Thailand’s Muslim Insurgency Has Returned

Don Pathan, Asia Times: Thailand’s Muslim insurgency roars back to life

Surge in lethal attacks in nation's southernmost region underscores a lack of progress in resolving the conflict after four years of military rule.

A new surge in lethal attacks in Thailand’s southernmost region has underscored the lack of progress in resolving the insurgent conflict after four years of military junta rule.

The restive region – spanning the three Muslim majority provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat as well as areas of neighboring Buddhist majority Songkhla – had seen a lull in violence, including over a year-long national period of mourning from October 2016-17 for deceased King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: This low-intensity insurgency has been ongoing since 2004. It is not going to end anytime so.

Thailand's Muslim Insurgency Continues

Insight: Little Optimism For Breakthrough In Thailand's Forgotten Jihad -- Reuters

(Reuters) - Rusnee Maeloh slept through the 30-minute gunfight that killed her husband, but her neighbors in the notoriously violent Bacho district of southern Thailand heard distant explosions and feared the worst.

Mahrosu Jantarawadee, 31, was Rusnee's childhood sweetheart, the father of their two children, and part of a secretive Islamic insurgency fighting a brutal nine-year war with the Thai government that has killed more than 5,300 people.


Mahrosu died with 15 other militants while attacking a nearby military base in Bacho district on February 13. Acting on a tip-off, Thai marines repelled the attack with rifle fire and anti-personnel mines. "He died a martyr," said Rusnee, 25, dabbing her eyes with a black headscarf.

Read more ....

My Comment: This is a classic sectarian/religious conflict .... but with an Asian 'flavor' to it.

Thai Government And Muslim Rebels Agree To Peace Talks

Thailand, Insurgents Sign First Ever Agreement To Start Peace Talks -- Christian Science Monitor

Violence has occurred nearly every day in Thailand's three southernmost provinces since the insurgency erupted in 2004.

Thailand's government signed a breakthrough deal with Muslim insurgents for the first time ever Thursday, agreeing to hold talks to ease nearly a decade of violence in the country's southern provinces that has killed more than 5,000 people.

The agreement was announced in Malaysia's largest city, Kuala Lumpur, between Thai authorities and the militant National Revolution Front, also known by its Malay-language initials, BRN. It is seen as a positive step, but is unlikely to immediately end the conflict because several other shadowy guerrilla movements also fighting in southern Thailand have yet to agree to talks.

Read more ....

More News On Thailand And muslim Rebels Agreeing To Hold Peace Talks

Thailand signs peace talks deal with Muslim rebels -- BBC
Thailand agrees to talks with southern Muslim rebels -- Reuters
Thailand to Hold Peace Talks With Rebel Group -- New York Times
Thailand eyes peace talks with southern insurgents based in neighboring Malaysia -- Washington Post/AP
Thai government, Muslim rebels agree to hold first peace talks -- CNN
Thailand and Muslim separatists agree to peace talks -- The Guardian
Thailand and rebels agree to peace talks -- UPI
Thai government, Islamic insurgents agree to formal talks -- L.A. Times
Thailand and rebels agree to peace talks -- Al Jazeera
Thailand Agrees to Hold Talks with Muslim Insurgent Group -- Voice of America
Thai leaders and Muslim rebels to talk peace -- The Australian
Thais sign historic peace deal with insurgents -- Sydney Morning Herald
Thailand agrees to groundbreaking talks with Muslim rebel group -- Deutsche Welle
Thailand to Start Talks with Insurgents -- Wall Street Journal
Thailand to Start Peace Talks With Muslim Separatist Groups -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Thailand: Government to hold peace talks with Muslim rebels -- Global Post
Malaysia to help broker peace in Thailand -- Sydney Morning Herald
Malaysia to host Thai peace talks in two weeks -- AFP

Can Thai peace talks with rebels succeed? -- Jonathan Head, BBC

Why Thailand's Muslim Insurgency Continues

Why Bangkok Struggles To Bring Peace To Thailand's 'Deep South' -- Christian Science Monitor

The insurgents have not outlined their political aims and their leaders' identities are unknown. Also, the current government has little political pull in the region.

Southern Thailand has not gotten any calmer since a Feb. 13 raid on a Thai military base left 19 insurgents dead. Instead, fellow Malay Muslim insurgents have carried out dozens of arson, bomb, and gun attacks across the violence-wracked southernmost parts of the country.

