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Olde Tyme Religion
Thailand’s 4M Muslims to elect successor to nation’s top Islamic leader
2023-11-22
[BenarNews] Provincial committees representing Thailand’s 4 million Moslems will soon elect a new leader to oversee the affairs of the Islamic community in this majority-Buddhist country.

The three candidates for the post of the Sheikhul Islam — the nation’s top Islamic authority — include one from the insurgency-wracked southern border region and two from the capital Bangkok.

They’re vying to replace another Moslem leader from the widely impoverished Deep South who died last month after serving as the Sheikhul Islam for more than a decade. The results from voting by 800 people who sit on Islamic provincial committees nationwide are due out Nov. 22.

The Sheikhul Islam serves as the Thai government’s top adviser on Islamic Affairs, including on efforts to bring peace to the mainly Moslem Deep South.

"The troubles in the Deep South are the chronicle of identity, culture and different thoughts, including extremism," Wisoot Binlatah, one of the candidates and a native of southern Songkhla province, told BenarNews.

"In order to solve the problems, it needs the approaches on culture and religious understanding which could lead those who consider violence to be moderate."

The Deep South encompasses Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat provinces along with four districts in Songkhla.

More than 7,300 people have been killed and 13,500 others have been injured since a Malay Moslem separatist insurgency in this region along the Thai-Malaysia border flared up again in January 2004. At the time, scores of Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) holy warriors raided an army battalion and made off with hundreds of military weapons from an arms depot.

In recent years, government negotiators held peace talks with MARA Patani, an umbrella group bringing together various rebel organizations and factions, and later with BRN, the region’s largest krazed killer group, but violence still persists.

"The authorities must realize the cultural approach. I don’t want to see the use of brute force but soft power — culture and religious teaching to mold their minds to feel that all are brothers and sisters under the same nation," Wisoot said, adding that he had the backing of the local Islamic committee.

Thailand allows more religious freedom than some Moslem-majority nations, he noted.

"We can build Moslem identity under the framework of the constitution and laws without using violence," said Wisoot, who was educated in Egypt.

The other two candidates, Prasarn Sricharoen and Arun Boonchum, are natives of Bangkok who were educated in Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
. They did not respond to BenarNews requests for interviews.

A local BRN leader in Pattani province, who asked not to be named over security concerns, had advice for whomever is elected.

"The moderate leader must be brave in deciding what is right, otherwise the problems will go on and on like what happened in the past," the BRN official told BenarNews.

The new leader will succeed Sheikhul Islam Aziz Phitakkumpon who died on Oct. 22 at the age of 76. A native of Songkhla province, Aziz was elected leader in 2010.

The Sheikhul Islam, also known as Chularatchamontri in Thai, advises the government on Islamic affairs, issues fatwas (rulings or clarifications on Islamic law) and announces religious events to be observed.

About half of Thailand’s Moslem population is concentrated in the Malay-speaking Deep South, where locals expressed hope for the new leader.

"The Sheikhul Islam has an important role in the joint efforts to solve the violence in the Deep South. Surely, he needs to know the religion, but everyone has to bear in mind how we can elect the right person who can help on both religious matters and the deterrence of violence," Rusdee Bakok, the deputy chairman of Yala Islamic Committee, told BenarNews.

"People [here] want an indigenous Sheikhul Islam because the majority of Moslems live here. If we can have a local person, we will have a Sheikhul Islam who knows the troubles and it is tacitly known that Deep South Moslems are more ardent than those elsewhere in the country," he said.

A villager in Pattani said he wanted to see a change.

"I want the 19th Sheikhul Islam to be a moderate who is good at and strictly observes the teachings to lead us accordingly," Ismail Doloh told BenarNews.

"I don’t like the previous Islamic leaders who did not duly follow the religious principle," he said without elaborating because it is considered a sin to criticize the dead.
Related:
Sheikhul Islam: 2014-01-25 Thai demonstrators under fire for mosque antics
Sheikhul Islam: 2013-02-17 Nuggets From The Urdu Press
Sheikhul Islam: 2013-02-14 SC discards Qadri's petition challenging ECP reconstitution
Link


Southeast Asia
Anwar: Malaysia won’t condone violence to resolve Thai Deep South conflict
2023-02-10
How dare the Unbelivers think to rule over Allah’s Chosen Master Religion!
[BenarNews] Malaysia is unequivocally against violence as a means to resolve the insurgency in southern Thailand, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said in Bangkok on Thursday during his first official visit to the neighboring country.

It is essential to bring peace and settle the separatist conflict in the Moslem Malay-majority Deep South, where more than 7,000 people have been killed in violence since 2004, Anwar said.

Several analysts hope that the new Malaysian PM will give ongoing Kuala Lumpur-brokered peace talks between Thailand and Deep South murderous Moslems a shot in the arm because of his abiding interest in the issue and the region that shares a border with Malaysia.

"I’ve come here with a clear categorical message. The government of Malaysia will not condone any sources of violence to resolve any conflicts," Anwar told news hounds during a joint news conference with Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha.

"We will exercise our right as friends, as family members of both countries, Malaysia and Thailand, and ASEAN, to express our concerns — our ultimate concerns — while acknowledging that south Thailand is purely an internal issue within Thailand."

He said that he and Prayuth discussed the issue to secure "lasting peace for both countries."

The insurgency reignited in January 2004 in the Thai Deep South, which comprises the provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala, and four districts of Songkhla province.

More than 7,300 people have been killed and 13,500 others injured in violence across the region since then, according to Deep South Watch, a local think-tank. Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) has been fighting to establish an independent state for Malay Moslems who form the majority of the population in the southern border region.

Such incidents, Anwar said, "have led to distrust [and] resentment."

