Utusan Patani

Confusion reigns on 'peace processes' in the deep South

2012-01-28T01:25:00.000-08:00

Insurgents behind the violence in the South have used their attacks to gain attention from international organisations in a bid to draw them into the problem, Army Commander in Chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha recently proclaimed to the media.

Prayuth's statement came a day after insurgents laun ched an attack on a security outpost in Patani's Sai Buri district, drawing a reinforcement unit into a trap where a roadside bomb and gunfire wounded six soldiers.

The conflict in the Malay-speaking South is Thailand's internal affair and the authorities are making their best effort to deal with the problem, Prayuth said.

Unfortunately, their best is not good enough, and insurgents continue to hit whereever they like.

Billions have been spent to win them over and yet, local Malay Muslims, who account for more than 80 per cent of the local population, continue to turn a blind eye to the activities of the insurgents, as a way of providing tactical support. In some remote communities, armed insurgents walk around freely, strolling in and out of village teashops as if they are the actual law and order. Residents may not agree with the brutality but they certainly share the same sentiment as the militants on the ground.

Prayuth said the presence of international organisations would complicate the problem. But no one really understands what Prayuth's assumption is based upon. After all, if the insurgents wanted to attract international attention, they would not confine the violence to the Muslim-majority South.

It's only a few hours drive from the deep South to a number of high-profile tourist attractions in the upper South. Moreover, an overnight train ride can get them into Bangkok. The materials the insurgents have been using to make explosives can be easily purchased from local hardware stores.

The problem with Prayuth and other conservative Thai bureaucrats is that they do not want to debate the legitimacy of the Thai state in the Malay historical homeland. If they did, they would see that the Malays embrace a different cultural and historical narrative from the rest of the country.

One way out of this confrontation, argues Professor Thanet Aphornsuvan in an East-West Centre publication, "Rebellion in Southern Thailand: Contending Histories", is to acknowledge the differences.

"Without a basic understanding and appreciation of each other's cultures and ethno-religious identities, it will be difficult to have positive political will on both sides to seriously tackle the problems," Thanet said. "Hitherto, Bangkok sees the problem in the South as a separatist threat, while the Malay-Muslims see it as one of cultural and ethnic survival," he added. For a lasting peace to endure, said Thanet, "the Malay-Muslims must be allowed a significant role in bringing peace and prosperity back to the region".

But Bangkok has a tendency to think it knows best. Worse, Prayuth is basically saying things have to be done the Army's way or no way. That's why he immediately came out against the idea of autonomy for the region when it was floated by Yingluck Shinawatra during the last edlection campaign.

Incidentally no Pheu Thai candidate, all campaigning on the autonomy ticket, got a single seat in the region.

As expected, Yingluck and Pheu Thai went back on their word. Being indifferent to the Malays' feelings cost them nothing in political terms because they know the general public is indifferent to the Malays' predicament.

Perhaps autonomy is not the answer. Perhaps it is more about justice and equality, as the Patani Forum's executive director Ekkarin Tuansiri, a speaker at a recent event at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand, pointed out.

The European Union's ambassador to Thailand, David Lipman, in his key keynote speech at the FCCT event, suggested granting the Malays greater cultural space, such as strengthening bilingual education so that the mother tongue is used alongside the official Thai.

Lipman has a point. In 2007, the then military-appointed government of Surayud Chulanont launched a pilot project in which several elementary schools in the region were permitted to teach the local Malay language and Islamic studies. During that year, insurgents torched more than 100 public schools. The following year, less than ten schools came under arson attack.

The key to the success, said the then vice governor of Yala, Grisada Boonrach, was making sure that religious teachers and clerics at the local level have a say in the curriculum. "It's about ownership," said Grisada, currently the governor of Songkhla.

And yet, no one in the security forces or policy-makers cares to seriously look into that particular development. If they had done, they would have lost face because many conservatives had all along played down the idea of Malay being used as a "working language" alongside Thai.

With regard to foreign influence, it is sad that Prayuth did not have the gumption to admit that, during the Surayud administration, the government sought help from the international community, neighbouring countries and foreign mediators to help resolve the conflict. Whether these initiatives produced any meaningful outcome is another matter. But having access to information about these initiatives is not below Prayuth's pay grade. It seems he can't come to terms with a reality he does not like.

Today a number of government agencies - the Army, Police, Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre (SBPAC), National Security Council (NSC) - foreign governments, retired and active politicians, local and foreign think tanks, as well as local and international NGOs with mediation experience, are exploring the idea of a peace process. Many are running around looking for separatist leaders to talk to. The fact that there are so many of so-called peace-brokers suggests that there is no single ownership of the process. Some of these peace-brokers have tried to get a buy-in from the local community and religious leaders.

But without a meaningful and identifiable process mandated by the state, the government and "mediators" can forget about getting support from the ground to endorse their noble and ambitious activities.

Along with his public apology for atrocities committed against the people of Patani, Surayud called on various Thai government agencies to work with the international community to seek non-military means to end this conflict once and for all. Most of these tracks fizzled out in the following administrations of (the late) Samak Sundaravej and Somchai Wongsawat. But during the Abhisit administration, a number of "peace processes" surfaced, hoping to get a mandate for mediation.

According to one Cabinet member of the Abhisit government, the NSC issued a statement of intent to explain its ongoing dialogue with one of the long-standing separatist groups through one foreign mediator. The Cabinet did not endorse it, and Abhisit would only acknowledge it informally because, according to the source, the then prime minister needed deniability.

That doesn't mean that Abhisit wasn't aware that various Thai security and intelligence agencies, as well as the international community, were talking to various separatist groups. The PM just couldn't be seen to sanction these initiatives because it was too sensitive politically, the source said.

But the NSC-backed process could very well come to an end now that one of Pheu Thai's favourite bureaucrats is heading SBPAC. Sources in the government say that Thawee Sodsong wants to negotiate with the separatist leaders and end this conflict. His problem is that there are so many people out there who claim to be leader of this or that group.

Even if Thawee is barking up the right tree, exiled leaders from long-standing separatist groups say it still won't be easy. Besides the territorial nature of these mediators and so-called peace processes, the separatist leaders are disunited and many are competing among themselves. Worse, they don't seem to have adequate command and control over the militants on the ground.

And for any peace process to have any meaning, the leaders would have to demonstrate to the insurgents that they can come up with deliverables.

The insurgents on the ground are not in a hurry to enter into any peace process or dialogue or whatever the involved parties want to call it. As far as the militants are concerned, they can attack just about any place, any time. The recent ambush in Sai Buri was testimony to that.

Don Pathan

3 dead in Yala, 6 wounded in Patani

2012-01-23T01:41:00.000-08:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - Three people were killed in two separate attacks on Sunday night in Yala province.

About 11pm, Aree Topho, 21, a villager, was shot three times in the chest while travelling on a motorcycle on a road near Kg. Prama in Mukim Seteng Nok of Muang district by the pillion rider of another motorcycle.

He died later at the hospital. Thai Police were investigating.

About the same time, Manso Wanteh, 55, an assistant village chief, and Awang Juyo, a village defence volunteer, were killed when the pillion riders of two motorcycles opened fire at their car with an AK47 and M16 rifles.

The attack happened on Thathong-Raman road in Raman district of Yala.

Also on Sunday night, in nearby Patani province, Patani guerellas opened fire at the outpost of a unit of Task Force 26 at Chalako Villge in mukim Bendang Dalam of Sai Buri district with small arms, but inflicted no casualties.

A team of six soldiers were rished from a nearby outpost at Wat Sakkhi in Mukim Lahan to Chalako willege on receiving a request for reinforcements.

While their pick-up truck was passing a village on Sai Buri-Kapho road in Mukim Bendang Dalam, the vehicle ran over a bomb which detonated.

All six soldiers, led by Capt Suchart Rodpol, in the vehicle were wounded in the explosion.

The other wounded Thai soldiers are M/Sgt Therdthai Thongwan, M/Sgt Sithisak Sangkham, 37, M/Sgt Ekachat Sawiphan, 45, M/Sgt Wattana Wilanokrum, 43, and Pvt Ekapong Chanchula, 22.

Police blamed Patani freedom fighters.

Cop, Son Shot Dead in Pattani

2012-01-21T20:39:00.000-08:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: The Thai Police Chief in Patani Province has ordered a manhunt for unknown gunmen who shot and killed a Thai police senior sergeant major and his 14-year-old son.

The security cameras at the crime scene proved to be useless to the investigation since they were not operational.

The Thai Police officers inspected a crime scene on a local road in Patani's Saiburi (Teluban)District where two people were shot dead and the bodies were transferred to a local hospital in the district.

The two were later identified as 50-year-old Police Senior Sergeant Major Sathaporn Kongput and his 14-year-old son Patcharapol Kongput.

Sathaporn, who was a police officer at the Teluban District Police Station, and his son were killed with multiple gunshots from an M-16 and a nine-millimeter pistol.

Entry wounds were detected on their torsos and heads.

The Thai authorities found 21 M-16 shell casings and three other casings from a nine-millimeter handgun at the scene.

Thai Police blamed Patani freedom fighters.

More than 5000 people have been killed and about 9,000 injured in the three southern border provinces of Narathiwat, Patani, Yala and songkla since the violence erupted afresh in January 2004.

Initial investigation found that the policeman was waiting to see his son off to school when unknown number of insurgents drove a pick-up truck and parked in front them.

The militants then opened fire at the father and son in front of many local villagers who were driving past the scene.

The group of insurgents also fled the scene and made off with the police officer's nine-millimeter handgun and a motorcycle.

The police officer and his son were killed instantly

After the incident, commissioner of the Pattani Provincial Police, Police Major General Pichet Pitisetthaphan ordered a speedy manhunt for the group of gunmen.

The Pattani police chief believes that the gunmen were members of a local insurgent group and knew the victims' daily routine very well.

Meanwhile, many security cameras at the crime scene were not operational.

This has caused widespread criticisms among the locals over the inefficiency of state officials

One killed in Patani gun attack

2012-01-21T20:33:00.000-08:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: A man was shot dead on Bendang Dalam-Kapho Road near a village in tambon Karubi in Patani's Kapho district yesterday afternoon.

The man, identified as state employee Vorasit Phuenpha, 39, sustained three gunshots to his body.

Eyewitnesses told to Thai kolonia police that the victim, who was on a motorcycle, had been shot by one of the two men following him on another motorbike. The incident took place at about 1pm.

Later at about 2.30pm, a bomb exploded at a motorcycle parking area in front of Pattana Islam School in Patani's Muang district, damaging three motorcycles but causing no casualties.

Mustopa Matrudin, 26, a teacher of the school and owner of one of the damaged motorcycles, told police that some people saw two teenagers arrive on a motorcycle and put an object under his vehicle's seat before leaving shortly before the bomb exploded.

Enam Pejuang Patani Tewas Ditembak Tentara Thailad

2012-01-10T04:19:00.000-08:00

Menara (SI ONLINE) - Sekurang-kurangnya enam orang terbunuh dalam beberapa kejadian tembakan secara terpisah di wilayah etnik Melayu yang sedang bergolak di selatan Thailand, Jumat (6/1/2012).

Kepala Polisi Siam di Distrik Jabat (Resak), Kolonel Satanpah Wamasingha mengatakan dalam kejadian pertama, kira-kira 30 orang yang diduga bagian dari pejuang Pembebasan Patani Darusalam, menyerang sebuah pos polisi di Menara dan menembak mati dua orang aparatnya.

“Kelompok Pejuang Pembebasan Patani Darusalam menyerbu asrama pada dini hari ketika aparat berkenaan masih tidur kira-kira jam 2. 45 dini hari. Mereka juga sempat merampas beberapa laras senjata M-16 dan AK-47 serta peluru-pelurunya, tiga aparat lainnya luka dalam serangan itu”, demikian seperti dilaporkan aktivis Patani United Liberation Organization (PULO), Abu jihad, kepada Suara Islam Online melalui surat elektronik, Ahad (8/1/2012).

