National and international outrage over Narathiwat school bombing
The struggle of Muslim separatists in the deep south of Thailand seems to be hardening. On Tuesday morning, a bomb attack at a primary school in Tak Bai (Narathiwat) killed three people, including a father and his 5-year-old daughter. Nine persons were injured.
The attack aroused horror at home and abroad. The security services say the southern resistance has changed its strategy by choosing other targets, such as schools, hotels, hospitals and railway lines.
The Chularatchamontri, Thailand's oldest Muslim organization, condemned the attack in a statement, calling it contrary to the tenets of Islam. The organization asks the population to unite and oppose the violence that mostly targets innocent civilians. It calls on the authorities to improve security in public places.
Five hundred religious leaders, local officials, teachers, schoolchildren and residents held a prayer service at the school of the attack yesterday. After the service, they took to the streets and called on residents to join the resistance against the attack.
The southern resistance group Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) is expected to be responsible for the attacks. These Muslim separatists are active in Malaysia and the four southern provinces of Thailand. A BRN sympathizer says that the para-military branch BRN-C internally discusses and evaluates its attack tactics. He does not call the attacks on civilians, including children, happy, but believes that the civilians in the region will ultimately blame the presence of the Thai army in the region.
Since 2004, there have been regular attacks in the four southern provinces of Thailand: Yale, Narathiwat, Pattani and Songkhla. These are bomb attacks, arson attacks and assassinations of the country's administrators. Since 2011, the number of attacks has been increasing. There are (fatal) victims almost every day. Thousands of people have been killed since 2004, many of them Muslims.
Source: Bangkok Post
Horrible, inhuman, salacious, inhumane, beyond words.
Hansest
Very sad of course, nothing can justify killing civilians, people. I do think that there should be a referendum for areas where there is a strong call for independence. This should not be done overnight, because you obviously do not want a temporary, minimal wish to demerge to have it happen just like that and then be deeply regretted a few years later. But a referendum as a kick-off and then a possible second referendum or other 'control' some time later, that should be every citizen's democratic right.
So here too, ask the people in the southern provinces what they want:
– more autonomy
– an independent Pattani (re-establishment of the Pattani Sultanate)
That could then be combined with the same question in Malaysia. After all, Thailand and Malaysia have divided the Sultanate with its two. If a majority of those people want to see the old state restored, then it should be possible. Obviously not from one day to the next, such a departure must be done in good consultation so that no one is affected excessively. And if a majority does wish to stay, then those backward fighters / rebels would be a spoke in the wheels. Finding support and recruits will be a bit more difficult if it is obvious that you have little support even in your own region.
But, look at the Spaniards and the Irish, for example, such a referendum will probably not happen. Countries never actually hand over 'their' territory unless it is taken away by a larger power. It will not happen anytime soon, nor will Flanders return to the Netherlands. 😉 And yes, if Limburg, for example, wanted to break away from the Netherlands, I would grant them a referendum.
Due to a visa run – I live in Narathiwat and work as a teacher – I happened to be nearby on my way to the border with Malaysia (near the village of Ta Ba). The roads in Tak Bai were partially closed. I suspected that either a traffic accident had happened or a bomb was being dismantled given the many military personnel on site. It was only much later that I understood that this attack had taken place about an hour earlier.
Very sad again, all this, but as long as the Thai government sticks its head in the sand and sends even more soldiers, nothing will change. This problem requires a different approach. As Rob already wrote, a form of self-government by the Malay-Thai Muslims would prevent a lot of misery. I don't think there is much enthusiasm for complete independence, although I avoid this topic in daily conversations with the people around me. I remain a farang and therefore an outsider. What I think doesn't count here anyway. One thing is certain: the proverbial bun about it never worked. The insurgents want to oust the Thai government at all costs.