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Southeast Asia

After deadly attacks, activists criticize Thai govt for stalled southern peace talks

2025-03-13

[BenarNews] Six people were killed in a spate of attacks by suspected rebels across the border region since Saturday.

NGOs and opposition politicians blamed a spike in violence in Thailand’s Deep South on unclear governmental peace policies and stalled negotiations with rebels, after attacks by suspected ~~bandidos~~ krazed killers killed six people and injured about a dozen others since Saturday.

According to the Thai military, separate rebels in the mainly Malay Moslem southern border region were intensifying violence during the holy month of Ramadan, which began here on March 2.

The series of attacks on Saturday and Monday brought to 15 the corpse count from insurgency-related violence since the start of the new year in the region that lies along the border with Malaysia.

"Earlier incidents of burning electricity poles or putting up [protest] signs already reflected dissatisfaction, but the government remained passive toward these signals without any response," said Anchana Heemmina, chairperson of the Duay Jai (with Heart) Association for Humanitarian Assistance, a local NGO.

"Now new violence affecting people has begun. Part of this may be due to operational shortcomings, but the government cannot deny responsibility for not showing clear intentions regarding the peace dialogue process," she told BenarNews.

Since Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s government took office last August, there have been no signs of Malaysia-brokered peace talks restarting. Her father, former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, was recently appointed as a special adviser to ASEAN to help Kuala Lumpur with the Deep South question during Malaysia’s chairmanship of the Southeast Asian bloc in 2025.

The last round of peace talks between negotiators representing Thailand and Barisan Revolusi rebels took place in Kuala Lumpur 13 months ago. Paetongtarn’s administration has still not yet appointed a new chief Thai negotiator for the peace talks, after the post was vacated in October.

Phumtham Wechayachai, the Thai deputy prime minister and defense minister, said Bangkok was ready for talks to proceed, but with conditions.

"It’s unfortunate that incidents occurred and people died. We have publicly stated that violence should cease for a period. If it can be stopped, it shows a genuine desire for negotiation. We ask for a ceasefire before negotiations," Phumtham told news hounds on Monday.

On Saturday, attackers bombed and opened fire on the Su-ngai Kolok district office and launched attacks on several other locations in Narathiwat province, killing two defense volunteers and injuring about 10 civilians, Thai authorities said.

Later that night in Sai Buri district, Pattani province, suspected rebels attacked a Ranger Regiment special task force, killing an officer and two civilians and injuring one other. At 2 a.m. Monday, button men shot and killed another village defense volunteer in Krong Pinang district, Yala province, officials said.

Lt. Gen. Paisan Nusang, the Thai army commander in the region, said ~~bandidos~~ krazed killers were acting deliberately during Ramadan.

"They believe committing these acts during Ramadan brings merit, as incidents typically increase during this month. I have ordered a review of incident control measures and law enforcement tracking of perpetrators according to operational plans," Paisan told BenarNews.

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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.

Link

Southeast Asia

What to make of Thailand’s Ramadan-time ‘truce’ offer to BRN rebels

2023-04-11

[BenarNews] The Thai government, in an apparent peace overture in late March, urged Barisan Revolusi Nasional separatist rebels to stand down from hostilities during Ramadan in the far south.

In a statement that seemed to offer BRN the olive branch of a truce, Thailand’s negotiating team in Malaysia-brokered peace talks with the Lions of Islam expressed its "intention of having a good atmosphere and without violence throughout the month of Ramadan so that our brothers and sisters can observe Ramadan safely."

Meanwhile,

Link

Southeast Asia

Malaysian facilitator: BRN agrees to other Thai Deep South groups in talks

2023-02-24

[BenarNews] The main Thai Deep South separatist organization BRN has agreed to other groups joining peace talks with the Thai government, the Malaysian negotiator told BenarNews on Wednesday after the latest two-day round of negotiations held in Kuala Lumpur.

Analysts noted the new Malaysian controller for the talks, former military chief Zulkifli Zainal Abidin, achieved another breakthrough when he managed the rare feat of a joint presser with negotiators representing the Thai government and the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) rebel group.

...the largest group in the Thai insurgency in the southern Thai provinces that make up the old Patani sultanate.

Zulkifli said he hoped other groups from the Malay-majority Deep South would be present at the next round of negotiations in March, which would mark the first time they participate in peace talks since 2018.

"They have agreed in principle to invite others because they want to be inclusive too, but we need to send formal invitations to the others to make it happen," Zulkifli told BenarNews in an exclusive interview.

This was the first round of talks attended by Zulkifli since he took over as controller this year, replacing Abdul Rahim Noor, although the former Malaysian military chief visited Bangkok earlier this month to introduce himself to the Thai government team.

After the two days of talks, the Peace Dialogue Panel for the Southern Border Provinces of Thailand, headed by Gen. Wanlop Rugsanaoh, and the BRN delegation, headed by Anas Abdulrahman, agreed to move forward the peace dialogue process under what they termed a "Joint Comprehensive Plan toward Peace."

This plan, though, would have a timeframe — 2023 to 2024 — and would address issues dealing with reduction of violence, and public consultation that leads to political solutions, a Thai statement said.

Specific details would be worked out between March and May during technical meetings, "with an aim to present such [a] draft for consideration and endorsement" in June, the statement said.

When asked whether he believed the separatist conflict would end in two years, Zulkifli said he did.