“Mereka merancang serangan ini dengan rapi sebagai balasan atas kemenangan polisi penjajah Siam menyerbu dan memusnahkan dua gudang senjata mereka (pejuang Patani, red) Desember lalu”, kata Abu Jihad.

Di wilayah yang sama awal pagi tersebut (6/1/2012), kelompok lelaki bersenjata menembak mati seorang lelaki dan melukai isterinya ketika mereka menaiki kendaraan di bandar Sungai Golok.

Sementara di Patani, dua lelaki terbunuh dan seorang lagi terluka dalam dua kejadian tembakan dari kendaraan awal tengah hari ini. Seorang penduduk kampung juga ditembak mati dalam perjalanan pulang ke rumah daripada bekerja di sebuah perkebunan karet di Yala.

Hingga saat ini, aktivis hak asasi Deep South Watch menyatakan, pergolakan di wilayah etnik Melayu atau Patani Darusalam sudah menewaskan kira-kira 5000 jiwa dan mencederai 8300 orang sejak konflik itu meletus. Pergolakan antara penjajah Thailand dengan masyarakat Melayu Patani secara serius dimulai sejak 2004 lalu.

Penduduk di selatan Thailand yang mayoritas Bangsa Melayu beragama Islam mengaku, mereka kerap menjadi korban diskriminasi dan tindakan keras pihak berkuasa Thailand, termasuk penganiayaan oleh aparat kemanan.

Sebelumnya, pada Selasa (3/01/2012), dua tentara Penjajah Thailand yang sedang menaiki sebuah truk terkena ledakan bom di pinggir jalan. Dua tentera Thailand itu, Lt. Direksan (26) dan Sgt Yutthaya Jampa (25) saat itu dalam perjalanan ke satu pesta menyambut tahun baru di Bandar Patani. Keduanya tewas di tempat kejadian.

Rep: shodiq ramadhan

2012-01-10T04:16:00.000-08:00

Assalamu alaikum wr.wb

Six killed in bombing, shooting in Yala

2011-08-26T09:53:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - A bomb explosion killed five defence volunteers, and a rubber tapper was shot dead in Yala on Friday, Thais police said, the latest violent incident in a region plagued for seven years by Patani freedom fighters unrest.

Suspected Patani freedom fighters detonated a bomb buried in a road as a truck carrying six defence volunteers drove to the scene of a shooting at a rubber plantation during the night, in which a Buddhist man was shot dead.

Five of the volunteers were killed and the other seriously wounded in Narathiwat, one of three Malay Muslim-dominated provinces bordering Malaysia.

Rebels often carry out shootings as a trap to lure security forces into an ambush. Bombs are buried in roads or close to the scene of shootings and detonated as groups of police or soldiers arrive to investigate.

Four rangers were wounded in a similar incident in Yala on Thursday when a bomb exploded under their vehicle as they rushed to the scene of a gunfight in a village where a man and his 5-year-old daughter were killed.

More than 4,600 people have been killed in violence since January 2004 in the once independent Malay Muslim region encompassing the Yala, Patani and Narathiwat provinces, which were annexed by Thailand, then known as Siam, in 190

THIRTEEN INJURED IN PATANI BLAST

2011-08-26T09:41:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM : Thirteen people comprising soldiers, a monk, and

women were injured during a bomb attack in Patani, today.

A Thais police spokesman said the five-kilogram bomb which was hidden

inside a trash bin at Paknam Road in Muang district, Patani, exploded at 7.05am

as Thais soldiers were escorting a monk to Lak Muang Temple after collecting alms.

He said the 13 injured consisted of nine soldiers, three passing women and a

monk.

The nine Thais soldiers comprised five privates -- Satit Janlao, 22, Kaokom

Paipoad, 22, Narongrit TeeSakun, 22, Wittaya Sinbho, 23 and Abhiwat Panwongsa,

22, and four sergeants -- Prasaenchai Peerong, 32, Thapakorn Pipittapan, 40,

Khanchai Wichien, 53, Narong Sridakun, 35.

The monk was identified as Jirawat Nilsuwarn, 21, while the three women were

Prom Na Rangsri, 46, Wandee Sangaun, 50, and Rosayatee Makasem, 25.

Twenty commercial buildings and a pick-up were also damaged by the bomb

blast, he said.

More than 4,000 people have died since suspected Patani freedom fighters resumed their

armed campaign to seek independence for the three southern provinces of

Narathiwat, Patani and Yala seven years ago.

Two Thais police injured in Yala bomb attack

2011-08-08T02:46:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM - Two border patrol Thais policemen were injured when Patani freedom fighters detonated a homemade bomb in front of a convenient store Monday morning.The explosion occurred at 6:05 am in front of a 7-Eleven shop in Muang district.Thais Police said the two policemen were part of a team of 4 BPP police patrolling the area in a pick-up truck.

The Patani freedom fighters launched the ...

Roadside bombs in Patani,Yala : Thais soldier dies

2011-08-02T09:54:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - A Thais soldier was killed and two others wounded in a roadside bomb attack yesterday in Patani, before a similar explosion went off in Jala, but without any casualties.

In the first incident, a squad of six Thais soldiers from Company8021 returning from a dawn patrol and escort mission in Yarang (Benjar Lima)district were hit by the roadside bomb near the Patani river.

Lance Corporal Atthaphol Hongkham died after the blast while Sergeant Prajak Wisetrat and Private Assawin Phoonphan were slightly wounded.

Army ordinance men said it was a homemade bomb containing three kilos of explosives detonated by wire linked to a spot 50 metres across the river. A manhunt failed to find any attackers or suspects.

Patani's freedom fighters attacks are frequent in Jala and other areas in the ethnic Malay rigion, designed to demoralise civilians while warning them against cooperation with authorities, security officials said. Patrols have increased in Jala in response to intelligence reports that more frequent bomb attacks can be expected in coming weeks.

Later in Jala, a roadside bomb exploded after it was detected by a squad of Thais soldiers on patrol, shortly before a bomb disposal team arrived. It is not known whether it was detonated accidentally, or on purpose.

The bomb consisted of five kilos of explosives and steel rods cut into pieces as shrapnel, said team members. They have not determined how it was detonated.

One troop killed, two injured in Patani bomb attack

2011-08-01T03:09:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - Patani's freedom fighters detonated a roadside homemade bomb to ambush a unit of troops, killing one and injured two others Monday morning.
The explosion occurred at 6:55 am while the unit of six troops was patrolling Khokyakha-Chalong Road along the Patani River in Benjar Lima (Yarang) district.
The unit patrolled the road to provide security for teachers travelling to school in the morning.

Thais Police said Patani's freedom fighters detonated the bomb with a wired remote control from the other bank of the river.

Corporal Atthapol Hongkham, 25, was fatally injured and died later. Sgt Prachak Wisetrat, 27 and Pvt Assawin Phoolphan, 21, were severely injured.PINA

Grenade attack injures seven in Patani

2011-07-31T00:53:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: VOLUNTEER LOSES LEG IN LANDMINE BLAST IN HEAVY DAY OF MALAY REGION VIOLENCE

Five Thais police and two ethnic Siam civilians have been injured in a bomb attack at a tea shop in Patani's Mae Lan district, and two military ranger volunteers were wounded in a landmine trap in a different district of the same province.

The first incident took place in the pre-dawn hours yesterday. Thais Police said they were alerted at 7am.

A couple of attackers riding on a motorcycle threw a grenade at seven people who were drinking tea at a shop owned by Pol Sen Sgt Maj Wiraphong Pomsakun of the Mae Lan district police station, said the victims.

The victims, slightly injured in the attack, were identified as Mani Manirat, 45, Chuean Sonkaew, 80, Pol Sen Sgt Maj Chairit Phromkhongbun, Pol Sen Sgt Maj Udom Katem, Pol L/C Apichat Auam-or, Pol L/C Manot Udomsing, and Pol L/C Sitthikon Saipaeng.

The five officers work at the Mae Lan station.

The victims were transported to a nearby hospital and later discharged because most of their injuries were considered minimal.

Meanwhile, a military ranger has lost her leg in a landmine blast in Panare district.

Ranger volunteer Sukchitratda Intharamuang, 29, stepped on the landmine which blew off her left leg. It also injured her colleague, military ranger volunteer Somwong Phetsing, 51.

The were inspecting a deserted military ranger outpost where a shooting attack was reported the previous night.

The two were hospitalised. One bomb was found and destroyed before the accident, which was about 100 metres from the first mine.

A man was shot dead in Patani on Friday night.

Rohima Chewae, 42, was gunned down in Thung Yang Daeng district of Patani while riding a motorcycle on his way back home in Thung Yang Daeng district of Muang, Yala. He died instantly.

In Bendang Seta district of neighbouring Yala province, military ranger volunteer Chalit Nusang, 31, was shot by a gunman who was hiding while Mr Chalit was travelling on the back of a pick-up truck along with several other volunteers.

The volunteer was rushed to a nearby hospital. The attack took place at 4pm yesterday.

Meanwhile, Nuan-anong Wongchan, head of public relations for the State Railway of Thailand, said yesterday all trains to and from the South had resumed normal operations.

Train services through Yala had been suspended for two days after four bombs went off on a section of the track in Tanjung emas district of Narathiwat on Wednesday.

As the tracks were undergoing repairs from the blasts, a railway employee stepped on a mine planted along the track between Selo serdan and Marbo est stations in Tanjung emas.

The incidents delayed rail track repairs.

bomb wounds two Thais soldiers

2011-07-30T04:11:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: 30 July 2011 Two Thais soldiers were injured, one seriously, when one of them stepped on a land mine at Pa Kapor village in Patani’s Panare district late Saturday morning, Thais police chief Pol Col Manit Yimsai in Panare said.

The forensic soldiers from Ingkayut Boriharn military camp in Patani's Nong Chik district this morning went to inspect a ranger outpost in the village which was ambushed on Friday night. They found and destroyed one land mine.

While walking back to their trucks, female military ranger Sukjitladda Inmuang, 29, stepped on another land mine. The bomb exploded and broke her left leg. Sgt Somwong Petsing, 51, was slightly injured in the explosion.

They were taken to Panare hospital.

Thais Police blamed Patani's freedom fighter.

.Patani freedom fighters kill 2 police, bomb troops in the ethnic Malay region

2011-07-30T04:00:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: Suspected Patani freedom fighters waging a Patani freedom fighters in ethnic Malay region killed two Thais police and wounded two Thais soldiers in separate gun and bomb attacks on Wednesday, Thais police said.

Patani guerrillas armed with M-16 assault rifles ambushed two Thais policemen riding on a motorcycle in Patani province, killing one instantly. The other succumbed to bullet wounds on the way to hospital.

In a second incident in the same province, rebels planted a home made bomb in a roadside shrub and detonated the device as three Thais soldiers rode past on motorcycles, wounding two.

In Narathiwat province bordering Malaysia, two battery-operated bombs exploded on a railway track, destroying it in two spots about 200 metres apart and disrupting train services.

Bomb disposal officials sent to the scene deactivated explosive booby traps laid for them by the militants.

Thailand's Yala, Patani and Narathiwat provinces, which are dominated by ethnic Malay Muslims, have seen a spike in violence this year, with roadside blasts and ambushes occurring regularly.

Some analysts say violence in recent weeks could be an attempt by shadowy rebels to attract the attention of a new government expected to take office by the middle of next month.

About 4,600 people have been killed and nearly 9,000 wounded in violence since 2004 in the three provinces, which were once an independent sultanate until annexed by Thailand in 1909.