"And we have to appeal to both forces, in Thailand, the South, and even in Malaysia to understand that peace is a paramount situation ... we have to ensure and impress upon our friends, on both sides of the border, to resolve this," Anwar said.

On the day of his visit, six Thai soldiers who were on patrol to protect a railway were slightly injured in a bomb and gun attack by suspected rebels in Rue Soh, a district in Narathiwat, according to officials.

ANWAR WANTS TO ’MAKE IT HIS LEGACY’
The Malaysian prime minister, on whom many are pinning their hopes for a solution to the impasse in the Deep South, spoke about his country’s "duty" to facilitate the process toward peace.

"That is why we agreed to appoint an acceptable controller from a retired chief of our armed forces, known to the PM to work and find ways to assist," Anwar told the media.

Anwar was referring to one of his first major foreign policy initiatives — to change the Malaysian controller of the peace talks between negotiators representing the Thai government and BRN.

These talks began in early 2020, just before the outbreak of the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
 pandemic in Malaysia, but haven’t made much headway.

Anwar last month replaced former national police chief Abdul Rahim Noor as the broker for the peace talks, with Zulkifli Zainal Abidin, an ex-head of Malaysia’s armed forces.

"I am personally known to many colleagues in the south and the trust deficit, concerns on issues of culture [and] religion will be addressed," Anwar said.

Zulkifli made his first official visit to Thailand last week, with the next official round of peace talks scheduled to be held in Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 21 and 22.

Thai PM Prayuth, who led the joint briefing with Anwar, affirmed the two countries’ cooperation on Deep South matters, according to a joint statement.

Prayuth "agreed to further strengthen cooperation in border security management in order to combat transnational crimes and other cross-border illegal activities."

The two leaders also "reiterated the importance of promoting peace and security in the border areas between the two countries through further enhancing a balanced, inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development" in the border provinces, the statement said.

Commenting on Anwar’s visit, one Thai government official said he believed Anwar wanted to make the resolution of the Deep South conflict something he would be remembered for.

"I believe PM Anwar has an intention to undertake the matter to make it his legacy," Panitan Wattanayagorn, chief security adviser to the Thai government, told BenarNews.

"He took part in the border issues from the beginning, that is, common border security management and joint patrol. This would intercept the runaways from Malaysia who cross to Thailand and vice versa. This prevents people from crossing into Thailand to cause trouble," Panitan said.

The official was referring to Thai allegations that some murderous Moslems come in from Malaysia to carry out attacks and then return, or, having carried out attacks, flee across the border to Malaysia.

Meanwhile in Malaysia, the chief minister of a border state affected by the insurgency praised the plan for economic development along the border with Thailand, calling it "timely."

"Malaysia-Thailand’s joint efforts to resolve the decades-long insurgency in southern Thailand, if fruitful, could spur economic growth in both countries especially in the bordering states including Perlis, the northern state in Malaysia," said Perlis Chief Minister Mohd. Shukri Ramli.

"I have discussed the issue with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim during his visit to Perlis previously. It would be a great opportunity to boost our economy by reopening the border as the trading activities are flourishing day in and day out on the other side."
Link


Southeast Asia
Thai chief peace negotiator wants more Deep South groups involved in talks
2023-01-27
[BenarNews] With a new Malaysian controller in place to restart Deep South peace talks as early as next month, the Thai government’s top negotiator traveled on Wednesday to Pattani province where he admitted that the process could be more inclusive.

Gen. Wanlop Rugsanaoh, who heads the Thai panel in the negotiations, told about 200 attendees at a Pattani forum that Zulkifli Zainal Abidin, 65, a retired Malaysian armed forces chief, would be the new broker of talks between Thailand and Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN)
...the largest group in the Thai insurgency in the southern Thai provinces that make up the old Patani sultanate...
murderous Moslems.
Link


Southeast Asia
Analysts: Malaysia’s Anwar may give Thai Deep South talks shot in arm
2022-12-16
[BenarNews] Change may be coming to slow-moving and thus far fruitless peace talks in Thailand’s Deep South, observers say, as Malaysia’s new prime minister is keenly interested in the conflict and no friend of the current controller, who once punched him in the eye.

Talks between negotiators representing Thailand’s government and forces of Evil in the mostly Moslem southern border region were informally on hold while Malaysia — which for years has brokered the talks — held an election in November. The two sides last conferred in August.

Malaysia’s new leader, Anwar Ibrahim, has already met with Thai Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan. But the two governments have kept mum about the future direction of the peace talks, saying only that they are discussing matters, including whether peace broker Abdul Rahim Noor, a former national police chief, would be replaced.

The date of the next round of talks hasn’t yet been confirmed, although the Malaysian controller told BenarNews last week that it would take place in January. BenarNews tried to get information from Thai officials, but calls to the head and secretary of the Thai peace panel were not picked up.

Meanwhile,
...back at the buffalo wallow, Yellow Wolf clutched at his chest and fell from his horse...
 a senior member of Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) — the largest and most powerful bad boy group in the Thai Deep South — said recently that it would be open to autonomy instead of independence, if that is what people in the region want.

The BRN man gave a rare, on-camera interview to BenarNews in August on condition that his identity be concealed and his voice altered.

"The ultimate goal is independence. .... To achieve the goal, the Patani people’s support is a key factor," said the bad boy, who asked to be identified as "Mustakim."

"However,
facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable...
 if the people see during the struggle that there are better options than independence, such as what occurred in Aceh or Mindanao, [then] that could be their consensus."

Rebel groups in Aceh, Indonesia, and Mindanao, in the southern Philippines, originally sought independence but settled for autonomy in return for peace.

"[T]he peace talk process does not live up to ideal standards, when compared to successful processes such as in other ASEAN countries like Indonesia’s Aceh [region]," he said.