"I am confident based on my two friends here," he said at the presser.

BRN has been fighting since January 2004 to establish an independent state for Malay Moslems who form the majority of the population in the southern border region. 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.

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)

coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)

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.

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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.

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

Thailand launches surveillance of BRN rebels ahead of APEC meetings

2022-11-05

[BenarNews] Thai authorities have arrested several suspected "bombers" in the Deep South and are setting up a post there to track and intercept Lions of Islam who may be plotting potential attacks as Thailand prepares to host APEC meetings, officials and sources said.

Officials said security agencies had doubled the number of field officers in the heavily militarized southern border region ahead of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation 2022 meetings, which are set to take place in Bangkok from Nov. 14 to 19. Their efforts already have led to the capture and arrests of suspected Lions of Islam capable of setting off bombs in and around the capital city — the most recent arrest occurring on Sept. 7, according to a security source.

The APEC meetings will be the first high-level international gathering in the Thai capital since members of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN)

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Southeast Asia

BRN rebels, Thai military spar over identity of body found in border river

2022-10-28

[BenarNews] Rebels in Thailand’s Deep South insist that a dead man found in a river on the Malaysia border is one of their senior holy warriors, even as results of a DNA test on the corpse have not yet been released and while the Thai military has denied this.

Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the most potent of armed separatists groups in the southern border region, first came out with a strongly worded statement last week about the discovery of the blackened and bloated body in the Kolok River on Sept. 29. The corpse belonged to one of its fighters, who had been kidnapped and tortured, the rebels alleged.

"BRN strongly condemns the extra-judicial killing of people suspected of affiliation with BRN. Such acts are direct violations of the Geneva Conventions," they said in a statement sent to BenarNews on Oct. 19.

The army commander for Thailand’s southern border region rebutted the allegations, saying the body does not belong to Zahri Bin Abdullah (also known as Yahree Dueloh), a 42-year-old BRN holy warrior, as identified by the rebel group.

"The fingerprint check of the corpse showed it had no relationship with the family [of Yahree Dueloh]. They [the dead man and Yahree] are different men," Lt. Gen. Santi Sakuntanak told BenarNews via a text message on Friday.

Meanwhile,
...back at the pond, Gloria again dodged the questing tip of the giant frog's tongue and ran for her life...
a local ~~activist ~~muppet~~~~ said his organization had documented six cross-border abductions in the past decade, including the one in late September of the man who turned up dead in the Kolok River two days later.

According to sources close to the BRN, Yahree served as chief of the rebel group’s youth wing in Narathiwat, one of the provinces in the Deep South, and had been living in northern Malaysia.

"We may have to dig up the body and check it again [to see] whose body it was," Santi said. "But officials affirmed it was not Yahree’s body. Whatever, we have to wait for the police to confirm [the identity]."

Local police officials did not immediately respond to questions from BenarNews as to whether the dead man’s identity had been established since Santi’s comments last week.

According to Arfan Wattana, a secretary with the Patani, a local ~~activist ~~muppet~~~~ group, Yahree’s body was found floating on the Thai side of the Kolok River on Sept. 29.

On Thursday, Yahree’s wife said there was no doubt that the body belonged to her husband, but the family would not allow it to be disinterred for further examination. She said she had identified the body by recognizing a distinctive scar.

"The other day, officials visited us and asked us to come to the cop shoppe, seeking permission to dig up the corpse. But I rejected it. The corpse was him. I can remember the scar on his leg," Nuraining Deromae told BenarNews in a phone interview.

"I have no doubt the body was his, I am sure. But the prosecution must go on," she said.

Blood samples from the corpse were sent to Prince of Songkla University for DNA testing but the results were still unknown, both Arfan and Nuraining said.

‘WHERE IS HE NOW?’
Meanwhile,
...back at the pond, Gloria again dodged the questing tip of the giant frog's tongue and ran for her life...
the head of a panel representing BRN in Malaysia-brokered peace talks with Thailand stood by comments he made last week saying that the man whose body was found in the river was in fact the missing holy warrior.

He said that his statement last week that Yahree’s identity had been established by a DNA test was based on "information received at the time."

Besides, BRN trusts information shared by the Yahree family more than other sources, Anas said, without elaborating.

The BRN official was blunt.

"If the military says it’s not Yahree, where is he now? He is nowhere in Malaysia, neither in Thailand," he said.

The Patani has investigated five other cases of cross-border abductions during the past 10 years, other than the case of Yahree, according to Arfan.

"There were five incidents where we had some clues showing that Thai and rogue Malaysian officials were involved. But for this case, we’ve no clues about the culprits yet," he told BenarNews in a phone interview.

Meanwhile,
...back at the pond, Gloria again dodged the questing tip of the giant frog's tongue and ran for her life...
fighting has continued in the Deep South since BenarNews first reported last week about the discovery of the body in the river.

On Oct. 21, five Thai soldiers were maimed in a roadside kabooming that left behind a crater (pictured) in Chanae, a district of Narathiwat.

On Tuesday, two coppers were shot and maimed, while a suspected holy warrior was killed during a shootout as Thai security forces surrounded the suspect’s home in Thepha, a district of Songkhla province, authorities said.

Since the separatist insurgency reignited in the Deep South in January 2004, at least 7,344 people have died and 13,641 have been 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.

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