Yala motorcycle bomb wounds 16

2011-07-19T14:52:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM; Nine Thaj soldiers, four adult civilians and three students were injured by a motorcycle bomb explosion on the Bendang Seta-Tarnto road near Ban Tao Poon school in Yala’s Bendang Seta district late Tuesday morning.

Pol Col Suwat Wongpaibul, chief of Bendang Seta police station, said three of the bomb victims were in critical condition.

The explosion occurred about 10.50am. All the victims were taken to the district hospital.

Thai Security personnel inspect the site where a motorcycle bomb went off in Yala's Bendang Seta district on July 19, 2011. (Photo by Photo by Muhammad Ayub Patan)
Police investigators said the 10kg home-made bomb was hidden inside a parked motorcycle. They believed Patani freedom fighters detonated the explosives as Thai soldiers of Yala’s No 15 special force unit were passing by on motorcycles.

It was reported that after the bombing police arrested a suspect identified as Wan Hussain Wan samad, 25, of Ban Buerapeh in Bannang Sata district.

He was taken to Bendag Seta police station for questioning.

Meanwhile, police in the ethnic Malay region have been instructed to beef up security measures for the Muslim month of fasting, Ramadan, starting next month.

Pol Lt Gen Paithoon Chuchaiya, chief of the Police Operation Centre for the Malay Provinces, said police Narathiwat, Yala and Patani and four districts of Songkhla province will apply more stringent measures to prevent Patani guerrillas from creating unrest during Ramadan.

"There have been many violent incidents in past weeks and the perpetrators have set their targets on both Thai Buddhists and Malay Muslims in the area," the Thai police chief said.

Those responsible were unwilling to go up against authorities so they turned to attacking the local people instead, he said.

However, the overall situation in the Malay region had improved from last year despite the continuing attacks by Patani freedom fighters, Pol Lt Gen Paithoon said.

More than 4,500 people have been killed and about 9,000 injured in the Malay region since Patani freedom fighters attacks started violence afresh in January 2004.

Four bombs in the ethnic Malay Region wound 12

2011-07-11T01:49:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - Four bombs laid by suspected Patani freedom fighters wounded 12 people in the ethnic Malay province on Monday, in what one analyst said could be an attempt to draw the attention of the incoming administration of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to the problems of the region.

Thai police said three booby traps went off in quick succession at a rubber plantation in Yala province, the first blowing off the leg of a rubber tapper and the other two wounding security and bomb disposal officers sent to the scene.

They said the last bomb planted in a parked rubber plantation truck in another district of the same province destroyed the vehicle without causing any injury.

"This could be an attempt to draw the attention of the new government to problems in the Malay region, especially to the long-standing Malay Muslim demand for autonomy," said political science lecturer Srisompob Jitpiromsri of Srinakharin University in nearby Patani Province.

"Violent incidents tend to rise when there is a change of government. I would not be surprised if these incidents rise in the next month above the monthly average of 70-80 seen in the first half of this year," he said.

Even before the election, there was a spike in the number and scale of attacks in Yala, Patani and Narathiwat provinces, with Malay villagers, Thai soldiers and police among the victims of roadside blasts and ambushes.

Ethnic Malay Muslims represent the majority of the population in the southernmost provinces of predominantly Buddhist Thailand. About 4,600 people have been killed and nearly 9,000 wounded in violence since 2004.

Srisompob said Malay Muslims wanted to see if Yingluck would fulfil her campaign pledge to create a special administrative zone in the region, annexed by Thailand about a century ago.

"The Malay Muslims should respond well to any peace talk initiative or a move to create a special administrative zone, although I don't expect that to take place for at least five to six months while Yingluck's government deals with more immediate political problems in Bangkok," he said.

Yingluck's Puea Thai Party scored a landslide victory in the July 3 general election, winning 265 of 500 lower house seats, but its candidates failed to secure any of the 11 seats available in the three restive provinces.

Analysis: A debate over autonomy in the ethnic Malay region

2011-07-02T11:52:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - The motorcycle bomb burned the 27-year-old woman so badly her father only recognized her by a tattoo. She lost half her face and an arm in the attack by shadowy Muslim separatists in the ethnic Malay rigion.

"The wound was awful. She must have suffered enormously," said her father, Athorn Buakwan, a Buddhist farmer, as he held a framed photograph of his daughter and recalled his frantic search for her on the afternoon she was killed and 17 others were wounded in a market in the capital of Yala province.

That February 21 attack is one of many illustrating the growing sophistication of a Malay freedom fighters that has killed at least 4,500 people since 2004 in three ethnic Malay provinces, a region of dense jungles and rubber plantations just a few hours' drive from world-class beach resorts.

Contained within a far-flung fringe of Thailand, the conflict gets scant attention from international media. And yet the death toll it has brought over just seven years exceeds the casualties in Northern Ireland's three decades of troubles.

Now, as a security force of 60,000 to struggles to contain the violence, Thailand's July 3 election is reviving a debate over how to end it. With no easy answers and more violence looking inevitable, the campaign is touching a taboo in Buddhist Thailand: more political power for its minority Malay Muslims.

A central question is whether the provinces on Malaysia's doorstep - Yala, Narathiwat and Patani - should be allowed greater autonomy, a sensitive issue in Thailand which annexed the region in 1909 when it was an independent Malay sultanate.

Successive governments have sought, with mixed results, to assimilate the population into the Thai Buddhist mainstream.

About 94 percent of its 1.7 million people are Malay, the dominant Malay religion, and about 80 percent speak a Malay dialect as a first language, according to a 2010 survey by the San Francisco-based Asia Foundation.

They chafe at the presence of Buddhist provincial governors appointed by the Interior Ministry in Bangkok and want more say in their own affairs - from adding Islam and local history to a Buddhist-influenced Thai school curriculum to bilingual street signs in Thai and Malay.

"If you talk to people on all sides of the political divide they recognize the need for decentralization of power, but it is unspeakable," said Duncan McCargo, a professor of Southeast Asian politics at the University of Leeds.

"Admitting you need to decentralize power in the south is to admit there is a problem with the legitimacy of the Thai state. And to admit that is to go back to what the Thai state is based on, which is arguably the shibboleth of the nation, religion, king," he added. "Once you start to admit there is a problem with that, you are in danger of treasonous sentiments."

'THAIS ARE THAIS'

But the issue is making headlines. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva flew to Yala on Tuesday, promising more power to municipalities if his Democrat Party wins the election, a shift from past policies focused on economic and social development but not quite the semi-autonomy locals want.

After coming to power in 2008, he declared politics, not the army, would bring peace. But the unrelenting bloodshed, and the absence of a Muslim in his cabinet, could cost him votes.

After winning 11 of the region's 12 seats in a 2005 election, they took just five in the next poll in 2007. Locals say he will struggle to hold those.

His rival and national front-runner, Yingluck Shinawatra, a sister of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, said in Yala last week that she would turn the three provinces into a special administrative zone with one elected governor.

The proposal faced swift criticism from army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha, who was instrumental in the coup that toppled her brother. "Any action that may serve to undermine our strength or weaken state authority should be of concern," he said. "What is important is that Thais are Thais."

Not all Muslims embrace her idea, either. Fifty-one percent of those surveyed by the Asia Foundation opposed folding the provinces into a single elected government. Most want elected governors in all three provinces.

Yingluck has another problem: her brother is blamed for fuelling the dramatic rise in violence from 2004. He dismantled a southern security body and replaced it with an abusive and heavy-handed force. But while in power from 2001 to 2006, he appointed a Muslim to a ministerial role, winning some support.

Former army chief Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, a prominent Muslim who oversaw the 2006 coup, has launched his own party, Matubhum, and predicts he will win at least eight seats -- enough to have influence in a possible coalition government.

He reckons he can solve the conflict within the year. His solution: a ministry that would tackle the unrest and direct election of governors in the three provinces.

'LEANER AND MEANER'

The insurgency is becoming more tactical, better organized and more precise in its hits, experts say. In the first five months of this year, for instance, Patani frredom fighters set off five car bombs, compared with just three over the whole of 2010.

The number of violent incidents, mostly gunfire and bombs, averaged about 70 a month from January to May, killing an average 41 people a month, up slightly from last year.

"What is happening is that these guys are getting much better at what they do. In effect, they are today leaner and meaner," said Anthony Davis, an analyst at IHS Jane's, a global security consulting firm.

"They are getting a bigger bang for their buck in terms of the resources they put in - from manpower to time, intelligence and preparation. Consequently the casualty rate is higher."

The insurgents' goals are murky but are believed to involve separatism or at least greater autonomy. However, Western diplomats believe only about half of the violence is insurgency-related, with the rest linked to the drug trade or organized crime.

Most experts believe attacks are organized by the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) Coordinate, an offshoot of the Patani Malay National Revolutionary Front established in the 1960s to seek independence.

Another group, the Patani United Liberation Organization (PULO), publicly calls for a separatist state and claims to control much of the insurgency.

"I hope this election will bring a strong Thai government. For the past 10 years, it has been very weak governments who cannot make any decisions," said Kasturi Mahkota, foreign affairs chief of PULO who lives in Sweden and has led talks with the Thai government on ending the fighting.

He said talks were on hold pending the election after a meeting in May in Manila at which the government agreed, as a gesture of goodwill, to try to release a PULO militant who was arrested by Malaysian authorities in 1998 and remains in a Thai prison.

"If they release him, that would show us if their side has power enough to make decisions," said Kasturi.

INSURGENTS FEARED MORE THAN TROOPS

Amid the almost-daily violence, Muslims and Buddhists who lived harmoniously together for generations are increasingly drifting apart.

"In the past, we were friends with Muslims," said Athorn, whose daughter was killed. "Now, it's distant. Both sides fear one another. It looks like they want Buddhists out so they can rule the area."

More Muslims have been killed than Buddhists in the insurgency because they are often targeted for working for the state or businesses tied to Buddhists, or for refusing to cooperate with insurgents. Indeed, the Asia Foundation poll showed more people fear the insurgents than the military.

"When I leave for work, I feel scared," said Aminah Kaming, a soft-spoken 30-year-old Muslim in Lam Mai district whose husband was shot dead by suspected insurgents while cutting grass. There were no witnesses and, out of fear, she refuses to speculate over who killed him.

Patani guerrillas kill three in the ethnic Malay province

2011-06-21T12:11:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: SUSPECTED Patani guerrillas killed a Thai policeman and two local officials in Thailand's restive south on Monday, a day before Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was due to campaign in the region for the July 3 election, police said.

A Siamese policeman and a defence volunteer were shot dead by snipers in two separate incidents in Patani, and a village chief was killed in neighbouring Yala province.

All the victims died while riding on motorcycles.

There has been a spike in the number and scale of attacks in recent weeks in Yala, Patani and Narathiwat provinces, with Malay Muslim villagers, soldiers and police among the victims of roadside blasts and ambushes.

Ethnic Malay Muslims make up the majority of the population in these southernmost provinces of predominantly Buddhist Thailand. About 4,600 people have been killed and nearly 9,000 wounded in violence since 2004.

The Thai government and Thai military have sought to tackle the unrest with development projects and public relations campaigns to try to undermine support for the shadowy separatist rebels but the measures have made little progress and deep distrust exists between the army and local people.

Thai Policeman slain in Patani

2011-06-21T12:05:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: A traffic policeman was killed in an attack by two Patani guerrillas on a highway in Patani's Khok Pho district on Monday.

Thai Pol Col Rapipong Sukpaiboon, the district police chief, said Pol Sr Sgt-Maj Arwut Kongkhiew, 54, a traffic police officer of Khok Pho police station, was followed by two men on a motorcycle after he left the police station on his motorcycle to work along Khok Pho - Patani road in the Khok Pho municipality.

The two men overtook the him on the road and the pillion rider shot him in the head two times at a close range, killing him instantly.