Residents in Yala, a town in Thailand's “Deep South” that lies more than 600 miles from Bangkok, have so far been spared this recent uptick, though the town has seen several deadly bombings in recent years.

"We have to keep our lives going as normal," says Zam Zam, owner of Bai Mai, a restaurant that runs an outdoor kitchen and bar from a pink-painted Volkswagen van.

Read more ....

Update: Thai Muslim insurgents launch reprisal attacks -- UPI

My Comment: The big fear is that the insurgency is probably on the verge of exploding.

Thai Rebels Launch Massive Attack Against Army Base

Thai Army Repels Mass Attack In Restive South -- Al Jazeera

At least 50 heavily armed fighters launch bold assault on Thai military base, leaving at least 16 attackers dead.

Scores of heavily armed gunmen stormed a military base in unrest-plagued southern Thailand, in a major assault that left at least 16 attackers dead, a military spokesman said.

The attack was one of the most ambitious in several years of violence in Thailand's deep south.

No military casualties were reported in the early hours assault at the base in Bacho district of Narathiwat province, one of three Muslim-dominated provinces near the border with Malaysia.

"We learned of the attack in advance from defected militants," Colonel Pramote Promin, the southern army spokesman, told Thai television. "We were able to secure the camp. All of our force are safe."

He added that a key local leader of the fighters, who wore bulletproof vests during the attack, had been killed in the clashes.

Read more ....

More News On Thailand's War Against Muslim Rebels

Militants killed in southern Thailand attack -- BBC
Thai Marines Kill 17 Insurgents in Repelling Attack on Base -- Bloomberg
Thai Army Urges Curfew after Insurgents Attack Base -- Voice of America
Thai marines kill 16 militants who attacked military base in deadliest clash in nearly decade -- Washington Post/AP
Thai insurgents attack army base, troops kill 16 -- Reuters
Thai forces thwart attack on military base, killing 16 insurgents -- CNN
Muslim insurgents launch raid on Thai military base; 16 militants slain -- NBC
Thai Soldiers Repel Attack in Big Setback to Insurgents -- New York Times
Thailand insurgents killed in attack on military base -- The Guardian
Southern Thailand Military Base Attack Leaves 19 Dead, Says Army: Phuket Checks -- Phuket Wan

The Muslim Insurgency In Thailand Continues To Take Lives

There's A Secret War In Thailand No One's Talking About -- Business Insider/The Telegraph

Dispatch: not far from Thailand's tourist beaches, Muslims and Buddhists are locked in a struggle in which thousands have died. David Eimer reports.

The young father walked slowly down the road, his face expressionless, as a light rain fell. In his arms he held the lifeless body of his 11-month-old daughter, killed just hours before when the tea shop in his village was sprayed with automatic gunfire that left six people dead.

Fellow residents of the Muslim Damabuah Village in Thailand’s Narathiwat Province walked behind in silence, while men and women from the security forces lined the road clutching rifles.

Read more ....

My Comment: Here is an easy prediction .... with no one interested in compromising, this sectarian/religious insurgency is going to go on for a very long time.

Bomb Attacks Kills And Wounds Scores In Southern Thailand

Bombs Kill 9, Wound At Least 70 In Thai Muslim South -- Chicago Tribune/Reuters

YALA, Thailand (Reuters) - Nine people died and at least 70 were injured in a series of bomb explosions on Saturday in Thailand's Muslim south, the latest in a wave of violence blamed on separatists in a region bordering Malaysia, police and officials said.

Three bombs went off in the business area of the city of Yala around lunchtime, they said, adding the devices may have been placed in a car and a motorcycle.

Read more ....

More News On Today's Bomb Attacks In Southern Thailand

Triple bomb attack kills nine in Thailand -- AFP
Bombs in southern Thailand kill at least 8, wound dozens -- USA Today/AP
8 Killed in Thailand Blasts -- Voice of America
Three deadly explosions hit Yala in southern Thailand, officials say -- BBC
Deadly blasts hit southern Thailand -- Al Jazeera
Bomb attacks kill 9, injure more than 100 in South Thailand (PHOTOS, VIDEO) -- RT
Muslim insurgents kill eight and wound dozens more with bomb blast in Thailand -- Daily Mail

Thailand's Islamic Insurgency Has Claimed Over 5,000 Lives In 8 Years

Death Toll Rises To 5,086 After Eight Years -- The Nation

A total of 5,086 people have been killed and 8,485 others have been injured since the insurgency in the deep South flared up eight years ago, a university announced Tuesday.

