Page 2 of 2 Thailand intensifies
crackdown on militants By Ian Storey
attempts to establish dialogue with
the separatists had made little headway: "We have
been trying to make contact with them but received
no response."
Yet a month later, the prime
minister changed tack, telling reporters that some
progress had been made thanks to the efforts of
Kuala Lumpur; however, Malaysian Foreign Minister
Syed Hamid Albar muddied the waters further when
he said his country
had
not played any role in facilitating discussions
between Bangkok and the insurgents.
In a
major report published by Human Rights Watch last
month titled "No One Is Safe", the NGO claims to
have made contact with senior members of BRN-C who
told the authors that their goal was to "liberate"
the southern provinces from Thailand and that they
were not interested in dialogue with Bangkok.
According to the report, BRN-C leaders had stated
that another three to five years of violence would
be necessary before they were in a strong enough
position to negotiate with the government.
In addition to its reconciliation policy,
the Surayud government has been trying to improve
socioeconomic and educational standards in the
south. Thailand and Malaysia have agreed to
implement a "3Es Program" designed to improve
educational, employment and entrepreneurship.
Bangkok is paying particular attention to
education, which General Sonthi recently
identified as one of the primary causes of the
violence.
In a speech delivered in
Songkhla, Sonthi said poor educational standards
had allowed religious schools to hire teachers who
preached separatist ideas, thus "brainwashing"
young people into committing acts of violence. To
weed out these teachers, the Education Department
is finalizing plans to revamp Islamic education in
the south, creating standardized curricula for
Islamic schools and programs to screen owners and
teachers. A new agency under the ministry will
have the power to issue and revoke licenses for
Islamic schools.
While the government has
continued to adhere to a policy of reconciliation,
it has also been steadfast in its refusal to
consider autonomy for the south. When Defense
Minister Boonrawd suggested it might be possible
to give the south special-administrative-region
status like Hong Kong and Macau in China, the
prime minister rejected the idea, arguing that all
parts of Thailand must be under the same law. This
came as a disappointment to many observers who
believe that genuine autonomy for the south, or at
least some form of decentralization, is the only
credible solution to the violence.
The
effectiveness of the government's current
offensive against Malay Muslim militants remains
to be seen. So far it has had little effect on the
daily catalogue of killings, bombings and arson
attacks. Militant policy remains unchanged: to
polarize society, attack symbols of the Thai
state, and destroy the local economy, all in
pursuit of a separate Islamic state. To polarize
society, the tactic of beheadings has become more
common, with 10 committed so far this year,
one-third of the total.
The militants have
achieved some notable successes against the
security forces with roadside bombs - killing nine
soldiers on May 9, 11 paramilitary rangers on May
31 and seven soldiers on June 15. According to
official figures, between January 1 and June 30,
1,292 incidents of violence were recorded in the
south, leading to 608 deaths, including 30 police,
53 army personnel, six teachers or civil servants,
and 519 civilians, as well as 1,202 injuries.
Militants have also increased their
attacks against the economic infrastructure of the
south, including a series of coordinated bomb
attacks in the south's commercial and tourism
capital Hat Yai, Songkhla, in late May. Militants
have also begun sabotaging the south's rail
network, leading to the temporary suspension of
rail services.
Foreign elements? Regarding the involvement of foreign elements,
government officials continue to make
unsubstantiated allegations that shed little light
on the issue and serve only to annoy Thailand's
neighbors.
In May, RTA spokesman Colonel
Akkara stated that captured insurgents had
admitted to the presence of foreign trainers in
the south, believed to be from Indonesia. This was
followed a few days later by comments from General
Wattanachai - who earlier in the year had said
militants were influenced by al-Qaeda and Jemaah
Islamiya (JI) - that militants were receiving
weapons and bomb-making training from Cambodian
Muslims and Indonesians.
Both the
Indonesian and the Cambodian authorities rejected
these accusations. Yet in June it was reported
that the RTA had asked the Foreign Ministry to
suspend issuing visas to Cambodian Muslims,
alleging that 20,000 had entered the country
legally since 2005, but that only 10% had returned
home. The number of Cambodian Muslims and
Rohingyas (a Muslim group based in western
Myanmar) entering the country illegally and
heading to the south was also giving the security
services cause for concern. Later in the
month, Wattanachai asserted that Cambodian Muslims
with links to JI had entered the country and were
conducting atrocities. After angry comments from
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who accused
Bangkok of looking for a scapegoat for the
violence, Wattanachai backtracked on his earlier
comments, stating, "No foreigners are involved in
the situation in the south." The allegations
recalled spats with Malaysia when the Thaksin
government had claimed Malay-Muslim militants were
undertaking training in Malaysia.
According to Defense Minister Boonrawd,
the insurgents are "on their last legs". Such
optimism, however, seems seriously misplaced.
While the number of violent incidents has dropped,
the intensity and sophistication of attacks is
increasing. Moreover, it remains unclear whether
the security forces' current offensive can be
sustained and whether it will produce a positive
outcome in the long term.
Ian
Storey is a fellow at the Institute of
Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Singapore.
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