The attackers stole the victim's 9mm pistol before fleeing.

Truckdriver shot, killed by guerrillas on Patani Rd

2011-05-31T01:46:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - Suspected Patani freedom fighters ambushed a six-wheel truck on the number 42 (Patani-Narathiwat) road in Patani's Teluban (Sai Buri) district late on Friday, killing the driver and injuring two passengers, Thai police said yesterday.

Thai Police found the body of driver Wannapot Jindarat, 74, in the burning cabin of the truck, following the attack at about 10pm.

Two injured passengers who fled the truck were rushed to a hospital.

The three victims had bought fish from Muang district and were going home to Sai Buri when they reached the U-turn point in Tambon Mendang Dalam.

Gunmen on motorcycles suddenly shot at the truck with an AK assault rifle and poured fuel on the truck to burn them.

Wannapot was killed while passengers Noppasin Foythong, 20, and retired policeman Jeklah Yakob, 64, managed to flee the burning vehicle.

Police blamed the attack on the Ethnic Malay freedom fighters.

Suspected freedom fighters kill 8 in the ethnic Malay region, including 4 police, 3 soldiers

2011-05-10T09:11:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - Thai Police say suspected Patani freedom fighters have killed eight people in several attacks in the ethnic Malay Region.

Thai Police Lt. Gen. Kong-att Suwannakham says Patani guerrillas detonated a homemade bomb Saturday near a football field in Patani province, killing four policemen and wounding a dozen others who had come to play a friendly match with villagers.

In Jala province, police say Patani freedom fighters set off a roadside bomb and shot at an army patrol, killing three Thai soldiers and wounding two. In Narathiwat province, two men on a motorcycle fatally shot a former local official in his pickup truck.

More than 4,300 people have been killed in predominantly Buddhist Thailand's three Malay-dominated provinces since an Malay-Islamist insurgency erupted there in 2004.
...

Gunmen kill 4 in Thai tea shop shooting

2011-05-04T07:53:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - GUNMEN opened fire on a group of villagers at a tea shop in the ethnic Malay region on Tuesday, killing four people and wounding 15 others, police said, the latest attack amid an upsurge of violence in the restive region bordering Malaysia.

Four assailants dressed in camouflaged uniforms and riding in the back of a pickup truck shot into the crowded tea shop in Bendang Setar, Jala province before fleeing the scene. Police blamed the attack on separatist rebels.

'They dressed like soldiers and we suspect that it was in an attempt to blame the attack on the authorities and add to distrust and anxieties,' Jala province governor Krisada Boonraj told Reuters.

The violence has killed more than 4,500 people, both Muslims and Buddhists, in the rubber-rich Jala, Patani and Narathiwat provinces bordering Malaysia since a decades-old separatist rebellion against the Buddhist-dominated Thai state resurfaced in January 2004.

The number of attacks has increased in recent months in what security analysts say could be an effort by a shadowy Patani preedom movement to counter government claims that its public relations and development campaigns were helping to contain the unrest.

Local Malays largely oppose the presence of tens of thousands of Thai police, soldiers and state-armed Buddhist guards in the three ethnic provinces, a region that was part an independent Malay Muslim sultanate known as Patani until annexed by Thailand a century ago. -- REUTERS

PATTANI GOVERNOR SURVIVES BOMB ATTACK

2011-04-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - Patani Governor Nipon Narapitakkul survived

a bomb attack in Patani today.

Thai Police Chief Pol Gen Pichet Pitiserttapan said a five-kilogramme

homemade bomb was hidden in a motorcycle and remotely detonated as the

governor''s car passed by in Panarek district, Patani, at 11.40am.

"The Thai governor escaped unhurt, except for a temporary hearing problem caused

by the impact of the explosion," he said.

The Thai governor was travelling to his office after officiating at the opening

of an English course at Aljamiah Al-Islamiah religious school in the district

when the attack occurred.

Two other passengers in the car also escaped unhurt and the car sustained

minor damage, he said.

More than 4,000 people have died since suspected separatists resumed their

armed campaign seven years ago to seek independence for the three provinces,

Narathiwat, Patani and Jala.

Indonesian help sought on conflict

2011-04-18T13:26:00.000-07:00

Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon and army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha will travel to Indonesia today to seek cooperation from Jakarta in trying to control the southern conflict.

An army source said Gen Prawit and Gen Prayuth were scheduled to meet today with the Indonesian defence minister and army chief to discuss issues related to the separatist movement and insurgency in Thailand's deep South.

An army source believes a meeting may also have been organised with Indonesian terrorism experts and people directly connected to insurgency groups.

Gen Prawit and Gen Prayuth left Thailand at 4am on an Air Force aircraft and will return from Indonesia tonight.

They were expected to ask for help in monitoring whether young members and sympathisers of the rebel group in the three southern border provinces _ Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat _ were receiving militant training in some parts of Indonesia or on some of its remote islands.

Many Thai-Muslim students in the southernmost provinces travel to Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population, to further their studies.

"Thai authorities fear that the movement [of southern rebels] may involve the JI [Jemaah Islamiyah, an al-Qaeda-linked militant group], so they want to ask Jakarta to closely monitor the matter," the source said.

Army intelligence indicates southern militants had been trained in Bandung, the capital of West Java province, about five years ago, the source said.

The meeting was said to have been arranged as an urgent matter by Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, who attended the Joint Boundary Committee meeting in Bogor, Indonesia, two weeks ago.

Indonesian authorities are thought to be organising contact between the Thai army officials and local experts and insiders of the insurgency groups.

Gen Prawit and Gen Prayuth learned of the trip only on Tuesday, according to the source.

One topic likely to be discussed was the possibility of allowing Indonesian observers to enter the disputed Thai-Cambodia border area around the Preah Vihear temple complex.

Car bomb kills one, injures 25 in Patani

2011-04-18T02:37:00.000-07:00

ARUSALAM - Police say suspected Patani guerrillas have set off a car bomb that killed one soldier and wounded 25 people in Ethnic Malay province.

Thais Police Col. Kritsada Kaewjandee says the improvised explosive device was planted in a car and exploded Monday morning as a pickup truck carrying paramilitary officers passed by in the city of Yala.

Yala is one of the three provinces in the ethnic Malay in Thailand where a Malay Muslim insurgency has killed 4,300 people since 2004.

Thai police officers examine the site where a bomb exploded in Yala province, on Monday. The blast killed one soldier and wounded six officers and 19 civilians.

In February, two deadly bombings using vehicles as decoys occurred in the same area.

Patani guerrillas were blamed for another blast Monday that injured two policemen in neighboring Narathiwat province.

2 troops killed by Patani guerrillas in Narathiwat

2011-04-15T08:27:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: Two troops were killed in a clash with Patani guerrillas in the ethnic Malay province on Monday morning.The clash occurred at a hill in Irsura village in Tambon Chang Puean in Chanae district at 8 am.Sgt Chanerin Kantha, 25, and Private Res Phetcharat were killed at the scene.Police said Chanerin led 7 troops to patrol the road on four motorcycles.When they arrived at the hill, they parked the motorcycles and went to check the hill where insurgents often attacked the authorities.The insurgents then opened fire at them, leading to a gunfight that lasted about 10 minutes.

Defence volunteer killled in Patani

2011-04-06T03:12:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: A village defence volunteer was shot dead at a fresh market in Patani's Nong Chik district on Tuesday morning.

Eyewitnesses told Thai police that while Amnuay Khongthong, 39, a defence volunteer and construction contractor, was buying vegetables at the fresh market of Khlong Khut village in tambon Tok jong one of four men who arrived on two motorcycles walked up to him and fired one shot in his head at a point-blank range with a handgun, killing him instantly.

The gunman fled on a waiting motorcycle.

Thai's Police were investigating whether the killing was from business conflict or an attack by Patani's guerrillas.

Patani guerrillas kill two Thai soldiers

2011-03-26T08:41:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSSALAM - Two Thai soldiers were killed in a gunfight with Patani guerrillas on Monday in the ethnic Malay region, the latest deaths in a recent intensification of violence.

The soldiers were part of a unit on a routine patrol when they came under fire in a mountainous area of Narathiwat, one of three ethnic Malay provinces bordering Malaysia.

A 10-minute gunbattle ensued and the two soldiers were killed. The Patani guerrillas fled the scene.

It followed a similar shootout in Yala province on Saturday, in which two Patani guerrillas Syahid.

More than 4,500 people have been killed in violence since 2004 in the ethnic Malay region, where shadowy Patani freedom fighters are waging a bloody rebellion against the Thai state. The rest of Thailand is predominantly Buddhist.

The 40,000 troops deployed in the rubber-rich region have made little progress in quelling the unrest and some analysts say the government's economic and military measures will fail because of its reluctance to seek a political solution. PINA

Troop killed in Patani

2011-02-19T01:50:00.000-08:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - An army sergeant was killed in a drive-by shooting in the ethnic Malay province of Patani on Thursday morning.Sgt Abdullah Kalong, 31, was shot by a pillion rider while he was riding his motorcycle to work.The shooting occurred at 8:20 am on the Patani-Jala Road in Mukim Bukit tom in Yarang (Benjar lima district.Police said Abdullah was shot at his head and body.His wife, who was his pillion rider, suffered bruises after his motorcycle fell down.

Suspected Patni freeddom fighters kill six Thai soldiers in Patani Darusalam

2011-01-20T02:38:00.000-08:00

PATANI DARUSALAM, Suspected Patani freedom fighters have stormed an army camp in province of Narathiwat, killing six soldiers and wounding 14 others, Thai officials said Thursday.

More than 20 armed assailants attacked the camp in Rangae district, 730 kilometres south of Bangkok, late Wednesday as the soldiers were preparing to eat, Thai army spokesman Colonel Banpot Phupian said.

"The Patani freedom fughters took the camp by surprise because everyone was getting ready for dinner.

The raid left six Thai soldiers dead and 14 wounded, according to Narathiwat Thai colonialis Governor Chanon Vejchakanont. The Patani freedom fighters, believed to be Patani guerrillas, fled to a nearby hill without sustaining injuries after seizing 50 semi-automatic rifles and 5,000 bullets.

The Thai military Thursday morning dispatched 2,000 soldiers to hunt down the Patani guerrillass.

"This attack was made in an effort to discredit the government's recent claims that they had restored stability to the area," Chanon said.

The attacked army camp is situated less than a kilometre from Jaw Hai Long village, where Patani guerrillas raided a military arms depot in January 2004, killing five soldiers and making off with 350 semi-automatic rifles.

That raid was seen as a turning point for a long-simmering separatist movement in the mainly Muslim deep South, comprising Patani, Narathiwat and Jala provinces.

After the 2004 raid, the army launched a series of attacks on the Patani freedom fighters, including an assault on a centuries-old mosque, that further antagonized the local population. The violence has claimed more than 4,100 lives over the last seven years.

The deadly attack came at a time when the Thai government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said it had made progress in restoring peace to the area.

Last month, the cabinet revoked emergency law in Mae Lan district of Patani province, claiming stability had been restored there. In a visit to the region last week, Abhisit said he hoped to lift the draconian law in the entire region soon.The emergency decree allows authorities to make arrests without charges, detain suspects for weeks and grants security forces some immunity from prosecution for actions carried out in the line of duty.

The region of 2 million inhabitants was an independent Malay sultanate until it was conquered by Bangkok about 200 years ago. Ethnic Malay Muslims have never wholly submitted to rule by the central government.

Village chief killed in Malay province of Narathiwat

2011-01-07T05:39:00.000-08:00

PATANI DARUSSALAM: A village headman was shot dead by two suspected Patani Guerrillas in the province of Narathiwat on Friday morning.

The Thai Pol Lt-Col Chalerm Yingkhong, a duty officer at the Rangae district police station in Narathiwat, said Singchai Salae, 37, the headman of Tanyong Limo village of Narathiwat, was travelling on a motorcycle to a tea shop in the village when he was attacked by two men who followed him on another motorcycle.

