In a previous Winds of War report, we noted that Thailand has one of the world's worst terrorism problems: over 600 deaths in less than two years as a result of Islamofascist terrorism. Focus by the media? Hard to find, except for scattered articles in places like TIME Asia (Nov. 29/04: Buddhists Under Siege). Faithful Winds of War readers will have followed our continuing coverage, but I thought it was time to up the profile a bit.
Anyway, we have more beheadings and murders by Muslim terrorists there... and of course, the Associated Press won't call them that. Their moral cowardice surpasseth all understanding. Or decency.
UPDATE: A recent news report puts the figure over 720. This is a casualty counter worth paying attention to. Note esp. this passage: "I don't see a motive such as personal conflict. He was mute and his wife was also mute, so it's just part of the campaign of unrest," police Lieutenant Colonel Sakarin Bumpensamai of Bannang Sata told AFP. These people are evil. Call them by their name.
Interesting. As it usually seems that we get news from the places where reporters are located, could it be that the diminishing presence (due to diminishing funds) by MSM is affecting reporting from remote regions?
Of course, the regime in Thailand has historically good relations with the US, and the West in general. And tourism has been a disaster since the tsunami deaths there, with particular focus on Phuket, so certainly the regime would want to downplay anything that would further affect tourism negatively.
We're back to the "bloody borders of Islam," a la Huntington. Most of the Thai violence occurs in the muslim regions in the south near Malaysia. Muslims simply can't "work and play well with others." It's not in the nature of the religion, at least in the unsavory version of the religion which is very popular among young muslim men at this time.
Young muslim men, with typically low intelligence, are easily manipulated by their religious teachers. That's their problem, until they go and make it someone else's problem too. Now it's everybody's problem.
If the government of Thailand would just quit provoking these radical Islamists, then all would be well. If Thailand would end their support for Israel, pull Thai troops out of the Saudi Kingdom, quit proping up pro-western governments, suppressing the Muslim population, then there would be no cause for these radical fundementalists to go around lopping off people's heads and blowing them up. Oh that's right, they don't do any of that!
Further evidence that radical Islamists don't need a legitimate "cause" to perpetrate their violence on others. Yet, there are far too many people in the west who buy into this train of thought and believe if we would only disengage and quit provoking these radicals, then peaceful co-existance would be possible.
Thailand did ratify the Kyoto Treaty, maybe they need to hire a p.r. firm to get the word out to the street.
Muslims simply can't "work and play well with others."
Unlike thai. They are the nicest, least racist people in the world. cough
The border region. Which has only been part of Thailand for the last hunderd year or so explodes regulary in violence. It has nothing to do with religion just as Ireland, Rwanda or the Basque country has anything to do with religion.
Janice, you're spot on. Everywhere muslim societies exist next to other religions or cultures there is violence. I've seen it in Africa, in Indonesia, in the Netherlands, and more commonly in Thailand. The Thai people are indeed exceptionally kind and generous people. How sad for them that they must be situated so close to such an ungenerous and violent culture.
News reports have varied on the true body count in Thailand's Muslim insurgency, with stats ranging from 600 to as high as 800. This article seems to shed some light on the true casualty toll:
A total of 790 people have been killed and 1,217 wounded in a year and a half of unrest in mainly Muslim southern Thailand, police said Thursday in the first release of comprehensive casualty figures since the violence erupted.
Funny thing, there is a movie made under the auspices of the Thai royal family, its name is The Legend of (Sukathai?) and uses the scenery of the ancient capital. It tells the story of one of the many bloody wars (and takeovers of the royal function) that the Thai fought among various factions (also lots of shots of elephants and some really gross effects of poisoning).
Buddhism was a good addition to the society, with its deep reverence of all life. Not to say a bloody history indicates a violent nature at the bottom of any nation.
Religion is never good
_ How sad for them that they must be situated so close to such an ungenerous and violent culture._
Isn't Thailand the country where they kill drugdealers without a process
a - "Religion is never good"?
At Sukatai (sp?), there are any number of figures predating the Buddhist figures, and Buddhas obviously replacing preceding figures in many niches. Buddhism replaced a preceding religion, quite obviously, which I understand to have been animistic and then Hindu.
...and no mention here of the deaths in police custody amongst Muslim demonstrators in the Southern Provincesss... Takbai was a huge issue in the news at the time and caused an escalation in the unrest. Happy statements about peace-loving Buddhists do not easily survive a study of the Thai police's bejhaviour record in the South.
Thailand (The Land of the Free) has a competent military. Why do we hear nothing about their activities against these terrorists?