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| Southeast Asia |
| Background on Thai insurgency |
| 2004-12-04 |
| Unrest in Thailand's south is nothing new. But authorities are cracking down harder because the nature of the unrest is changing. The three southern provinces of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat once formed Pattani, an independent Muslim sultanate populated by ethnic Malays. Even after its Thai annexation in 1932, however, Pattani had its own sultans until 1902, when Abdul Qadir Qamaruddin, the last ruler, was deposed and imprisoned. Pattani was then carved up into three provinces, and administered from Bangkok. Bangkok has since tried to assimilate the southerners into the Thai mainstream, but with limited success. Armed rebellions led by descendants of the Pattani sultans erupted in 1947 and 1948. And, in 1960, the first properly organized separatist movement, the National Liberation Front of Pattani, was formed. This movement operated from sanctuaries across the border in the newly independent Malayan Federation (now Malaysia) and worked to establish "an Islamic state, based on the Holy Quran and the Sunnah." Another group, Barisan Revolusi Nasional was also established in the early 1960s to fight the Thai government, followed by the better known and more militant Pattani United Liberation Organisation (PULO), which carried out small-scale guerrilla war during the 1970s and early 1980s. During the 1990s, these movements became increasingly associated with radical Islam. Purist Wahhabi teachings gained ground in the south's numerous privately-run Islamic schools, and militants who had fought with the mujahideen in Afghanistan returned home. In 1995, the old PULO split, and Afghan war veteran Nasoree Saesaeng founded an entirely new organization, the Movement of Islamic Mujahideen of Pattani (GMIP). The war in Afghanistan and inspiration from Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda network, created a regional brotherhood of militant Muslims. Meanwhile, radically improved communications in Southeast Asia facilitated the exchange of ideas, plans, and funds. The Thai militant groups are no longer local or isolated. The Thai mujahideen group has links with the radical Malaysian group Kumpulan Mujahideen Malaysia (KMM), which was also established in 1995 by Afghan war veterans. Both groups belong to Rabitat-ul Mujahideen, a regional umbrella organisation of radical groups. This organisation, in turn, is linked to Jemaah Islamiah, a predominantly Indonesian organisation that is linked to several bombings, including the devastating Bali bombings that killed 200 people. According to documents seized by Southeast Asian security agencies, the final goal of this "brotherhood" is to establish an Islamic mega-state encompassing Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, southern Thailand, and the Muslim areas of southern Philippines. This objective comprises a much greater threat to regional stability than the local, isolated separatist movements of pre-Afghan war days. It is impossible to gauge support for these ideas in the region. But even if adherents form a small minority, their ability to strike has been demonstrated on numerous occasions. Moderate Muslim community leaders in Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat have appealed to the government to seek a political solution to the problem, warning that further repression will breed more terrorism. After the Tai Bak tragedy, Abdullahman Abdulsomat, chairman of Narathiwat's provincial Islamic committee, told the local Thai Press, "This is totally insane. Certainly, this will escalate, and who knows what will happen next." Thai authorities have since grown more willing to listen to critics. Recently Lt-Gen Pisarn Wattanawongkeeree was removed as army commander in the south to await the outcome of an official inquiry into the killings. But a similar inquiry into an incident at a mosque in Pattani on April 28, when the army killed about 100 Muslim youths, has shed little or no light on what actually happened that day. Thai authorities may find themselves in a no-win situation in the wake of the recent beheading. Another watered-down report could yield disastrous consequences. And a frank admission that excessive violence was used to suppress the demonstration may also ignite violence. In either case, the beheading of the Buddhist village leader could indeed mark the start of a vicious spiral of violence by militants. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #2 note the gentle influence of Wahhabi Saudis - a simmering pot comes to boil every time they're involved. A mosque built with Saudi funds should be declared enemy ground based on worldwide evidence |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-12-04 4:20:53 PM |
| #1 My understanding is a lot of this is spill over from Aceh (about 5 hours away by small boat). But that would mean the 'root cause' is other muslims. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2004-12-04 3:48:41 PM |