The pillion rider opened fire at him with an AK47 rifle. When the victim and his motorcycle fell on the road, the other man fired more shots at him with a handgun, killing him instantly. The two attackers took a pistol from Singchai before fleeing the scene.

Thai Police said Singchai had earlier survived two similar attacks.

Thai Police have not concluded if the Patani guerrillas responsible for the attack.

Since the resurgence of insurgency in 2004 in three ethnic Malay provinces, Jala, Patani, Narathiwat, altogether more than 4,400 local people have been killed and about 7,000 injured in more than 10,000 violent incidents instigated by suspected secessionists. PINA

2 Thai rangers injured in Patani attack

2010-09-22T08:49:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSSALAM - Two Thai rangers were injured when Patani guerrillas attacked their post inside a school in this ethnic Malay province at noon Wednesday.

The 44th Thai Ranger Post inside the Bang Thung Yangdaeng School was attacked by about seven or eight Patani guerrillas who arrived on a pick-up truck.

While the Patani guerrillas on the pick-up truck opened fire at the base, another group of guerrillas hiding on the roadside also joined in the bombardment against the base.

Thai Police said the Patani guerrillas attacked the base for about ten minutes before retreating.

When police rushed at the scene to reinforce the rangers, the Patani guerrillas also detonated a bomb hidden in a motorcycle to try to slow down the Thai police. But the bomb did not cause any injury.

The two injured Thai rangers were identified as Somsong Jamsen, 29, and Chamnan Thongrod, 35.

This is the reality of death is Imanuddin Bin Harun

2010-08-22T10:02:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSSALAM: Cruelty to violence occurred in the Southern Region of Thailand ( Patani ) . Perhaps the term ' cruel . cruel, perikemanusiaan'ini normal for us , but until when this will continue? ! In the recent occurrence of a brutal murder of a 20-year -old youth named Imaduddin Bin Harun.

comes late in Narathiwat Jelutong residing in Malaysia and was also late berkuliah in Indonesia . If viewed in the creation of this murder is murder is planned and who plan was already clear and sure Siamese Laknatullah .

During the day Saturday, August 7, 2010 late Imanuddin bin Harun went to Sungai Golok bersamatemannya . During his machete River has lured by a group of men who introduced themselves as members of the Security . The man was arrest and release of his brother. According to friends of the arrests made one of them has shown the hand signals ' mark slaughter ' and shown to the deceased . During the arrest the deceased is known to disguise Militer Siamese or Tahank Phran have contacted his friends in Malaysia .

On Sunday , about two hours of the evening , the deceased had requested to contact the father went to the river because the chopper is important . In the telephone conversation was abruptly cut off the relationship and the father could not contact him after that.

On Sunday evening the incident to inform his friends of his father . His friend was informed that during the arrest one of them shows the hand ' sign slaughter 'is shown on the late , the signal has been seen by friends late .

During the telephone conversation between the deceased and her father , her father heard her voice appeals as there is something behind the call and know that the late punished because the weaker tone late . His father was convinced that there is deception behind the call and can not do anything because the call is disconnected and can not be in contact again .

The deceased was brutally tortured on Saturday until 4 pm Sunday he died . Through significant effect seen in the picture looks at victim's body burns due to the effects ditusuk with hot iron , lehir slaughtered in front and back , stabbed by four stab , and the kelar the body with a knife . The body was discovered by a young man into the garden to take petai and he heard a voice ask him to go help but see the next day because they do not dare . by the youth, the place has always been a dump site that was crushed by the Siamese body . ( Stops Weng elbow .

Menteri Pertahanan M’sia-Thailand akan melawat Jala

2010-08-09T02:43:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSSALAM: Menteri Pertahanan Malaysia dan Thailand akan melawat wilayah Jala, Disember ini bagi meninjau kegiatan sosioekonomi di wilayah suku Melayu ini. Menteri Pertahanan Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi berkata lawatan itu adalah susulan lawatan Perdana Menteri kedua-dua negara ke wilayah Menara pada Disember tahun lepas.

Malaysia, katanya komited untuk membantu wilayah suku Melayu bagi mewujudkan mikro kredit bagi memberi pinjaman kepada peniaga kecil dan sederhana.

“Peruntukan tidak datang dari Malaysia tetapi mekanisme pinjaman akan menggunakan kaedah seperti program Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia,” katanya selepas menghadiri Mesyuarat Jawatankuasa Sempadan Am, di sini.

Lawatan bersama dengan Menteri Pertahanan Thailand General Prawit Wongsuwan itu kelak akan turut mengkaji kaedah mengendalikan urusan jemaah haji di wilayah suku melayu itu seperti kaedah simpanan Tabung Haji di Malaysia, katanya.

“Ia bertujuan mengelakkan para penduduk di wilayah suku Melayu itu menjual tanah untuk mendapatkan wang bagi mengerjakan haji,” katanya.

Ahmad Zahid berkata majlis agama di wilayah-wilayah suku Melayu itu akan menguruskan simpanan para penduduk untuk mengerjakan haji, di samping dana yang boleh digunakan untuk membangunkan sosioekonomi penduduk suku Melayu.

Bagi membangunkan tanah wakaf di wilayah-wilayah terbabit untuk tujuan ekonomi seperti membangunkan rumah kedai, Yayasan Wakaf Malaysia juga bersedia membantu bagi tujuan itu, katanya.

Thailand juga bersetuju kurikulum sekolah agama di Malaysia dijadikan kurikulum tambahan bagi pengajian agama sistem pondok di wilayah-wilayah suku Melayu, katanya.

Beliau mempelawa badan-badan bukan kerajaan dan syarikat berkaitan kerajaan di Malaysia membantu menyumbang kepada pembangunan sosioekonomi di wilayah berkenaan.

“Semua ini dilakukan oleh Malaysia dengan niat tidak mencampuri urusan dalaman negara itu dan telah dipersetujui oleh kerajaan Thailand bagi mengurangkan ketegangan di wilayah-wilayah suku Melayu itu,” katanya.

Ahmad Zahid berkata ketegangan di wilayah-wilayah terbabit antara lain disebabkan kekurangan peluang kerjaya dan peluang ekonomi untuk dinikmati oleh rakyat.

Kira-kira 4,100 orang terkorban sejak kebangkitan penduduk suku Melayu menyambung kempen bersenjata bagi memerdekakan wilayah suku Melayu Patani, Jala, Menara, setul dan empat daerah dalam wilayah Senggora yang masih bercakap bahasa Melayu enam tahun lalu sehingga kini.

71 attacks last month

2010-08-09T02:35:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSSALAM: Some 71 violent incidents took place in Jala, Patani and Menara last month. All up a total of 39 people were killed and 57 others injured, a source from a national security unit said yesterday.

The most frequent tactic was suspected Patani guerrillas ambushing people (37 incidents), followed by bomb attacks (20 cases).

Patani had the most attacks at 28 incidents, followed by Menara - 26 - and Jala with 20 incidents.

In related news, a 32-year-old ranger was killed in an ambush in Jala's Ku Pinang district yesterday, Thai police said. Corporal Suchart Suadam was killed by at least four Patani guerrillas while riding his motorcycle in Paejaeng village in tambon Sa-ek at 10.40am. The Patani guerrillas took the ranger's rifle before fleeing from the scene

It's a hard battle against an enemy one cannot see

2010-08-06T00:30:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSSALAM: Options are running out in the South ; it 's time to open up the dialogue on legitimacy

On Thursday last week in Jala 's Bendang Setar district , two news Malay Muslim Guerrillass took on about 50 police and soldiers in a standoff that lasted nearly six hours . One Army Corporal was shot in the leg , very likely from friendly fire , given the high number of security officials commencing fire .

In typical news coverage by the vernacular press , the 50 security officers were Presented as heroes who defended the limits of Thailand 's sovereignty against Malay Muslims Bent on carving out a chunk of the country for the local news population .

For the sake of argument , let 's strip away the Uniforms and identities of the participants of this recent gun battle and see the event for what it was . Two Armed men , outgunned and outnumbered , holding up 50 Armed security personnel for so long was not a bad Saturday - if one wants to look at it in those terms. The two men certainly did not have the national press behind them , either. How the Thai media and government so proud Troops could be given those kinds of odds , we'll never know .

But while the Thai authorities were painted as heroes , more Sensible officials and observers said THEY were disturbed by what happened limit . Besides the existence of a number of kleptomaniacs among the rank and file ( Expensive bird cages apparently being their favorite targets ) , Sensible these officials are concerned that more and more militants are willing to die rather then Surrender .

The father of one of the two suspects at the Bendang Setar standoff tried to urge the two men to Surrender . His son replied : " Go prepare my gravesite , Dad . "

Similar Incidents in the past have seen insurgents destroying their mobile phones to make sure that investigators could not trace their fellow militants . That may be a small task , but nevertheless it reflects their level of commitment and their state of mind as THEY prepare for their last moments on earth .

It 's one thing to come across the militants while conducting routine patrols . But when the militants are cornered with nowhere to run or hide , and decide to fight to the death , one can safely assume that the conflict has taken on a different meaning . Their level of commitment is Unquestionable .

Of course , no government official or security officer would express such a view on the record because it does not follow the media script for domestic Consumption .

The standoff in Banang SATA was not the first of its kind , and almost certainly will not be the last . A number of similar Incidents have ended the same way . In November 2009 in Pattani 's Khok Pho district , six gunmen were eventually surrounded and gunned down because THEY refused to Surrender .

But behind the media coverage that follows feelgood Incidents such is a long and hard road that will lead to more deaths on both sides .

No one can really say how or why the insurgency has degenerated to this point . Does it reflect the militants ' commitment to a free Pattani ?

It could be that they are presented with that all the international human rights agreements Thailand has signed over the years will still not guarantee them a fair trial or due process ? Certainly the culture of impunity in the Thai security forces has long been a problem .

To what extent Islam has played a part ? If it has played a large role , why have not Muslims around the country become involved in the conflict or made a big stink about what 's going on in the deep South . There is no clear - cut answer to any of these questions.

But as long as the government continues with a simplistic , zero -sum game and does not open up the discourse on the legitimacy of the Thai state in the news historical Homeland , the end will be nowhere in sight .

Even if Thai Troops succeeded in Killing all the current militants , the same grievances and spirit that gave rise to this generation of separatists will certainly give rise to the next .

Conducting a counter - Patani freedom fighter is one thing . But how does one come out " bête "against enemies who are willing to fight to the death ? You can not

No ceasefire at all as claimed by insurgents : ISOC

2010-07-14T11:52:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSSALAM: Internal Security Operation Command (ISOC) on Wednesday denied reports that Malay-Muslim separatist organisations unilaterally suspended organised attacks in three districts of Narathiwat province.

The Patani Malay Liberation Movement had issued a statement over the weekend, claiming that the unilateral cease-fire - billed as a confidence-building measure - was implemented in Rangae, Yingor and Choh I-Rong districts from June 10 until July 10.

ISOC's spokesman Col Banpot Poonpien said that several attacks still happened in the province during the period the movement claimed to conduct the ceasefires

"During the period of their said ceasefires, a bomb attack took place on June 18 in Joh I Rong district. The attacks which could be linked to the movement also happened in several areas of the province," the spokesman said.

The spokesman said that ten attacks, one bomb attack and nine drive-by shootings, took place in the three districts between June 10 and July 10. Six people were killed and six others injured.

He also said that the army has never had any secret talks with the movement and other separatists' groups.

Fourth Army Region's Commander Lt Gen Pichet Wisaijorn has expressed doubts why the announcement of the ceasefires were released to the media as the ceasefires nearly finished.