"They had a detailed and tangible process leading to a peace agreement in a short time, not 10 or 20 years."

BRN has been fighting to establish an independent state for Malay Moslems who form the majority of the population in Thailand’s southern border region. It was not clear if "Mustakim" was stating an official view or his own opinion, and whether BRN had authorized him to speak to news hounds.

ANWAR ’CAN PLAY A SIGNIFICANT ROLE’
Meanwhile,
...back at the buffalo wallow, Yellow Wolf clutched at his chest and fell from his horse...
 observers of regional conflict also noted the slow progress of the peace talks.

The Thai government and BRN representatives began Malaysia-brokered peace negotiations in early 2020, soon before the outbreak of the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
 pandemic in the neighboring countries. These talks followed years of negotiations between the government and MARA Patani, an umbrella group that brought together Deep South bad boy groups, including BRN.

Mohd. Mizan Mohammad Aslam of the National Defense University of Malaysia said peace talks had not changed anything on the ground because, in his view, the conflict actually escalated after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Malaysia needs to revamp the whole negotiation process to reach a workable solution, and that includes getting someone new to replace the controller Abdul Rahim Noor, he said.

"The [Malaysian] government has two choices: whether you want someone energetic, relatively young, and who has a will to finish the task or the job, or do you want someone who is very experienced with wisdom to tackle the issue?" he told BenarNews.

Mohd Mizan believes Anwar can play a prominent role.

"He is one of the very respected figures in Thailand. I know during his tenure as deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim helped a lot of Moslems, especially madrassas in southern Thailand. So with that, I believe he can play a significant role," he said.

Another analyst, Altaf Deviyati, co-founder and director of IMAN Research, a Kuala Lumpur think-tank, said Malaysia had not been proactive in these past few years on the Deep South issue.

"Malaysia is [currently] functioning literally like a secretariat office. ... [But] Anwar Ibrahim has shown over the years his interest in the situation in the Deep South and security in ASEAN in general," she told BenarNews.

"I would think he will take a personal interest in the progress of the dialogue. ...I would assume that the controller may [also] be replaced."

Last week, Malaysian Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the possibility of replacing Rahim Noor was among things discussed during a meeting with Thai Deputy Prime Minister Prawit.

"When the time comes we will announce [any change] ... I can say that the matter was also touched on during the meeting," he told news hounds in Putrajaya.

"[I]t was too specific and detailed with several mutual commitments that need to be discussed, but it is still too early for me to divulge the details on the matter for the moment."

Rahim Noor was appointed controller for the southern Thai peace talks in September 2018 by then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Anwar’s People’s Justice Party, which was part of Mahathir’s coalition government, strongly objected to the appointment. Party members had not forgotten that Rahim Noor, as the police inspector-general, punched Anwar in prison in 1998 after Mahathir had sacked Anwar as deputy prime minister, in a notorious case dubbed as the "black eye incident."

Two years later, Rahim Noor was sentenced to two months in prison for the assault. In 2005, the former police chief publicly apologized to Anwar in court.

BenarNews contacted Rahim Noor last week to seek comment but he declined to answer. Officials at Malaysia’s Ministry of Home Affairs as well as the PM’s Office did not respond to BenarNews questions about whether the controller would be replaced.

Don Pathan, a Thailand-based security analyst, declined to comment on the Anwar-Rahim Noor relationship, but said a new controller in the talks may move things along.

"About Rahim Noor, perhaps it’s time for him to step aside. He was Dr. Mahathir’s choice," Pathan told BenarNews.

"PM Anwar is in charge now, and he appeared to be more hands-on, making a quick trip to Bangkok just days before the General Election to meet Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan," Pathan said, referring to Anwar’s visit to the Thai capital on Sept. 22.

The armed separatist movement in the Deep South region against Buddhist-majority Thailand began in the 1960s.

The Deep South encompasses Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala provinces and four districts of Songkhla province. Since the insurgency reignited in January 2004, more than 7,344 people have been killed and 13,641 others injured in violence, according to Deep South Watch, a local think-tank.
Link


Southeast Asia
Bali bombmaker paroled; suicide bomber kills 1 in attack on police station
2022-12-08
[BenarNews] Indonesia on Wednesday released the Bali attacks bombmaker from prison at least seven years before he served out his full 20-year sentence. A justice ministry official confirmed that Umar Patek, who assembled the bombs used in the 2002 Bali Bombings — Indonesia’s worst ever terror attack — was freed on parole in the morning.

On the same day, a former terrorism convict apparently unhappy with Indonesia’s new criminal code went kaboom! at a cop shoppe in Bandung, killing an officer and wounding 10 other people, officials said.

The bomber had been released from prison last March after serving four years for a failed suicide kaboom in 2017 that was blamed on Jamaah Ansharut Daulah
...founded by our old friend Abu Bakar Bashir of Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah fame, JAD translates cleverly as Partisans of the Islamic State, but really only means (Wink! Wink!) ISIS in Indonesia...
 (JAD), an Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
-linked bully boy group, police said.

Umar had been associated with another bully boy group, Jemaah Islamiyah, the Southeast Asian affiliate of the al-Qaeda international terror network.

"Hisyam bin Alizein, alias Umar Patek, was released from the Surabaya Penitentiary under the parole program," said Rika Aprianti, spokesperson for the directorate general of corrections at the Law and Human Rights Ministry.

Rika said Umar had fulfilled conditions for parole, including having served two-thirds of his sentence and taking part in deradicalization programs as well as pledging allegiance to the state.

"The granting of parole was also recommended by the National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT) and the Special Detachment 88 (Densus 88)," Rika said in a statement, referring to the police’s elite anti-terrorism unit.

