Muslim Bombing Campaign Hits Southern Thailand

If it wasn’t a front in the war on terror before, Thailand become such yesterday. As many as 40 explosions rattled the south of the country, where the Muslim community dwells. Mercifully, the bombing campaign appears to have been a mere show of force; only two people died. That, however, only means the bombers chose not to kill in great numbers and wanted to demonstrate that the could rack up a high body count if they were so inclined.

The four southern provinces of the country (Songkhla, Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat) are home to the country’s 4% Muslim population, and they border on Muslim Malaysia. Until the mid 1980s, there was a guerrilla war against the Bangkok regime by some of the more militant followers of Muhammad, Peace Be Unto Him. Indeed, this area (at the time the Kingdom of Pattani) was annexed to Thailand in 1902. Some financial and political attention to the area quieted things down until 2004. Then, the Muslim militancy revived.

Since then, more than 1,300 people have died. Human rights groups allege that the security forces use excessive force on occasion, and there have been two incidents in which the military killed as many as 200 combined. In Takbai in October, some 78 people suffocated after being rounded up and put in military trunks to be transported to jail.

Precisely which group or groups set off the bombs yesterday is hard to say. It could have been Pulo (the Pattani United Liberation Organisation), BRN (the Barisan Revolusi Nasional) and GMIP (Gerakan Mujahadeen Islam Pattani). Or someone else. The point is there is plenty of unrest in the southern part of Thailand, and the government there may need the help of others to cope.

No marines, no soldiers, no aircraft, though. What is needed is action to undermine the feelings of discrimination and the hostility. There will still be Muslims in the region who believe the Buddhist majority is evil and merit death for their mistaken beliefs, but that is a theological discussion. Those few will not matter if the rest of the Muslims in the country feel that it is their country, too. Sitting on bayonets is uncomfortable, and Bangkok needs to find a better way.

© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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