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| Southeast Asia |
| Bomb Explodes Outside Bar in Thailand |
| 2004-03-27 |
| A bomb attached to a motorcycle in a hotel parking lot exploded Saturday in southern Thailand, injuring about 30 people, according to police and hospital workers the Motorcycle of Doom™ makes another cameo appearance Three of those hurt were in serious condition after the blast in Sungai Kolok, a town on the border with Malaysia, said police Capt. Pibul Wattanatham. The bomb exploded at about 7:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Marina Hotel, injuring patrons at the Top Ten bar and coffee shop, said Pibul. Most of those hurt were Malaysian tourists, according to a worker at the local hospital. Three southern Thailand provinces are the only ones with Muslim majorities in Buddhist-dominated Thailand. Officials have blamed the violence on Muslim separatists, although no groups have taken responsibility for it. Thai Muslims have long complained of discrimination in jobs and education by the central government. They also say their culture and language are being suppressed. A decades-old separatist movement in the south was contained in the late 1980s, but violence began to resurface two years ago. Malaysian tourists wouldn’t be muslim hmmm? Commentary, .com? |
| Posted by:Frank G |
| #4 I've been to Malaysia at least a hundred times. Its a one dollar bus ride for me. The Thai border towns are well know for their red light attractions and are frequented by both muslim malays and non-muslim chinese as well as ex-pats. Its 50/50 whether the injured Malaysians were muslims or not. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2004-03-27 7:19:22 PM |
| #3 I'm pretty sure you're right .com, sad to say - the faithful don't matter in the big picture, hmmm? I can't imagine that a majority of the Malay tourists weren't muslim - fodder |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-03-27 6:51:39 PM |
| #2 I met a Malaysian guy recently who grew up Christian in the part of Malaysia bordering Thailand. He told stories about the abuse and discrimination he and other Christians would get, even as children on their way to school. Oh, and now he is a successful executive with a major high-tech firm in Singapore. So, concentrating on getting a good education, overcoming discrimination and becoming successful *can* be done, but I doubt the madrassas are geared for that alternative... |
| Posted by: Carl in NH 2004-03-27 6:40:57 PM |
| #1 "Malaysian tourists wouldn’t be muslim hmmm?" Probably, with 60%-65% odds, according to Islamonline.net. I only went thru Malaysia once - a long layover (about 5 hrs) in KL's new airport... so I'm no Malaysin authority... On the TL side of the border, I've followed the Bangkok Post and The Nation Newspapers (English) stories and watched the Thais go from the silly "bandits" description to finally telling the truth: they're Islamists. TL's culture makes it hard for them to call a spade a spade, but they're finally there. It's painful to watch them try to figure out how to combat Islam's BS (translation: "suppressed" means they demand change, and it hasn't been given freely) -- for Islam on Mahathir's side, hey, it's just Islamic Business As Usual: violence against any and all who don't fold on demand. Someday the Thais will get serious. Thaksin (Toxin, IMHO) isn't worth warm spit regards anything except lining his own pockets and playing Huey Long styled populist politics. Others may disagree and / or know more. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-03-27 6:33:36 PM |