Umar has to now mandatorily join a "mentoring program" until April 2030, and his parole would be revoked if he violates it in any way, the statement said.

Umar was arrested in Pakistain in 2011 and tried in Indonesia. In 2012, instead of receiving the death penalty
, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Like other prisoners in Indonesia, Umar, too, had received a series of sentence cuts for good behavior to mark Indonesian holidays.

In August, Umar said in an interview with the prison chief that it was a "mistake" to be involved in the Oct. 12, 2002 twin bombings in Bali that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. Indonesian authorities blamed the attack on Jemaah Islamiyah.

In 2008, Indonesian authorities executed Imam Samudra, Amrozi and Mukhlas for their roles in the bombings.

Counterterrorism officials have touted Umar as a deradicalization success story, but the news in August that he would be paroled outraged people and officials in Australia.

BOMBING KILLS POLICE OFFICER
Meanwhile,
...back at the revival hall, the SWAT team had finally arrived...
 several people on social media expressed their unhappiness about Umar’s early release.

"His release today at the same time as #BomBunuhDiri #Bandung [the suicide kaboom in Bandung] actually gives a negative signal to the public and will cheer up terrorist groups," @HastoSuprayogo said on Twitter.

Police said the jacket wallah forced his way into the Astana Anyar cop shoppe in Bandung, the capital of West Java province, and set off the bomb while officers were conducting a morning roll-call.

"He was stopped by several officers, but he brandished a knife and suddenly there was a kaboom," said provincial police chief Inspector General Suntana, who uses one name.

Fingerprint and facial recognition results confirmed that the perpetrator was Agus Sujatno, national police chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo told news hounds. The 34-year-old bomber had not been successfully deradicalized, Listyo said.

Photos circulating online showed the bomber’s body parts strewn on the ground. An officer identified as Sofyan died in a hospital of his injuries.

Police seized a cycle of violence they said belonged to the bomber. The vehicle had an Islamic State logo and a piece of paper taped to the front of the vehicle that read "The Criminal Code, the law of polytheists/infidels. Wage war against Satanic law enforcers."

The attack came a day after the Indonesian parliament passed a broad new criminal code that, critics fear, would threaten civil liberties. Listyo said police also found pieces of paper at the scene scribbled with criticisms of the criminal code.

The national police have ordered stations across the country to tighten security and increase vigilance, front man Brigadier Gen. Ahmad Ramadhan said.

’WE CAN’T READ THEIR MINDS’
Nasir Abbas, a former bully boy who has worked with counter-terrorism police, said the attack was a sign that that JAD could still carry out attacks.

"This shows that the movement (JAD) still exists and is capable of getting people to carry out suicide kabooms. That’s the message," Nasir told BenarNews.

Nasir said the bomber’s supposed objection to the new criminal code was not surprising because JAD Death Eaters had always rejected Indonesian secular laws in favor of sharia.

Imron Rasyid, a security analyst at the Habibie Center think-tank, said the attack was timed with the controversy over the criminal code.

"They are taking advantage of the moment [to increase the impact of their action]," Imron told BenarNews.

Imron warned that JAD remained a major threat because the group had been recruiting while authorities were preoccupied with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Boy Rafli Amar, the head of the National Counter-terrorism Agency (BNPT), rejected suggestions that security authorities were caught off guard.

"Terrorists always look for opportunities to strike. We can’t read their minds," Boy said.

Indonesian authorities have blamed JAD for a series of attacks in Indonesia over the past six years.

These include gun and kabooms near a shopping center and a coffee shop in Central Jakarta in 2016, the first terror strike claimed by the Islamic State in Southeast Asia. The attack killed eight people including four bully boys.

JAD was also involved in suicide kabooms in 2018 in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second largest city, authorities said. Twenty-seven people died, including 13 suspects.
Related:
Umar Patek: 2022-10-11 Ahead of 20th anniversary, Bali bombing survivors remember life-changing event
Umar Patek: 2022-08-30 Bali bomb maker claims involvement in 2002 attack a ‘mistake’
Umar Patek: 2022-08-22 Anger in Australia as Sentence Cut Means Jihadist Bali Bomber Could Be Free in Days
Related:
Bandung: 2022-04-05 Indonesian court sentences teacher to death for raping 13 students
Bandung: 2022-04-04 Thailand, southern rebels agree to 40-day Ramadan peace initiative
Bandung: 2022-01-21 Thai Police Kill 2 Suspected Rebels in Pattani after Standoff Negotiations Fail
Link


Southeast Asia
Bomb explosion kills, injures railway workers in southern Thailand
2022-12-07
[BenarNews] A bomb explosion on a railroad track killed at least three railway workers and officials as well as injured several others in southern Thailand on Tuesday, officials said, blaming separatist bully boyz for the attack.

The bomb was planted near the site of a kaboom Saturday that had derailed 11 of 20 cargo cars without causing any casualties in Songkhla province, railway officials said.

"While the railway officials were clearing the track, bully boyz conducted another bombing a few hundred meters away from the first bomb site," Lt. Gen. Santi Sakuntanak, the army chief in the Deep South, said during a visit to the scene.

"That means the attackers calculated that there must be officials coming to inspect the scene and collect evidence after the first attack, so they set off another bomb to kill and destroy properties."

Deeden Kongsom, the chief technician for the State Railway of Thailand, witnessed the earth-shattering kaboom.

"The bomb went off as we were walking from the previous bomb site ... I saw my colleagues tossed away in different directions," Deeden told news hounds.

The bomb was planted between the Klong-ngae and Padang Besar railway stations on the fringes of the insurgency-wracked Deep South, and along a rail route that leads to the nearby Malaysian border.

No holy warrior groups have grabbed credit for these attacks so far.

