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2007-01-19 Southeast Asia

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Posted by Steve 2007-01-19 11:19|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Having lived in Bangkok for the past seven years, I say this report is drivel.

PULO has never shown much interest in supporting any wider causes of the global jihadi movement. All they want is to drive the Buddhists out of the three southernmost provinces, and then achieve autonomy.

And - they have adopted a very effective plan for achieving this "ethnic cleansing" - that being to go after the Buddhist public schools. Their strategy is to achieve ethnic cleansing over the next couple of generations. They basically ignore and Buddhists without children - as this element of the Buddhist population will simply die out.

That leaves families. The separatists correctly feel that Buddhist parents will never allow their children to grow up without education. So - the muslin insurgents have systematically attacked all aspects of the public school system - killing teachers, principals, administrators, and schoolchildren. The public school system is beginning to fall apart - no one wants to teach in those provinces. By all appearances, PULO will be successful in driving out all Buddhist families.

Thus - setting off a handful of small bombs in Bangkok is not something that plays into their strategy. They don't care about Bangkok - and they have no strtegy to cause the Thai government to withdraw from the provinces. Their strategy is to work DIRECTLY against the Buddhist population in the three provinces.

The Thai government has been absolutely pathetic in protecting the Buddhist population of Pattani, Yala and Narithiwat provinces. What they should consider is requiring all madrasses in the South to close - forcing the Muslim children to go to the sames schools as the Buddhists.

At any rate, the New Years Eve bombings here were not directed against any discernable target set - what they brought to my mind was what happened here several years back, when a major Thai department store chain failed to renew a contract with a security guard service - and awarded the contract to a competitor. Withn in a week or two, operatives of the displaced security force company started planting small bombs (hand grenades) in the stores - I remember a couple of shoppers being killed in a carpet deparment, when they unrolled a carpet and a grenade rolled out without its pin.

The insurgents have no particular interest in discrediting the interim coup government - which has been much more conciliatory toward the Muslim south than was the Taksin regime. About the only folks with an interest in discrediting the new government is the old government. But - I do not tend to think that Taksin himself was involved - more likely, it was elements of the disbanded Thai Rak Thai party.

Or - one other interesting hypothesis that I have heard is that there was another coup being organized back in September, by a rival power block - but their thunder got stolen when the Sondhi-led military forces executed their coup. The rumors are that this other coup faction may still be seeking an opportunity to take their crack at running the country.

Posted by Lone Ranger 2007-01-19 12:06|| 2007-01-19 12:06|| Front Page Top

#2 I posted an article here at least two years ago with Toxin groveling and promising a large increase in funding / permits/ access to Thai officials for madrassah building and outreach. Pfeh.

Posted by Seafarious">Seafarious 2007-01-19 14:14|| 2007-01-19 14:14|| Front Page Top

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