The Deep South Watch of Songkhla University told a press conference that the southern insurgency had been going on for more than eight years. The flare up started with the theft of guns from a military camp in January 2004.

During the 98month period from January 2004 to February 2012, a total of 11,542 violent incidents related to insurgency took place in Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and four districts of Songkhla, causing 5,086 deaths and 8,485 injuries.

Read more ....

My Comment: And this insurgency shows every signs of escalating.

Thailand's Islamist Insurgency Is Growing

Fears In Thailand About War On Islamist Guerrillas Escalating -- Washington Times

BANGKOK — Diplomats are warning that Thailand’s war against Islamist guerrillas in the south could escalate into an international security crisis similar to those in Afghanistan and Yemen.

More than 5,000 people, mostly Muslims, have been killed in bombings and gun battles in Thailand’s south since 2004, and the government has spent more than $3.5 billion in a failed effort to quell the insurgency.

“There may come a day when the troubles of the south will become the troubles of the region as a whole. And I dare say this, it might become a magnet for people to create havoc from elsewhere,” said Asif Ahmad, British ambassador to Thailand.

“We’ve seen it in Yemen. We’ve seen it in Afghanistan. You cannot be immune.”

Read more ....

Update: Thailand's Islamist War Could Become Yemen or Afghanistan -- Scoop

My Comment: Thailand has been beset by it's own political unrest for the past few years, but with incidents like this and this .... coupled with the Islamist insurgency in the south .... they will have to realize that they will now have to focus on confronting and resolving their troubles with the predominantly Muslim south. If not, this will probably escalate into something that will resemble what the Philippines has been confronted with in the past few decades.

Thailand`s Islamic Insurgency Is Driving Out The Minority Buddist Population

Conflict Pushes Nearly A Third Of Buddhists From Home In South Thailand - IDMC -- Reuters

BANGKOK (AlertNet) – At least 30 percent of Buddhists and 10 percent of Malay Muslims in Thailand’s insurgency-prone southern provinces have fled their homes since 2004 due to armed conflict there, said a briefing by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC).

The displaced have sought refuge in nearby urban areas, or altogether left the provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat where the government is facing opposition from a number of Malay Muslim insurgency groups, the IDMC said.

According to official figures, Buddhists accounted for around 20 percent of the million or so people in the three provinces in 2000.

Read more ....

My Comment: This type of low level insurgency and attacks is now happening every day.

Thailand's War Against Islamic Militants Is The Region's Bloodiest Insurgency

Asia's Bloodiest Insurgency -- Global Post

All-Buddhist militias in southern Thailand must defend themselves against Islamic militants. Their temples have become fortresses ringed with razor wire.

PATTANI, Thailand — Dawn smolders above this seaside city in Thailand’s southern borderlands. Troops already occupy the streets in force. Skinny conscripts with assault rifles patrol through the fog. German Shepherds sniff for bombs in the brush.

This is the hour of paranoia. Come mornings, gunmen slip through curtains of jungle foliage lining the roadside. They kill cops. Army officers. Teachers traveling to class. Kids sometimes. To stoke maximum horror, they decapitate Buddhist monks with machetes.

Read more ....

My Comment: This insurgency has been ongoing since 2004, and it shows no signs of cooling-off. For more info and news on Thailand's Islamic insurgency, go to the following posts:

Part 1 - How did insurgents master bomb-making?
Part 2 - Buddhists make the best targets
Part 3 - Jihadis turn on their own
Part 4 - Quietly, the U.S. aids terror fight

Thailand's War Against Muslim Extremists Is Heating Up Again

Thai security personnel inspect the site of the bomb attack on a patrol in which two policemen were wounded in the southern Yala province . In a separate attack, suspected Muslim separatists killed four soldiers and wounded five others, 20 Jan 2011. Photo: REUTERS

Rebel Attack In Southern Thailand Kills Four Soldiers -- BBC

Separatist rebels in southern Thailand have killed four soldiers in an audacious attack on an army base.