Lt. Gen. Santi said the authorities had to be vigilant in protecting areas that could be soft targets during upcoming festivals.

"From now on, [we] have to keep extremely watchful in business areas because the attackers [may] take aim at tourist destinations not only in the Deep South, but Hat Yai, Satun and Surat Thani," he said, referring to an adjoining district and provinces.

Tuesday’s attack was the second one in the southern border region in recent weeks that resulted in multiple casualties.

On Nov. 22, a massive explosion from a bomb-rigged pickup truck killed a police officer and injured dozens of people in Narathiwat province. At least three children, including a one-year-old, were among the injured, officials said. The bomb in that incident targeted a compound where coppers and their families live.

Since a separatist insurgency reignited in the Deep South in January 2004, at least 7,344 people have been killed and 13,641 injured in violence across the mainly Moslem and Malay-speaking border region, according to data updated through March 2022 by Deep South Watch, a local think-tank.

The region along Thailand’s border with Malaysia encompasses Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala provinces, and four districts of Songkhla province.

Government officials and representatives of Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the largest of the rebel groups in the Deep South, began Malaysia-brokered peace negotiations in early 2020. These talks followed years of negotiations between the government and MARA Patani, an umbrella group that brought together Deep South holy warrior groups, including BRN.

The sixth face-to-face negotiation scheduled for this month has been delayed because of the Malaysian general election on Nov. 19, according to negotiators for both sides.
Link


Southeast Asia
Huge explosion from truck bomb injures dozens in Deep South
2022-11-23
[BenarNews] A truck-bomb explosion outside apartments housing police potted a policeman and injured more than 30 other people in Thailand’s troubled Deep South on Tuesday, including a 1-year-old, authorities said.

At least two suspects were caught on closed-circuit cameras moments before the bomb-rigged pickup truck went kaboom! near the building that houses 50 coppers and their families in Mueang Narathiwat, a district of Narathiwat province, the chief of the provincial cop shoppe said.

"The man in a gray-collar shirt with a handgun in his waist holster got out of a pickup truck and another man on a cycle of violence gave him a lift and expeditiously departed at a goodly pace," said police Col. Jeffrey Salaimankul, chief of the Narathiwat station.

The blast was the biggest explosion to rock the Deep South after a series of Molotov cocktail and arson attacks last week that Thai officials blamed on separatist rebels in the border region.

Police identified the dead Narathiwat station officer as Capt. Suthirak Pantaniya. At least 31 people who were maimed in Tuesday’s explosion were treated at Narathiwat Hospital, officials said, adding that their injuries were non-life threatening.

About 10 fire trucks along with a bomb squad and rescue workers rushed to the scene to extinguish the blaze, inspect the site and take the injured to the hospital, police said.

Members of the bomb squad found remnants of a 50-kilo (110-pound) homemade bomb in the wreckage of the truck, police said, adding that debris flew as far as 200 meters (656 feet) from the blast site.

Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN),
...the largest group in the Thai insurgency in the southern Thai provinces that make up the old Patani sultanate...
the most powerful of armed separatist groups in the Deep South, declined to comment on the attack Tuesday. The secretive organization is known for not claiming responsibility for attacks.

A security official who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to news hounds told BenarNews that the bombing followed the killing of an krazed killer in Nong Chik, a district in another Deep South’s province of Pattani, two weeks ago.

A regional military command front man, meanwhile, said the bombing matched a pattern.

"As everyone knows the cause. The perpetrators always try to conduct violence like other cases involving carjacking and boom-mobileing," said Col. Kiatisak Neewong, front man for the military’s ISOC-4 in the Deep South.

Since a separatist insurgency reignited in the Deep South in January 2004, at least 7,344 people have been killed and 13,641 injured in violence across the mainly Moslem and Malay-speaking border region, according to data updated through March 2022 by Deep South Watch, a local think-tank.

The region encompasses Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala provinces, and four districts of Songkhla province.

Thai officials and BRN began Malaysia-brokered peace negotiations in early 2020 — following years of talks between the government and MARA Patani, an umbrella group that brought together Deep South krazed killer groups, including BRN.

The sixth face-to-face negotiation scheduled for this month has been delayed because of the Malaysian general election last weekend, according to negotiators for both sides.
Related:
Narathiwat province: 2022-08-19 Fire bombs, other blasts rock Thai Deep South
Narathiwat province: 2022-08-17 Insurgents suspected of landmine attack targeting rubber farmers in Deep South
Narathiwat province: 2022-07-09 Troops kill 2 linked to PULO militant group in Thai Deep South
Related:
Barisan Revolusi Nasional: 2022-11-17 Thai authorities step up APEC security after Deep South bombings
Barisan Revolusi Nasional: 2022-11-05 Thailand launches surveillance of BRN rebels ahead of APEC meetings
Barisan Revolusi Nasional: 2022-10-28 BRN rebels, Thai military spar over identity of body found in border river
Related:
Nong Chik: 2022-08-19 Fire bombs, other blasts rock Thai Deep South
Nong Chik: 2019-10-08 Thai court approves detention of suspected militant
Nong Chik: 2019-05-30 Three Killed in Ramadan Violence in Restive Thai South
Link


Southeast Asia
Thai authorities step up APEC security after Deep South bombings
2022-11-17
[BenarNews] Updated at 12:17 p.m. ET on 2022-11-16

Authorities have stepped up security around the Bangkok venue of a leadership summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum following nighttime bomb and arson attacks in Thailand’s Deep South, officials said Wednesday.

The attacks on Tuesday night in Pattani and Yala provinces injured one person. On Wednesday night, a police officer was injured in another bombing in Pattani, officials said, while two pipe-bomb explosions were reported in neighboring Narathiwat, another of the provinces in Thailand’s troubled southern border region. No one was injured in the Narathiwat attacks.

