THE REGION'S most enduring local conflict, happening in southern Thailand, saw yet another series of eruptions last Friday when suspected insurgents coordinated a wave of up to 40 minor arson attacks with triggered bombings in four provinces there.
This is believed to be the biggest coordinated attacks in recent memory in the southern provinces of the country.
They took place twenty years after the ‘Tak Bai incident’ in 2004 when 78 suspected insurgents suffocated to death while they were transported inside packed Thai military trucks from the town of Tak Bai, near the Malaysian border, to an army detachment encampment in Pattani.
The recent wave of attacks in 40 locations unfortunately killed a Myanmar foreign worker who was believed to have been caught up in the violence.
According to Lt. Gen. Santi Sakuntanark, the army commander for the southern Thai region, the perpetrators' main objective was to create disturbances during Ramadan rather than to hurt anyone.
Santi was reported as saying that the sole fatality occurred when a female construction worker from Myanmar was struck by shrapnel from a bombing at a petrol station in Mayo district in Narathiwat.
The four provinces which reported the incidents were Songkhla, where Haadyai, the biggest city in southern Thailand is located, Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat.
Since the insurgency reignited in January 2004, more than 7,540 people have been killed and over 14,000 injured in violence in the region, according to Deep South Watch, a local nongovernmental organisation formed to monitor the violence.
Since 2004, the southern provinces have had a form of martial law imposed with many military checkpoints deployed to maintain security and order.
The unrest began around 1am last Friday with arson attacks on private buildings, government property and CCTV cameras across several districts.
Malaysia has agreed to assist in the peace talks between the southern Thai rebels and the central national leadership based out of Bangkok in view of her role as a neighbour.
The talks are mediated by former Royal Malaysian Army commander, Gen (R) Tan Sri Zulkifli Zainal Abidin.
The Thai side is led by civilian Chatchai Bangchuad, a deputy secretary-general of the Thai National Security Council, while the rebels are said to be from the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the largest registered group among the rebels there.
The southern provinces have a large population of Muslims. Some armed groups have been seeking autonomy and Islamic rule for the provinces. – The Vibes, March 26, 2024.
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