"The aim of this limited cease-fire was two-fold: to indicate the movement's sincerity in wanting to hold a dialogue on the political future of the southern provinces, and at the same time to demonstrate the movement's command and control in the area," according to a statement sent to The Nation by the Patani Malay Liberation Movement.

The PMLM's statement claimed, "The aim of this limited cease-fire was two-fold: to indicate the movement's sincerity in wanting to hold a dialogue on the political future of the southern provinces, and at the same time to demonstrate the movement's command and control in the area."

The PMLM is a joint working group made up of members from the Patani United Liberation Organisation (Pulo) and representatives from the Barisan Revolusi Nasional-Coordinate (BRN-C). Pulo and BRN emerged in the late 1960s but collapsed in the late 1980s following a blanket amnesty that crippled their armed resistance.

PMLM spokesman Kasturi Mahkota, who is also vice president of Pulo, said the "modalities of the suspension of hostilities covered only organised attacks on the security forces and attacks on government targets".

Nine killed in two days of attacks in the malay region

2010-07-03T13:02:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSSALAM: - Nine Thai people, including six military personnel, have been killed in two days of bomb and gun attacks in the ethnic Malay's provinces Friday.

A roadside bomb late Thursday killed three military rangers on patrol in Jabat (Ruso) district in Narathiwat, one of three ethnic Malay provinces near the Malaysian border.

A security volunteer and a deputy village headman travelling with them also died in the attack by suspected Islamist separatists, police said.

The bomb, containing about 20 kilos (45 pounds) of explosives, was buried in a dirt road and detonated by wire. The attackers then opened fire on the vehicle and seized weapons before fleeing the scene.

In a separate incident, three soldiers were killed when a bomb blast ripped through their patrol vehicle Friday in neighbouring Yala province.

A 46-year-old ethnic Malay village leader also died on the way to hospital after she was shot Friday in a drive-by shooting in Mayo district in Patani province.

They said her son, a security volunteer, had been shot dead two months ago.

More than 4,100 people -- both Siamese and Malays -- have been killed in the region in six years of attacks led by a shadowy mix of Patani guerrillas.

The rebels have targeted both ethnic Siamese and Malays with shootings, bombings and gruesome methods such as beheadings and crucifixions.

The Ethnic Malay region was an autonomous Malay Muslim sultanate until it was annexed in 1902 by mainly Buddhist Thailand and tensions have simmered there ever since, flaring up into the current insurgency in January 2004.

Successive governments have struggled to contain the unrest in the area, where there is a heavy military presence and emergency rule has been imposed for nearly five years, giving the army broad powers.

Rights groups have warned that alleged abuses by the security forces in the region risk stoking the unrest.

According to New York-based Human Rights Watch, Patani freedom fighters appear to have stepped up their attacks in retaliation for the death in "suspicious circumstances" of a 25-year-old suspected Patani freedom fighters in May.

Hunt on for Patani freedom fighters over bombing near school

2010-06-16T02:59:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSSALAM: - A school in Jala's Bendang Seta district was closed as Thai authorities hunted for Patani freedom fighters who planted a bomb nearby, killing one paramilitary official and injuring three others yesterday morning.

The bomb attack took place at 8am on the road 300 metres from Ban Bacho School, injuring four paramilitary officials, one fatally.

Corporal Sakkarin Maneeprawat, 26, was pronounced dead on reaching hospital. Forensic officials suspect the bomb weighing about 3-5 kilograms was placed in a metal box and detonated by cellphone.

The bomb went off when |the eight-strong paramilitary| unit patrolling the area on foot to provide security to local teachers passed by.

Bendang Seta district chief Methree Kanchanapangkha said that following the bomb attack, Ban Bacho School was temporarily closed for the day to allow security officials to carry out investigations.

The schoolteachers' to-and-from-home routes must be secured as the Malayu-Patani National Day approaches. Patani freedom fighters have given importance to the day and increased attacks that particularly targeted teachers and state officials, he said.

Meanwhile, Anwa Tosae, a 36-year-old villager of Ban Hutae Majae in Patani's Sai Buri district, was shot dead by two men on a motorcycle on Monday night.

The victim was riding his motorcycle back home from a football field. Police are unclear whether the killing was due to a personal conflict or a part of the ongoing violence in the region

Bomb blasts kill two, injure 28 in Jala City

2010-05-28T06:37:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSSALAM: - Suspected Patani freedom fighters on Wednesday detonated two bombs in Jala city, killing two people and injuring 28, Thai officials said.

The first bomb was placed in a motorcycle parked outside a car showroom while a second motorcycle bomb went off outside a nearby photo shop, killing two civilians Thailnad, authorities said.

Thai Major General Jamrong Khunsong blamed the blasts on Patani freedom fighters.

Three Malay ethnic provinces - Menara, Patani and Jala - have seen an upsurge in violence over the past six years from a long-simmering Patani freedom movement based in the region.

An estimated 4,000 people have died in clashes, bombings, revenge killings and beheadings in the three ethnic Malay provinces since 2004.

The Patani freedom movement, an amorphous group of Patani freedom fighting for greater autonomy or independence, have adopted eye-for-an-eye tactics to avenge any show of force by authorities.

Of the 300,000 Siamese who once lived in the region, about 80,000 have left since Patani guerrillas raided an army depot in January 2004, killing four soldiers and making off with 300 weapons, leading to an escalation of the region's long-simmering Patani guerrillas struggle.

The incident sparked a series of brutal government crackdowns, which turned many of the area's 4 million people, 90 per cent of whom are ethnic Malay, against the Thai colonialis.

Although the region, which centuries ago was the independent Malay Islamic sultanate of Patani, was conquered by Bangkok about 200 years ago, it has never wholly submitted to Thai rule.

Analysts said the region's Muslim population, the majority of whom speak a Malay dialect and follow Malay customs, feels alienated from the predominantly Buddhist Thai state.

Bomb attacks on Patani police station kills 2, injures 61

2010-04-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSSALAMa; - Two bomb attacks within a couple of hours on Thai colonial police station in Patani yesterday morning killed two policeman, injured 61 others and caused massive property damage.

The first was a grenade attack during morning assembly. Two men on a motorcycle lobbed a grenade at a group of 60 police officers standing in line for their daily briefing shortly after the national anthem was played at 8am. The M-67 grenade exploded immediately, forcing the officers to take cover and injuring around half of them.

Thai colonial Pol Senior Sgt-Major Somphong Khongdam later succumbed to his wounds, while Pol Major Koomatthana Benjamana regained consciousness though she sustained serious injuries. Three cars were also damaged by the blast.

Security camera footage later showed the attackers as 30 to 35-year-old men with large builds. The man on the pillion seat was seen wearing a white cap while the rider wore a safety helmet. Sketches of both suspects based on enhanced images will soon be issued.

Ten eyewitnesses have provided useful information which will be kept confidential, the police said. Additional footage from shops' security cameras is also being obtained.

At around 10.30am, a car bomb exploded at a nearby parking space, injuring 17 people including eight adult civilians and a boy, as well as damaging 20 vehicles.

A live RPG round was also found abandoned in the area and defused. Police said it was meant to multiply the attack once the primary device exploded.

An unknown type of explosive was planted on a Toyota Vios with no known license plate numbers. Police are also preparing to inspect a motorcycle parked near the vehicle. The bomb exploded shortly before an explosives disposal unit arrived at the site following a tip off.

Senior police officers are investigating to see why the bomb attacks were successful despite intelligence alerts urging precaution. This is the fourth time that this police station in the strife-torn southern province has been attacked.

According to a Public Health Ministry statement, one person was killed and 61 injured, with four in serious condition.

Of the injured, 45 are police officers who are undergoing treatment at Patani hospital and another hospital in Songkhla province.

Tiga terbunuh, 300 cedera dalam rusuhan di Bangkok

2010-04-10T09:46:00.000-07:00

BANGKOK 10 April - Sekurang-kurangnya tiga orang terbunuh dan lebih 300 lagi tercedera selepas berlaku rusuhan antara pasukan keselamatan dan para penunjuk perasaan antikerajaan hari ini.

Seorang jurugambar Jepun adalah antara yang terkorban dalam rusuhan terbaru di ibu negara Thailand itu. - AFP

Bomb blast hits Jala, injuring seven soldiers

2010-04-09T10:29:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSSALAM - A bomb attack in Jala's Than Toh district injured seven soldiers on Tuesday morning

The blast at a roadside pavillion happened at about 10.15am. Bomb squads rushed to the scene and found four soldiers seriously wounded while three others slightly injured.

The four are Sgt Maj Boonleh Kerdthong, 49, Sgt Nopparat Into, 40, Private Nuttavudh Bunnam, 22 and Private Jakrit Puangthong, 22.

Initial investigation showed that the seven were engineer
soldiers, surveying the site to construct a bridge in the district when the explosive went off.

It was suspected that the Patani guerrillas dug a pit at a tree near the construction site and hid the explosives. They waited for the soldiers to be at the scene before triggering them. - PINA

Six killed in the ethnic Malay region south Thailand

2010-04-01T16:03:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSSALAM; - Suspected Patani guerrillas shot dead six ethnic Siam in the ethnic province on Thursday, Thai police said, the latest attack in the troubled region bordering Malaysia.

The villagers in Narathiwat province were believed to have been ambushed, said police Colonel Sanit Suwanno. Two bodies were found in a pick-up truck and four were discovered in a hilly forest nearby, he added.

Ten Thai policemen and soldiers were also wounded when a roadside bomb exploded as they were travelling to the scene of the shootings.

More than 4,000 people have been killed in six years of unrest as ethnic Malay Muslims fight for autonomy from Thailand's Buddhist majority in the region just a few hours by car from some of Thailand's best-known tourist beaches.

Local Malay largely oppose the presence of tens of thousands of police, soldiers and state-armed Buddhist guards in rubber-rich region, which was part of a Malay Muslim sultanate until annexed by Thailand a century ago.

About 80 percent of Thailand's three southern provinces of Patani, Jala and Narathiwat are Malay.

The violence has ranged from drive-by shootings to bombings and beheadings. It often targets Buddhists and Muslims associated with the Thai state, such as police, soldiers, government officials and teachers.

Second policeman dies from Jala bomb

2010-03-15T11:32:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSSALAM: - A Thai police officer who drove for Pol Colonel Sompian Eksomya - the hero killed by a roadside bomb in Jala last Friday, also succumbed to his wounds yesterday.

Pol Snr Sgt Major Sophon Intharaborown was pronounced dead at 2.28pm at Yala General Hospital after three days in intensive care.

Two other police - Lieutenant Kittisak Loma and Corporal Rawikorn Sangsiri - were also |seriously wounded.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will preside over Sompian's cremation on Wednesday at Klong Play Temple in Senggora, his home province.

Thai National Police spokesman Maj- General Pongsapat Pongcharoen said Ratchawit Phoowaphongphithak, Sompian's youngest son, could also embark on a police career through a separate process if he wished.

Pol Corporal Rojjanin Phoowaphongphithak, another son of Sompian, could request a transfer away from the deep South where he had been stationed, at the request of Sompian's widow, Phimchana Phoowaphong-phithak, he said.

The special measures were expected to be approved today - with Rojjanin set to be moved to an Immigration Police unit in Songkhla's Hat Yai district and Ratchawit allowed to be based in Songkhla with Khor Hong district police to stay near his mother, after he was officially recruited.

Bangkok Regime Abhisit Vejjajiva, in his weekly televised morning address, granted special permission for Ratchawit to enlist. He also extended his condolences to Sompian's family.

Former Thai National Police chief Seripisut Temiyavej said senior police were being held responsible for Sompian's death after taking their time to process his transfer after it had been approved in principle, especially the leadership of the Police Operations Command Centre in the Malay region.

"His superiors should have realised that an officer nearing 60 years of age deserves a rest, even without his request for a transfer," he said.