In the Thai capital, as many as 50,000 security forces are being deployed around the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center and delegates’ accommodations, a security officer told BenarNews. The officer requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Meanwhile,
...back at the shouting match, the spittle had reached unprecedented levels...
 a Defense Ministry front man said all security units should stay alert.

"Any violence in the Deep South or elsewhere ruins the image of the country and all Thai people," Lt. Gen. Kongcheep Tantrawanich told news hounds on Wednesday. "All intelligence and security units must stay alert and follow any trace of perpetrator groups in and outside of the areas."

Kongcheep’s comments followed a firekaboom at a gas station in Muang district of Pattani province late Tuesday that injured one civilian. At least two other bomb and arson attacks took place around the same time elsewhere in Pattani and in Yala province. No one was hurt.

Previously, a soldier and a civilian were killed and three people were maimed in two separate attacks on Sunday in Narathiwat.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks.

The Moslem-majority, Malay-speaking Deep South is the scene of a long-running, separatist insurgency.

While the violence is generally confined to the four provinces in that region, it has occasionally strayed outside of the Deep South.

In August 2019, the Barisan Revolusi Nasional, the main krazed killer group, was blamed for a series of small bombings in Bangkok during a ministerial meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. At least seven people were maimed.

Police arrested two suspects from the Deep South and issued warrants for four others. The BRN denied involvement.

This week’s APEC meetings include ministerial-level talks on Thursday before a leadership summit on Friday and Saturday. Top leaders or deputies from 19 countries along with Taiwan and Hong Kong are expected to attend.

Among the attendees will be Chinese President Xi Jinping, who will hold a bilateral meeting with Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha. The United States will be represented by Vice President Kámala Harris
Former Oakland mayor Willie Brown's former mistress, then a senatrix from California, and then a former 2020 Dem presidential hopeful. She dropped out because she was polling in negative numbers because of racism or misogyny or something like that. Her father is a Marxist professor emeritus at Stanford and her mother is an Indian of the Hindoo tribe. She is reputedly the proud descendant of a long line of women. Joe Biden picked her for her skin tone, feeling she could also bring in the Native American, women's, and bimbo votes. She's an outstanding exemplar of the Peter Principle, proudly displaying her level of competence in her handling of the Biden Border Surge
On Wednesday, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan vowed that authorities would not allow any elements to disrupt the high-level meetings.
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Southeast Asia
Fire bombs, other blasts rock Thai Deep South
2022-08-19
[BenarNews] Suspected faceless myrmidons carried out a string of arson attacks and other bombings that ripped across Thailand’s Deep South in rapid succession overnight, authorities said Wednesday, in an apparent coordinated assault that left one civilian dead and injured at least seven others, including a 14-year-old boy.

The targets of the 17 fire-bombings and other attacks were mostly convenience stores and gas stations in Pattani, Narathiwat, and Yala provinces, a senior military official said. The first of the attacks was reported soon before midnight on Tuesday and other blasts followed within the hour and into Wednesday morning.

"The perpetrators donned hijabs as they entered the stores. [They] used homemade bombs and Molotov cocktail bombs to attack 17 targets, such as 7-Eleven, Mini Big C [convenience stores], and properties at the Bang Chak gas station," said Pramote Prom-in, deputy director of Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) Region 4, the military command in Thailand’s southern border provinces.

Late on Wednesday, police recovered the charred remains of a 21-year-old man identified as Masarish Mama and whose body was found at a 7-Eleven store at a gas station in Narathiwat, one of the sites that was fire-bombed, officials said.

The string of bomb explosions and arson attacks was the biggest one in four years in the troubled region and the most widespread act of violence in the Deep South since early April, when Thai government negotiators and those representing the Barisan Revolusi Nasional rebel group agreed to a Ramadan-time ceasefire. It was also the fourth suspected rebel attack since the sides met for in-person peace talks in Malaysia in early August. At the Kuala Lumpur-brokered talks, Thai negotiators had asked BRN to agree to a 108-day truce during Buddhist Lent, which is now being observed in Thailand.

On Monday, twin explosions from landmines killed a soldier and maimed six coppers and four civilians at a rubber plantation in Narathiwat province, including a female farmer who lost both of her legs in one of the blasts.

"It’s another effort by the faceless myrmidons to disrupt the situation," said Lt. Gen. Kriangkrai Srirak, the army’s commander in the southern region. "We do not know the motive yet but do not rule out any possibility, including that it could be related to peace talks."

As of Wednesday night, no one had grabbed credit for the latest attacks in the Deep South. BRN did not respond immediately to requests for comments. PULO, a rebel group blamed for some recent episodes, denied any involvement.

"I don’t know who did them. Regarding reports that Thai officials detained PULO members, I have yet to check on that," Kasturi Mahkota, the head of the group, told BenarNews.

According to Pramote, two attacks occurred in Pattani, six in Yala, and nine in Narathiwat. The worst attack targeted Bang Chak petrol station, which got burned down, in Pattani’s Nong Chik district, he said.

In May 2018, Thai officials also blamed faceless myrmidons after 16 pipe bombs were set off across the Deep South during a coordinated attack. Thai authorities said those were explosions were aimed at undermining regional peace talks that were happening at the time and disrupting Ramadan observances that year.

And in August 2019, two men from the mainly Malay Moslem Deep South were arrested on suspicion of being connected to the detonation of nine small bombs in Bangkok that month as Thailand hosted the ASEAN Regional Forum, a high-level international security meeting. Four people were maimed in that attack.