Military officials say up to 40 gunmen overran the camp in Narathiwat in an unusually well-organised raid.

Muslim separatists carry out regular attacks in Thailand's three southern provinces, but usually through roadside bombings or drive-by shootings.

More than 4,300 people have been killed in violence since 2004 when a decades-old separatist campaign reignited.

Read more ....

More News On Thailand's War Against Muslim Extremists

Insurgent Attack on Thai Army Base Leaves at Least 4 Dead -- Voice of America
Insurgent attack kills 4 Thai soldiers -- CNN
Attack on Thai south army post -- Straits Times
Troops killed in southern Thailand -- Al Jazeera
Rebels attack army camp, kill soldiers -- Bangkok Post
Rebels kill four in attack on Thai military -- AFP
Four troops killed in Thai rebel ambush -- Reuters

Thailand's Southern Islamic Insurgency Is Increasing

Blood Flows In Thailand's Deep South -- The Guardian

Little reported and little understood, Malay Muslims' separatist campaign in the southern provinces is intensifying again.

Thailand's former prime minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh recently ignited a furore when he proposed that the separatist campaign in his country's Muslim-majority southern provinces might be solved politically, with a form of self-rule. Thailand's ruling Democrat party immediately called Chavalit's remarks "traitorous".

But recent developments surrounding Afghanistan's elections have highlighted the shortcomings of using military force alone to resolve a civil war. This precedent offers an important lesson for Thailand and other countries facing intractable insurgencies. As Aristotle put it, "politics is the master science in the realm of action".

Read more ....

More News On Thailand's Southern Insurgency

Thai PM must prosecute rights violators: HRW -- AFP
Gunmen kill three in restive Thai south: police -- AFP
Two workers killed by suspected insurgents in southern Thailand -- Earth Times
Thai Security Forces Kill 6 Suspected Insurgents in Gunbattle -- FOX News
Thailand's shadowy southern insurgency -- BBC

Thailand Seeks U.S. Help Battling Insurgents

From The Washington Times:

Asian state needs aid to fight Islamist terror.

Thailand's military wants the U.S. to provide satellite equipment and imagery so it can hunt thousands of Islamist separatists who are killing Thai troops and civilians in an attempt to establish a strict Muslim state in the south.

About 30,000 soldiers are fighting against 8,000 insurgents and their supporters, including about 2,000 armed rebels, said Lt. Gen. Pichet Wisaijorn, the Royal Thai Army chief in the southern region.

Read more ....

Previous Post: Chaos in Thailand's Muslim South

My Comment: The Thai Government is now realizing that they are losing the war in the south. To win, they will need the sophisticated surveillance and tracking technology that the U.S. has .... a request that I am confident to say that the Americans will be happy to agree to.

Chaos in Thailand's Muslim South

Muddy Waters In Thai Deep South -- ISN

More shootings in Thailand’s troubled south show that no end is in sight for an often brutal insurgency, despite the army's 'hearts and minds' efforts, Simon Roughneen writes for ISN Security Watch.

Lieutenant-General Pichet Wisaijorn, regional commander of the Thai 4th army, told reporters in Thailand’s capital on 18 November that “things are getting better, the number of violent incidents are down, and the traditional life of villagers in the south is returning.”

Read more ....

More News On Thailand's Continuing Insurgency

Thailand seeks U.S. help battling insurgents -- Washington Times
Thai Security Forces Kill 6 Suspected Rebels -- New York Times/Reuters
Three die in southern Thailand attacks -- Radio Australia News
Thailand's shadowy southern insurgency -- BBC

Looking For A Solution To Stopping The Insurgency In Thailand's Southern Provinces

Thai PM Backs Autonomy For Troubled South -- AFP

BANGKOK — Thailand's prime minister backed Tuesday a suggestion by his Malaysian counterpart to grant autonomy to the insurgency-hit Thai south, as five more people were killed in the Muslim-majority region.

Abhisit Vejjajiva said he would discuss the plan for the restive southern 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 separatist violence erupted in January 2004.

Read more ....