Colonel Wichai Intharawong, chief of Kantang district police in Trang, which Sompian had specified as his next destination, said he took this position without favouritism from his superiors and expressed sorrow for Sompian's death.

"Police are transferred at superiors' orders and I never knew before that Sompian also wanted to take this post," he said.

Wichai, a veteran of more than 10 years of anti-insurgency missions in the restive region, said he was close to Sompian and served with him until two years ago when he was transferred away from the deep South, to his current position.

12 injured in Patani bomb attack

2010-02-20T01:03:00.000-08:00

PATANI DARUSSALAM - Twelve people were injured when Patani guerrillas detonated a bomb near the provincial prison Thursday morning.

Thai Police said the explosion occurred at 7:45 am on the road near the Patani Central Prison.

While Thai police rushed to check the scene, they spotted another bomb hidden on the roadside. Police detonated the second bomb by firing at it.

Thai Police said Patani guerrillas hid the first bomb inside a motorcycle and parked it outside the prison and detonated it, injuring 12 passers-by. The Patani guerrillas apparently planned to detonate the second bomb to ambush police who came to inspect the scene - PINA

Two Bomb Attacks in ethnic Malay region Injure Nine Thai Soldiers

2010-01-25T00:42:00.000-08:00

PATANI DARUSSALAM: - Patani guerrillas in the ethnic Malay Region have struck again. Nine Thai soldiers in Narathiwat and Patani provinces were injured in two recent bomb attacks.

The first bomb attack took place on a road in Patani province. The bomb damaged a pick-up truck carrying soldiers.

50 meters away from the damaged truck, a hole caused by the explosion was found, along with shreds of the explosive device.

The Thai soldiers on the pickup truck were carrying out their mission to strengthen relations with the villagers when the bomb buried in the road was detonated under their truck.

Three Thai soldiers survived the attack but were badly injured. All are volunteer ranger soldiers.

The other bomb attack took place in Narathiwat province and inflicted minor injuries to six soldiers. Shreds from the explosive device were found on a road in Ra-ngae district of Narathiwat province.

The bomb was believed to be hidden in a picnic-sized gas cylinder. A damaged black Ford pickup truck was also found at the scene.

Thai Senior Colonel Banpot Pulpian, spokesman to the Internal Security Operations Command Region 4, revealed following the arrest of 46-year-old Wan Muahamed Nor Kuveganor on January 22nd, that Wan Muhamed Nor belongs to a leading Patani guerrillas group.

He acted as the coordinator of the group as well as the trainer of the members. He also presided over a vow-taking rite for the new recruits.

His arrest is said to be very valuable to the authorities' ongoing effort to suppress the insurgency in the ethnic Malay region (South Thailand).

Bombs as Bangkok regime visits ethnic Malay region

2010-01-10T10:45:00.000-08:00

PATANI DARUSSALAM: - Suspected Patani guerrillas detonated two bombs in the ethnic Malay region on Thursday, killing one person, as Regime Bangkok Abhisit Vejjajiva visited the Malay Muslim-majority region, Thai officials said.

The first blast was just 100 metres (yards) from where Abhisit was later due to open a road in the town of Jala, and slightly wounded three policemen who were part of the security team for the trip, Thai police and the military said.

The second, also in Jala but about two kilometres (one and half miles) away, was a more powerful bomb blast that killed a civilian defence volunteer and left a large crater, the Thai army said.

"His body was totally torn apart," Thai army commander Major General Wichet Visaijorn told reporters. "The Patani freedom fighters staged this violent attack to draw attention."

Thai Police said they had defused a third bomb.

More than 4,100 people have died during a six-year anti-Thai Colonial insurgency across the Malay region, led by a shadowy mix of ethnic Malay and Patani freedom fighters who never publicly state their goals.

Speaking to members of government-backed civilian militias in Jala, Abhisit said that the government would this year freeze the number of troops in the region, currently at 60,000 troops, and start to cut forces within two years.

"If we want to restore peace that cannot be achieved by deploying enormous forces from outside the region. At least this year the government will freeze forces and by 2012 troops will start to reduce," he said.

He also promised a 20-billion-baht (60 million dollar) stimulus package for the region to help double the average annual income to 120,000 baht (3,636 dollars) within five years.

But he urged the militia members, known as rangers, to work with local people and avoid rights abuses because Patani freedom fighters could use them as a pretext for more attacks.

Militias and security forces in the region have been accused of widespread abuses by rights groups.

Thai army chief Anupong Paojinda said that there were an estimated 10,000 Patani guerrillas active in the region.

In other violence in the Ethnic Malay region, gunmen on motorcycles Wednesday shot dead a Ethnic Siam man who ran the local meteorology department in a district of Patani.

A 25-year-old Patani guerrillas was shot and killed the same day in Narathiwat provincial town after he clashed with a security team that was clearing the area ahead of Abhisit's visit.

Thai authorities have mobilised more than 2,000 security forces plus eight helicopters to protect Abhisit and senior ministers as they open roads, give gifts to children and visit a model village during the trip.

It comes just one month after the Thai premier visited the region with his Malaysian counterpart to rename a bridge between the two countries.

Tensions have simmered in the south with occasional flare-ups since predominantly Buddhist Thailand annexed the former Malay Muslim sultanate in 1902.

Patani freedom fighters launch bomb attack in Jala hours before Bangkok Regime visit

2010-01-08T06:19:00.000-08:00

PATANI DARUSSALAM: - Patani freedom fighters launched a bomb attack near the place where Bangkok Regime Abhisit Vejjajiva will chair the ceremony to open the Jala-Patani highway Thursday morning. One police man was injured.

The explosion occurred near a bus stop in Muang district at 8:10 am. The explosion happened just about 150 metres away from the spot where Abhisit will chair the opening ceremony of the Jala-Patani Highway No 418 at 10:30 am.

Thai colonial Police Corporal Chaiyuth Borwornsak was injured by the bomb.

Thai colonial Police said the bomb was detonated by a mobile phone

Rejim Bangkok perlu ubah pendekatan

2009-12-08T15:30:00.000-08:00

PATANi DARUSSALAM - Rejim Bangkok perlu mengubah pendekatan dan mengadakan rundingan dengan kumpulan pejuang Pembebasan Patani bagi mencari penyelesaian politik, sekali gus menamatkan konflik berdarah di tiga wilayah di penduduk suku Malayu.

Hampir enam tahun berlalu sejak tercetus kembali pergolakan di Patani, Jala, Menara dan 4 daerah di wilayah Senggora, namun tidak banyak kemajuan yang ditunjukkan oleh kerajaan Thailand untuk menangani konflik itu dan adalah penting untuk menukar pendekatan," demikian menurut Kumpulan Krisis Antarabangsa (ICG).

Badan pemantau, Deep South Watch berkata, lebih 4,000 orang terbunuh dalam kekerasan di wilayah-wilayah bergolak di kawasan suku Melayu.

"Banyak yang pendapat bahawa dengan politik yang boleh penyelesaian masalah di wilayah-wilayah suku Melayu iaitu membuka ruang untuk perbincangan.

"Sekiranya rejim Bangkok serius untuk menangani konflik, ia perlu mengubah haluannya. Ini adalah arah baru yang turut menggunakan cara dialog atau berunding dengan kumpulan Pejuang Pembebasan Patani," kata pengarah projek ICG Asia Tenggara, Jim Della-Giacoma.

Laporan itu menyatakan bahawa cubaan menyelesaikan masalah yang timbul dengan pelan rangsangan ekonomi adalah gagal dan bajet kerajaan sebanyak 54 bilion baht untuk projek pembangunan selama tiga tahun mungkin tidak berhasil, mewujudkan ruang untuk berlaku rasuah dan memburukkan lagi keadaan di sana.

Penganalisis berpendapat, konflik di wilayah suku Melayu lebih berupa masalah etnik nasionalis dan walaupun terdapat khabar angin mengenai campur tangan luar, tidak wujud bukti ia adalah perjuangan ekstremis.

ICG yang merupakan pertubuhan bukan berasaskan keuntungan, berusaha mencegah atau menyelesaikan konflik dunia dan setakat ini telah mengumpulkan laporan menyeluruh tentang masalah di wialay suku Melayu (selatan Thailand).

Laporan itu menyatakan bahawa pihak tentera Thailand menghalang kerja-kerja pentadbiran awam dan menentang tindakan menarik-balik perintah darurat dan undang-undang tentera di sana.

Masyarakat Melayu di selatan Thai tidak bersetuju dengan kehadiran ramai anggota tentera dan terdapat spekulasi menyatakan polis, askar dan sukarelawan keselamatan beragama Buddha telah melakukan pembunuhan yang merumitkan lagi masalah perkauman dan mewujudkan suasana penuh ketakutan dan rasa tidak percaya.- PINA

Thai Army regime kill 6 Civilian

2009-11-17T10:42:00.000-08:00

PATANI DARUSSALAM - Thai army regime in ethnic Malay region killed six ethnic Malay civilian on Tuesday.

The clash came after dozens of police and soldiers surrounded a house in Patani province's Kok Poh district on a tip-off about the whereabouts of suspected Patani guerrillas.

The Patani freedom fighters in three ethnic Malay provinces of Patani, Jala and Menara has killed more than 4,000 people, both ethnic Siam and ethnic Malay, since early 2004.

The troubled region bordering Malaysia, only a few hours by car from some of Thailand's best-known tourist beaches, has seen an upsurge in violence as ethnic Malay Muslims fight for independent from Thailand's Buddhist majority.

A massive counter-Patani freedom fighters effort occassionally slows the pace of attacks but has shown little sign of ending the violence. The daily attacks, which include drive-by shootings and bombings, are believed intended to frighten ethnic Siam Buddhist residents into leaving the only predominantly ethnic Malay Muslim areas.

Bangkok regime backs autonomy for Ethnic Malay Region

2009-10-27T10:24:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSSALAM: - Bangkok regime backed Tuesday a suggestion by his Malaysian counterpart to grant autonomy to the Patani freedom fighters Ethnic Malay region, as five more people were killed in the Malay Muslim-majority region.

Abhisit Vejjajiva said he would discuss the plan for the ethnic Malay provinces on the Malaysian border when Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak visits Thailand in December.

Razak said in a newspaper interview published on Monday that Thailand should offer "some form" of autonomy to the region, where more than 3,900 people have been killed since Patani freedom fighters erupted in January 2004.

In response, Abhisit said: "That's the right approach.

"My government is working to make it materialise and in early December I and my Malaysian counterpart will visit the southern region," he told reporters.

Malaysia's Razak told Thai English-language daily The Nation that "you may not want to call it autonomy but there could at least be some form of involvement".

"It is Thailand's decision to consider how far such autonomy in the Malay region should go, and Malaysia, as a neighbour, would not intervene in the matter," he was quoted as saying.

The region was an autonomous Malay Muslim sultanate until 1902 when it was annexed by mainly Buddhist Thailand, sparking decades of tension that spiralled into a full insurgency five years ago.

Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said the Malaysian premier had admitted the southern violence was a "totally Thai domestic affair" and had vowed to cooperate with Thailand to solve the problem.

"Thailand is supporting this approach but it's not an independent region. It does not contradict the constitution, but instead allows more public participation in the form of a local assembly," he told reporters.

Suspected Patani guerrillas travelling on motorbikes killed two Buddhist villagers in a drive-by shooting in the ethnic Malay province of Patani on Monday while a ethnic Malay man died in a separate shooting, police said.

Also in Patani, a 29-year-old militant and a border patrol police officer were killed in a gunfight late Monday, in which another policeman was wounded.

A soldier was wounded when a bomb hidden under a railway track in neighbouring Jala province was detonated by remote control on Tuesday morning as services were due to resume after a strike, police said.