Since the insurgency reignited in January 2004, more than 7,000 people have been killed and 13,500 others injured in violence across the region, according to Deep South Watch, a local think-tank.
Related:
Thailand’s Deep South: 2022-07-09 Troops kill 2 linked to PULO militant group in Thai Deep South
Thailand’s Deep South: 2022-06-04 Thai peace negotiator: Rebel group responsible for attack in Deep South
Thailand’s Deep South: 2022-01-21 Thai Police Kill 2 Suspected Rebels in Pattani after Standoff Negotiations Fail
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Southeast Asia
Deep South rebels seek immunity during public consultations in peace process
2022-08-05
[BenarNews] Negotiators for the main rebel group in Thailand’s Deep South are asking for diplomatic immunity so they can consult the public in the border region about the grinding of the peace processor without being arrested, they told news hounds Wednesday.

Barisan Revolusi Nasional chief peace negotiator Anas Abdulrahman said his side made the request to Thailand’s government during two days of meetings with their Thai counterparts in Malaysia this week, and that BRN was considering the main proposal from the other side — a second pause in violence, but one that would last at least three months.

"We discussed about the mechanism ... for the public consultations on the ground ... that our representatives involved in the peace talks and the public consultations be given diplomatic immunity," Anas said during a post-meetings presser at a hotel in Petaling Jaya, near Kuala Lumpur.

He said the two sides also discussed the Ramadan Peace Initiative, a successful 40-day truce that they had observed in April and May after agreeing to a pause in hostilities following their previous round of in-person talks brokered by Malaysia.

Technical teams from both sides will meet soon to discuss these matters in detail before the next round of official talks — the fourth this year — that will likely take place in October, Anas told BenarNews.

When BenarNews asked him about it on Wednesday, Lt. Gen. Thira Daehwa, the secretary for the Thai peace talks panel, said the Thai side was open to discussing the immunity issue more with BRN.

In response to questions about the Thai side’s new proposal for a 108-day truce — which would go from Aug. 15 to Nov. 30 and cover much of the Buddhist Lent — Anas, who is also known as Hipni Mareh, said BRN needed time to consider the matter.

BRN is the largest of armed separatist groups in Thailand’s far south. Many of its leaders, members and officials are believed to be living across the border in neighboring Malaysia, and are the targets of arrest warrants in the heavily militarized Deep South.

Such immunity for wanted BRN members was necessary to let its representatives participate in bilateral monitoring of peace-related measures in the conflict zone and to enable them to consult with communities in the Deep South without fear of being stopped or arrested, a retired former member of Thai delegations in past peace talks with southern rebel groups had explained to BenarNews.

Under past agreements, the government waived all criminal charges against wanted BRN officials to let them take part in consultations with the public, and even allowed them to stay at Thai military premises for the duration, Thai Army Maj. Gen. Nakrob Boonbuathong had said.

BRN and other separatist groups have been waging a decades-long insurgency against Buddhist-majority Thailand in the Deep South, a predominantly Moslem and Malay-speaking region that encompasses Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala provinces, and four districts of Songkhla province.

Since the insurgency flared up again in January 2004, more than 7,000 people have been killed and 13,500 others injured in violence across the region, according to Deep South Watch, a local think-tank.
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Southeast Asia
Troops kill 2 linked to PULO militant group in Thai Deep South
2022-07-09
[BenarNews] A counter-insurgency operation in Thailand’s Deep South led to the rare killing on Friday of two PULO
...formally the Patani United Liberation Organization, one of the original members of the Thai insurgency. They went dormant in 2016 before reappearing recently...
rebels and arrests of eight others linked to the mostly dormant krazed killer group that has recently expressed interest in joining peace talks.
There were only about 100 of them before — this is a significant loss.
The operation in Yala province brought to five the number of suspected turbans killed by the military since Tuesday, officials said, making it the deadliest week of violence in the border region since the government and BRN rebels observed a 40-day ceasefire starting in early April, during Ramadan.

"At about 6 a.m., when officials reached the houses, a shootout broke out, killing two suspects ... another eight surrendered. We believe they were hiding to launch attacks somewhere there," said police Col. Ratpolchai Pensongkram, chief of the Kota Bharu cop shoppe in Yala province.

He and other officials said the eight who surrendered admitted that they and the two slain suspects were members of "PULO G5" or the fifth iteration of the Patani United Liberation Organization rebel group, which was most powerful in the 1990s.

Troops recovered an AK-47 rifle, an M-1 carbine and a 9mm handgun along with two bodies in a field in Mai Khan village, officials said, adding that leaflets inscribed with PULO G5 were found in a nearby house.

The deaths follow a Tuesday operation where different security forces killed a suspected Barisan Revolusion Nasional (BRN) member and captured another during a clash in Pattani. On Wednesday, security forces killed two suspected BRN cell members in Narathiwat province.

The regional army commander confirmed that those killed and captured on Friday were PULO members.

"Today eight men surrendered, admitting they are PULO. They also collaborated with a drug ring to create violence but there must be further investigation," said Lt. Gen. Kriangkrai Srirak, the commander of the 4th Army Region which oversees the Deep South.

Kasturi Mahkota, the head of PULO-MKP (Majlis Kepimpinan Pertubuhan or Party Leadership Council) questioned the army commander’s statement.

"I haven’t heard a report from the ground about the incident yet. But the accusation of PULO’s drugs involvement is not true," Kasturi told BenarNews.

PREVIOUS VIOLENCE
On April 15 as Kasturi, who leads one of three PULO factions, expressed interest in joining BRN in peace talks with the government, PULO members took credit for twin bombings that shattered the negotiators’ 40-day ceasefire tied to the Moslem holy month.

Those explosions in Pattani province killed a villager and injured three police bomb squad members.

On Friday, Kriangkrai, the regional army commander, dismissed concerns about the deadly week.

