70 Said Killed in Thailand Gunbattles

[Dark]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040428/ap_on_re_as/thailand_southern_violence&cid=516&ncid=716

[dArKeR]

1. Dozens killed in Thailand

http://iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=3&art_id=qw1083118862362B234&set_id=1

[Pallas180]

2. Muslims in Thailand. Pretty surprising.

apparently they intend to create chaos and war over the entire world.
One would hardly call Thailand "the West" don;t you agree?

[Pale_Rider]

3. Southern Thailand is pretty close ...

... to Muslim Malaysia. As the article points out there may be some discrimation in Thai Buddhist society. Also southern Thailand is where some Muslim men go to get some of the rowdy night life that is prohibited in Malaysia.

Fo mo' info on the Thai-Malay interface ...
http://www.aa.tufs.ac.jp/~rnishii/South_Thai/events/introductionary.html

[demdave]

4. Radicals are radicals the world over.

[paulk]

5. there's a pretty long history

of Muslim unrest in southern Thailand -

I doubt if this is connected to the "war on terror", ie, transnational terrorism - this is homegrown.

[Aidoneus]

8. to many of those who live there, it is not considered "southern Thailand"

but rather as Pattani, it's status as being invaded and occupied by the Thai state. It was one of the oldest kingdoms in the region and one centre of Malay civilization, and one of the first to accept Islam from contact with Arab & Indian traders. It was annex by Thai armies around this time last century after resisting their invasions for many years, though like many other occupied lands it has not seen too lengthy a period without uprisings against their unwanted conquerer.

When Thailand sided with the Japanese in WWII, they rose up again and assisted the British empire with resistance attacks on Japanese occupation forces and Thai government collaborators in the other Malay provinces. In return, the British answered a petition of Malay leaders in British-occupied Malaysia for the independence of the provinces of Patani from Thailand after the war. Like in Palestine, after they got what they wanted the British proved themselves to be liars and saw it overrun again by foreign invasion. The Thai state, despite openly aligning itself with a fascist enemy of the British colonialists in Asia immediately before, was seen as a useful buffer against the socialist revolutions threatening to liberate large areas of the region from Western occupation.

As a result of what is referred to as racist and discriminatory policies by the state, the region has been kept poor and underdeveloped. More recent ideas by the government for "development" entailed the further imposition of a foreign culture onto the people. It is not unlike the suppression of the Moros (Spanish name for them) people of Mindanao and nearby islands, though with a few differences.

The Thai government supports the invasion and occupation of Iraq, assisting the aggressors with around 500 military personnel.

[gottaB]

9. thanks for the info

read coverage by the bbc

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3665293.stm

Can you recommend other English-language sources?

[dawn]

6. Now it says 85 dead :(

[TeeYiYi]

7. Now it's 95 . . .

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/04/28/thailand.violence/

TYY

[MaineDem]

10. Now more than 100

Security forces kill more than 100 people in Thailand's Muslim south after raids by sword-wielding militants.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3665293.stm

[dArKeR]

11. Pic

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/photo/2004/04/29/2003125611