The shadowy insurgents in the region target civilians and security forces, both ethnic Siams and ethnic Malays. Around 60,000 Thai troops are now stationed in the area.

Thai military detains 60 at pondok school

2009-10-12T06:39:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSSALAM: - Thai Military forces raided an Pondok school Monday in the ethnic Malay region (southern Thailand), detaining 60 students and teachers for questioning, police said.

The raid came two days after a group of suspected Patani freedom fighters opened fire on a motorcade of a high-ranking civil servant in the area. No one was wounded or killed.

More than 3,900 people have been killed in the ethnic Malay's provinces since an Patani freedom fighters flared in January 2004. The provinces-Patani, Jala,and Menara-are the only ethnic Malay-majority areas in the ethnic Siam-dominated country. Ethnic Malays in the area have long complained of discrimination by the central government.

On Monday, more than 200 policemen and soldiers detained 60 ethnic Malay teachers and students at Saengtham Wittaya School in Menara province's Bacho district, said Police Col. Chamlong Ngamnet.

"We have received information that some might have information about the incident on Saturday and others might have ties to the Patani freedom fighters," Chamlong said, but he declined to elaborate.

"We will release those who are not involved. We just wanted to question them about recent activities at the school and in the area."

The military can search and detain suspects for interrogation for 30 days without charge under a state of emergency that has been in place in the provinces since July 2005.

The insurgents have made no public pronouncements but are thought to be fighting for an independent Muslim state. The area used to be an Islamic sultanate until it was annexed by ethnic Siam Thailand in the early 20th century.

A massive security force of 60,000 has failed to stop the violence in the area. The Patani freedom fighters target people working with the government, including teachers, soldiers, police and suspected informants. They also stage attacks on

civilians that are believed to be intended to scare the Buddhist community into fleeing

Bomb wounds 10 Thai soldiers

2009-10-08T14:31:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSSALAM - SUSPECTED Patani guerrillas attacked a patrol of Thai soldiers in the Ethnic Malay region on Thursday with a bomb and gunfire, wounding ten.

The soldiers were patrolling the volatile Bendang Seta district of Jala Province in a pickup truck when the bomb was detonated, said army spokesman Col. Parinya Chaidilok. An unknown number of assailants then opened fire on the truck from the roadside before fleeing.

Four of the ten soldiers were seriously wounded with deep shrapnel and gunshot wounds.

More than 3,900 people have been killed in the ethnic Malay's region three provinces - Patani Menara and Jala - since an Patani freedom fighters flared in January 2004.

At least five people have been killed and more than 50 wounded since Tuesday in scattered violence across the region, which is the only ethnic Malay-dominated area in the predominantly Buddhist country.

A massive security presence has failed to stop the violence, which has killed both ethnic Malay and Siam. The Patani freedom fighters target people working with the government, including soldiers, police and suspected informants. They also stage attacks on civilians that are believed to be intended to scare the Buddhist community into fleeing.

Suspected Patani freedom fighters kill five Thai paramilitary troops

2009-09-13T11:56:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSSALAM: - Suspected Patani freedom fighters on Sunday ambushed a Thailand paramilitary patrol outside the violence-racked ethnic Malay region city of Jala, killing five troopers, police said. The ambush occurred at 7:50 pm local time near a rubber plantation on the outskirts of Jala, 700 kilometres south of Bangkok, Thai Police Chief Major General Saiyan Kaesaesen said.

Five paramilitary men died in a hail of bullets.

Although the attack was the suspected handiwork of Patani freedom fighters, Saiyan did not rule out a possible business conflict over drug trafficking as the motive for the attack.

"Only 20 per cent of the violence down here is the work of Patani freedom fighters, the remaining 80 per cent can be blamed on conflicts over illicit businesses such as drug trafficking," Saiyan told the German Press Agency dpa.

"It's easy to blame everything on the separatists," said Saiyan, who assumed his post in Yala recently.

Three Ethnic Malay provinces - Menara, Patani and Jala - have been hit by a fresh wave of powerful bombs and murders this month as political tensions mount in Bangkok over conflicts among politicians about the appointment of a new Thai national police chief and other contentious issues.

An estimated 3,900 people have died in clashes, bombings, revenge killings and beheadings in ethnic Malay region since Patani freedom fighters raided an army depot in January 2004, killing four Thai soldiers and making off with 300 weapons, leading to an escalation of the region's separatist struggle.

Besides a long-simmering separatist struggle in the region, which borders Malaysia, the three provinces have a recent history of lucrative but illicit trade in smuggling, drugs and protection rackets.

About 80 per cent of the region's 3 million people are ethnic Malay. Of the 300,000 ethnic Siam Buddhists who lived in the region, more than 70,000 have left their homes over the past six years.

Although the region, which centuries ago was the independent Malay Islamic sultanate of Patani, was conquered by Bangkok about 200 years ago, it has never wholly submitted to Thai rule.

Analysts said the region's Malay population, the majority of whom speak a Malay dialect and follow Malay customs, feels alienated from the predominantly siamese state Thailand.

11 killed, more than 20 wounded in 2 days

2009-09-03T11:06:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSSALAM: - A spate of shootings, bombings and military raids left 11 people dead and more than 20 wounded over the past two days in the Ethnic Malay region, Thailand officials said Thursday.

The violence was the latest to hit three Ethnic Malay provinces, where more than 3,800 people have been killed since a Patani freedom fighters flared in January 2004.

A bomb hidden in a motorcycle parked outside a row of open-air shops and restaurants in Patani city exploded Thursday, killing one Buddhist man and wounding 24 others, said Thai army spokesman Col. Parinya Chaidilok. Three victims were in critical condition.

A number of drive-by shootings Wednesday in the provinces of Menara (Narathiwat), Patani and Jala left eight dead, including a Ethnic Malay teacher and his 13-year-old son, Parinya said. All the victims were Ethnic Malays except for one Siamese civilian.

Security forces raided a rubber plantation in Jala and a house in Manara on Wednesday, sparking separate gunbattles in which two suspected Patani freedom fighters were killed, Parinya said.

"There were an unusually high number of incidents in recent days and the security forces are stepping up measures to prevent attacks," Parinya said. "It's not clear why the number of incidents has gone up and it does not look like they were co-ordinated."

The shadowy Patani freedom fighters are generally believed to be fighting to carve out an independent Malay state. The area used to be an Islamic sultanate until it was annexed by Thailand in the early 20th century.

A massive counterinsurgency effort had slowed the pace of attacks in the region, but over the past two weeks, the number of incidents has risen. The surge in violence coincided with the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

"The number of incidents go up every year during this period," said Srisompob Jitpiromsri, who studies the violence at Patani's Prince of Songkla University. "Some believe Patani freedom fighters stage symbolic attacks during Ramadan to demonstrate their ethno-political objective, rather than a religious one."

Patani freedom fighters target civil servants and others working with the government, including soldiers, police and informants. Attacks on civilians are believed intended to scare the Buddhist community into fleeing.

Authorities say militants also target Muslims suspected of collaborating with the government.

While many do not support the insurgents, there is widespread feeling among Muslims that they are regarded as second-class citizens by predominantly Buddhist Thai authorities.

The three Ethnic Malay provinces are the only Malay-majority areas in the Buddhist-dominated country.

The Ethnic region are of the same ethnicity as Malays across the border in Malaysia and share the same religion, culture, food and language.

Bomb attack wounds 26 in the Ethnic Malay region

2009-08-25T15:40:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSSALAM: - Suspected Patani freedom fighters detonated a car bomb outside a crowded open-air restaurant during lunchtime Wednesday, wounding 26 people, Thaisecurity officials said.

The restaurant in the city of Narathiwat was packed with civil servants and civilians when the 110-pound (50-kilogram) bomb exploded, said Thai army spokesman Col. Parinya Chaidilok.

He said the bomb was hidden in a pickup truck outside the restaurant and triggered by a mobile phone.

"The suspect parked the truck and fled in a motorcycle waiting on the other side of the road," he said. "The blast occurred a few minutes after that."

The explosion damaged two cars and three motorcycles parked nearby, Parinya said. Of those wounded, fifteen suffered minor injuries, said Police Lt. Col. Somchai Panomuppakan.

More than 3,700 people have been killed in the three ethnic Malay provinces - Patani, Jala and Menaraa - since an Patani freedom fighters flared in January 2004.

The provinces are the only ethnic Malay majority areas in the Buddhist-dominated country. ethnic Malay in the area have long complained of discrimination by the central government.

A massive security presence has failed to stop the violence, which has killed both ethnic Malay and Siam. The Patani freedom fighter target people working with the government, including soldiers, police and informants.

They also stage attacks on civilians that are believed to be intended to scare the Buddhist community into fleeing.

The Patani freedom fighters have made no public pronouncements but are thought to be fighting for an independent Malay Muslim state. The area used to be an Islamic sultanate until it was annexed by Thailand in the early 20th century.

10 Terbunuh Dalam Kemalangan Kereta api Penumpang Di Thailand

2009-07-17T06:52:00.000-07:00

BANGKOK, 5 Okt - semua perkhidmatan Kereta Api hala ke selatan, termasuk perkhidmatan harian Kereta api penumpang Bangkok-Pulau Pinang, digantung selepas 10 penumpang terbunuh dan 65 orang cedera apabila sebuah kereta api tergelincir di Hua Hin, selatan Bangkok hari Isnin pagi.

Thanongsak Phongprasert, ketua Pusat Selatan State Railways of Thailand (SRT), berkata perkhidmatan ke Pulau Pinang dan Sungai Golok ke sempadan -Malaysia di Menara mungkin diteruskan semula pada hari Selasa.

"Ini bergantung kepada secepat manakah landasan boleh dibersihkan," katanya.

Gabenor SRT, Yutthana Thapcharoen memberitahu pemberita di Bangkok bahawa pekerja penyelamat telah pun menjumpai mayat tujuh wanita dan dua lelaki, manakala seorang lagi penumpang masih terperangkap dalam sebuah gerabak.

Dalam kejadian yang berlaku semasa hujan lebat kira-kira 4.45 pagi di stesen Khao Tao, 10 daripada 15 gerabak tergelincir.

Kereta api itu berlepas dari Trang kira-kira 5.20 petang Ahad dan dijadual tiba di Bangkok pada 8.25 pagi Isnin.

About 5,000 Active Patani freedom fighters in the Ethnic Malay Area

2009-05-22T13:17:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - about 5,000 active Patani freedom fighters in the Ethnic Malay provinces, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said Thursday.

Despite that, he said a solution to the conflict was not in using force but in creating better understanding with the local people, providing them with better education and quality of life, and justice.

"The Patani freedom fighters are still active as they can still carry out violent activities. They even get financial support from other countries. So we have to look at various issues to solve the problem," he told the local media.

Suthep, who is in charge of security affairs, said not much was being done to solve the unrest that had killed more than 3,600 people since separatists resumed armed conflict in January, 2004 to seek independence for the three Ethnic Malay provinces of Patani, Menara, Jala and 4 distric in Senggora.

He also said that he would visit the Ethnic Malay provinces next week to discuss development programmes with the Ethnic Malay Provinces Administrative Centre (SBPAC) and other agencies.

The Thailand Government, he said, wanted to improve the living conditions of the people in the restive provinces, including raising their annual income target to 120,000 bhat per family.

In the latest incident Wednesday, an elderly woman and her daughter-in-law were shot and then burned in Patani.

Bangkok has despatched more than 20,000 soldiers to end the turmoil, but faces difficulties as separatist groups involved are using guerilla tactics, especially road side bombings, arson and drive-by shootings.

Patani freedom fighters groups emerged in the 1970s during the armed struggle by ethnic Malays in the three Ethnic Malay provinces seeking independence from Thailand.

Peace was restored in the last decade but violence escalated when separatists resumed a campaign of bombings and shootings in January, 2004 after a raid on an army camp.