"I acknowledge the summary killings are a concern ... but people forget about the attack on the marine cop shoppe in Tak Bai which took place after Ramadan ended. Security forces have to enforce the law though we try to practice restraint," he said.

Authorities said three officers were maimed when 10 button men armed with assault rifles and grenades attacked a cop shoppe near the border with Malaysia.

Still, regional officials said the military seeks peace in the Deep South.

"We continue with the sentiment of Ramadan peace initiative which remains intact and we will have a peace talk this month but I cannot remember the dates," Kriangkrai said.

The Deep South encompasses Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala provinces and four districts of Songkhla province in Thailand’s majority-Moslem Malay southern border region. Since the insurgency reignited in January 2004, more than 7,000 people have been killed and 13,500 others injured in violence across the region, according to Deep South Watch, a local think-tank.
Related:
PULO: 2022-06-25 In Thai Deep South, another rebel group wants role in peace talks
PULO: 2022-05-13 In Deep South, people hope Ramadan truce can help bring permanent peace
PULO: 2022-04-19 PULO leader: Rebels won’t negotiate with Bangkok under Thai constitutional framework
Related:
Patani United Liberation Organization: 2022-05-13 In Deep South, people hope Ramadan truce can help bring permanent peace
Patani United Liberation Organization: 2022-04-19 PULO leader: Rebels won’t negotiate with Bangkok under Thai constitutional framework
Patani United Liberation Organization: 2022-04-16 Sidelined in peace talks, PULO rebels claim responsibility for Deep South bombing
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Southeast Asia
In Deep South, people hope Ramadan truce can help bring permanent peace
2022-05-13
[BenarNews] A 40-day Ramadan halt in violence that Thailand and the main southern rebel group agreed to in April has largely held intact, with locals and officials saying they hope its relative success is a step toward a permanent peace.

Under the Ramadan Peace Initiative, which is due to expire on May 14, the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) separatist rebels and Thai security forces agreed to cease hostilities throughout Islam’s holy month of fasting and into mid-May.

And, in a first, unarmed rebels were allowed to visit their families during Ramadan in Thailand’s majority Moslem Malay southern border region, otherwise known as the Deep South.

A senior Thai military official said the truce has shown it is possible for the two sides to reach an agreement despite years of fighting in the heavily militarized border region near Malaysia.

"After the success of the peace initiative as agreed upon, it is evident that both sides can cooperate on the matter," Col. Kiatisak Neewong, front man for the military’s ISOC-4 regional command, told BenarNews on Thursday.

"The Thai peace dialogue panel will bring this up during the next talks in Malaysia and discuss how to boost the already achieved peace to be permanent in the Deep South."

The peace initiative was agreed to at the end of the latest round of in-person peace talks between Thai negotiators and the BRN that were brokered by Malaysia and took place at a hotel in the Kuala Lumpur area on March 31-April 1.

BRN rebels were not immediately available for comment on the truce. Malaysian controllers of the talks did not respond to BenarNews either.

Since the start of Ramadan in early April, the military had recorded five incidents of violence but they were mostly unrelated to the insurgency, Kiatisak said. Four incidents had to do with personal disputes and drug addiction, while one was carried out by another separatist group, the Patani United Liberation Organization, or PULO.

In that attack on April 15, one villager was killed and three members of a police bomb squad were maimed in twin roadside kaboomings in Pattani, one of the provinces in the Deep South. PULO’s leader claimed the group had carried out the attack in the middle of Ramadan because it was sidelined from the peace talks and wanted to be included.

According to the ISOC-4 front man, 266 rebels had visited their families during Ramadan, while some had stayed at a military-hosted peace center.

"More than half of them will continue to stay with their families. Some of the rebels were mum on what they wanted to do. They may go back to the jungle, but we will talk to them again," Kiatisak said.

"For the group who want to stay, we will look for jobs for them ... But most importantly, they must not break the laws again."

‘A CHANCE TO HAVE PEACE’
After five years in hiding, a suspected turban called Mae, 34, took the opportunity to visit his home during Ramadan for the first time since he fled.

"I learned that the military had accused me of being an turban member and wanted to arrest me, so I went into hiding. I had to move every two to three days," Mae, who wished to be identified only by one name for security reasons, told BenarNews.

He denied being a BRN member and said he never felt safe during his five years as a runaway.

"I asked myself: Have I done anything wrong? Why do I have to flee? From where did the [military] get this misinformation about me?" he said. "I’ve no answer, and I often cried due to my unfortunate situation."

When Mae heard about the truce, he said he told his family to sign him up for it. His relatives informed ISOC-4 so that he would not face any harm or harassment.

"It’s a good program, which gives us a chance to have peace," Mae said.

His mother, Yo, said she was delighted to be reunited with her son.

"There was not a day when I felt happy or slept well after he was gone," Yo said. "Now, I feel relieved that I have my son back with my family. He is not an turban, but the military wanted to arrest him for some reason."

The Thai military declined to give details on individual cases.

Another turban, Sof, 57, who acknowledged that he was with the BRN, said he joined the program to visit his family because he was tired of life on the run.

"I felt exhausted having to flee always, so I thought I’d come back home. Now, I’m happy to have returned to be with my family," Sof, who also wished to be identified only by one name for his personal safety, told BenarNews.

"During my escape, I cried all the time. After I returned, my wife told me that our son wanted sweets, but she had no money to buy him some. She cried, feeling pity for herself. I won’t do anything like that again."

Both Mae and Sof said they wished for the truce to continue.

Last week, Gen. Wanlop Rugsanoah, the general who heads the Thai delegation in the peace talks, rated the truce as "a success" and said the two sides would meet again in July or August to "advance peaceful cooperation."
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