this are an all too regular occurrence in Southern Thailand. Recent indications suggest that over 60 militia groups are operating in the region, all of which share similar objectives; an independent or relatively autonomous status for Pattani. The groups differ widely in their approaches and capabilities, but for those engaged in violent activities on civilian and state targets, such attacks are standard form

‘Three bomb attacks by suspected separatist rebels killed two people and injured at least 42 in Thailand’s restive Muslim south on Tuesday, police said. Gunmen on a motorcycle fired bullets and threw a home-made bomb at a group of people in a packed restaurant around noon in Narathiwat, killing a civilian and a policeman and wounding 12 others. Less than two hours later, a bomb hidden in a car exploded outside a nearby hotel, injuring 23 people, police said. Both attacks took place in Sungai Kolok, a thriving town bordering Malaysia.’

International Crisis Group: Recruiting Militants in Southern, Thailand Asia Report N°170(June 2009):  Reiterating and exploiting cultural and local grievances, insurgents are recruiting young southern-based Muslim to take up arms against the state. Exploring this phenomenon, the report focuses on the growing issue of localised Islamic jihad and the international and domestic connotations (Free registration necessary).

‘While Thai leaders are preoccupied with turmoil in Bangkok, the insurgency in the South continues to recruit young Malay Muslims, especially from private Islamic schools. These institutions are central to maintenance of Malay Muslim identity, and many students are receptive to the call to take up arms against the state. This is not a struggle in solidarity with global jihad, rather an ethno-nationalist insurgency with its own version of history aimed at reclaiming what was once the independent sultanate of Patani. Human rights abuses by the Thai government and security forces have only fuelled this secessionist fervour, and policies that centralise power in the capital have undermined a regional political solution….’ Read the full report.

‘No One Is Safe:’ Insurgent Attacks on Civilians in Thailand’s Southern Border Provinces (August 2007): Since 2004, increase militant attacks on government services have resulted in hard line state-sanctioned responses. This report highlights numerous cases of arbitrary arrests, torture, “disappearances,” and extrajudicial killings, and argues that this has only fueled and impassioned the grievances of the insurgency.    

‘This 104-page report details human rights abuses and violence committed against civilians by separatist militants in the predominantly ethnic Malay Muslim provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Songkhla from January 2004 to July 2007. The report is based on interviews with eyewitnesses, families of the victims, academics, journalists, lawyers, human rights defenders and government officials…’ Read the full report.

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