More News On The Insurgency In The South Of Thailand

More discussion on south with Malaysian leader: Abhisit -- The Nation
Two Buddhists killed in Thailand’s troubled south -- Malaysian Insider
Suspected insurgents kill 2 in restive Thai south -- AP
Policeman, suspected separatist shot in Thai south -- Reuters
Five killed in restive Thai south: police -- AFP
Autonomy not for Thai south -- Malaysian Insider

Thailand's Southern Insurgency Continues Despite Efforts To Stop It

Peace Through Organic Farming in Southern Thailand -- Time Magazine

The gourds grow heavy on the vine, and the catfish splash merrily in their ponds. At the Learning Center of Sufficiency Economy in Southern Thailand's Yala province, the vision of Thai agriculture as set out by the country's King Bhumibol Adulyadej has reached its fecund best. Like many other parts of Thailand, villagers come to this agricultural laboratory to learn from to the monarch's Sufficiency Economy philosophy, which bundles together concepts of sustainable development, rural self-reliance and equitable income distribution. But there's a difference to this vast botanical project: unlike others in the rest of Thailand, this one is located in the country's Muslim-majority south, where suspicion of the Buddhist-dominated state has spawned a bloody insurgency that has claimed more than 3,700 lives — both Muslim and Buddhist — since 2004.

Read more ....

More News On Thailand

Motorcycle bomb wounds 28 in troubled Thai south -- Reuters
Blast hits south Thailand market -- Al Jazeera
South bomb wounds 24 at local market -- Bangkok Post
Over 20 wounded in south Thailand market explosion -- RIA Novosti
More Expert In The Use Of Violence -- Strategy Page

Southern Thailand’s Turmoil Grows

A vehicle burned after a bomb attack in Thailand's Yala province, south of Bangkok, on Friday. Surapan Boonthanom/Reuters

From Wall Street Journal:

PAKA LUE SONG, Thailand — The soldiers patrolling this hamlet racked by insurgent violence measure their progress modestly: two years ago, when villagers saw them coming, they closed their shutters. Now, they say, most residents peer out of their wood-frame houses and offer strained smiles.

“The local people have started to open their hearts,” said Capt. Niran Chaisalih, the leader of a government paramilitary force garrisoned at the village school.

Paka Lue Song, only a 15-minute drive from the provincial capital, Pattani, is a starting point for Thailand’s influx of troops into the country’s troubled southern provinces, where ethnic Malay Muslims are battling for autonomy from Thailand’s Buddhist majority.

Read more ....

My Comment: This is one of the many religious conflicts in the world that is getting worse. The authorities say that the situation is improving .... but the authorities in Thailand said the same thing last year.

The Muslim Insurgency Continues In Southern Thailand

Muslim Insurgents Confound Military in Thailand -- The New York Times

PAKA LUE SONG, THAILAND — The Thai soldiers patrolling this hamlet racked by insurgent violence measure their progress modestly: two years ago, villagers closed their shutters and refused to greet them. Now most residents peer out of their wood-frame houses and offer strained smiles.

“The local people have started to open their hearts,” said Capt. Niran Chaisalih, the leader of a government paramilitary force garrisoned at the village school.

Read more ....

More News On Thailand

Despite Concerns, Thailand Insurgency Stays Local -- World Politics Review
Thailand's Use of Civilian Volunteers in Troubled South Raises Concerns -- Voice of America
Killings in southern Thailand on the rise -- Malaysian Insider

My Comment: The Thais have the troops in the region to do the job, but they still have not been able to stop the insurgency. I suspect that it is because of poor training in counter-insurgency warfare that has helped in creating this "stalemate".

Brutal Insurgency Haunts Thai Muslim South

From Yahoo News/AP:

YALA, Thailand (Reuters) – When he heard the loud cracks of gunfire, Prapan Pormapat knew the insurgents had just claimed another victim.

An engine roared as two gunmen sped away on a motorcycle, leaving behind the body of a saffron-robed Buddhist monk in a pool of blood.

"Everyone here carries a gun now," said Prapan, a Buddhist tailor, recounting the chilling tale of when a shadowy five-year rebellion first struck in this sleepy neighborhood of Yala in southern Thailand.

"I rarely go out. I'm too scared to travel anywhere. We don't know who is behind this violence, or what they want," he said.

Thailand's Muslim deep south has become the battleground of one of the world's most mysterious conflicts, a brutal insurgency that has claimed nearly 3,500 lives since 2004.

Read more ....

Update: Q+A: What is behind Thailand's mysterious insurgency? -- Reuters

My Comment: This conflict has been under reported by the mass media. Kudos to Reuters for this report.