Updates from Southern Thailand is a monthly newsletter produced by the Reclaiming Rights program of Nonviolence International Southeast Asia (NISEA). The newsletter Charged! intends to inform the international community about current news on the conflict and human rights situation in the three southern-most provinces of Thailand – Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani.
Background
The origins of the current violence in Southern Thailand lie in historical grievances stemming from discrimination against the ethnic Malay Muslim population and attempts at forced assimilation by successive ethnic Thai Buddhist governments in Bangkok for almost a century. The Sultanate of Patani which includes present-day Patani, Narathiwat, Yala and parts of Songkhla province was annexed by the Royal Thai government in the early 20th century. Since the annexation, armed groups calling for independence have operated in the region. Their activities have ebbed and flowed over the last 100 years, but with the turn of the 21st century they increased dramatically.
The violence in Thailand’s southern, mainly Malay Muslim provinces has been steadily escalating since early 2004, exacerbated by the disastrously heavy-handed policies of then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. There are several explanations, none mutually exclusive, for why violence has escalated but the most plausible are the disbanding of key government institutions, and the fear and resentment created by arbitrary arrests and police brutality, compounded by government failure to provide justice to victims and families of abuses. Measures by the previous government to curtail militant violence have deteriorated human rights conditions within the region as indiscriminate processes of investigating acts of violence helped transform single incidences of violence into an expanding web of violence and retribution.
A state of emergency was declared in July 2005 which has had dire consequences on the human rights situation in the 3 provinces. The decree allows for detention without charge or trial for up to 30 days and legal immunity from prosecution for law enforcement officers. Under the emergency decree, hundreds of people have been arrested as suspected militants completely stripped of all their rights. Some have been detained without access to lawyers or their families and are kept in secret locations. Allegations of torture have surfaced and people continue to disappear. The military also admitted using blacklists of people to be killed.
Civilians increasingly fall victim to this web of violence between militants and security forces. Security forces are no longer able to protect civilians and have themselves become perpetrators of violence and human rights violations. The numerous forms of abuses faced by civilians in the South highlight the need for human rights defenders to provide legal assistance and help victims seek redress. The same forces that put average citizens at risk also restrict the work of human rights defenders and place them in danger. The National Reconciliation Commission, established to explore possible measures to bring the violence to an end, had the crucial function of lending credibility and backing to human rights work by operating as a buffer, building confidence between the state and people. Yet, as a result of their role some of the staff has been accused of supporting militants.
Most of these human rights abuses remain hidden from the public view. Due to the sensitivity of the issues and the actors involved, media coverage of human rights violations is limited or skewed. The larger international community remains unaware of the depth of state abuses committed in the region. Human rights defenders at risk do not have a medium to raise issues of concern and mobilize support and protection. Yet as the conflict has reached a new threshold with entire displaced communities and indeterminate closures of schools, international scrutiny ensuring human rights are protected and rule of law is respected within southern Thailand is crucial in curtailing the web of violence.
Key historical dates:
1390-1902
Independent sultanate of Patani, comprising the present-day provinces of Patani, Yala, Narathiwat, and parts of Songkhla, ended when the Kingdom of Siam formally incorporated the sultanate.
1909
Anglo-Siamese Treaty recognized Siamese control over Patani and drew a border between Patani and the Malay states of Kelantan, Perak, Kedah and Perlis. The local aristocracy was deposed in favour of officials who spoke only Thai and reported exclusively and directly to Bangkok.
1932
Constitutional monarchy was introduced with a parliamentary government.
1938
Regime of Phibun Songkhram came to power and it followed a policy of forced assimilation into mainstream ‘Buddhist Thainess’ aimed at creating the monolithic character of the state.
1940s
Emergence of Patani People’s Movement (PPM), a separatist movement fighting for an independent Patani
1948
250,000 Thai Malays petitioned the UN to oversee the accession of Patani, Narathiwat and Yala to the new Federation of Malaya.
28 April 1948
Dusun-nyor riot: clashes between Muslim villagers and police and military forces, led by religious leader, Haji Abdul Rahman, resulted in the deaths of some 400 Muslims, thousands more fled to Malaysia
1950s
Expansion of Malay resistance was accelerated by formation in Malaya of the Gabungam Melayu Patani Raya (GAMPAR, the Greater Patani Malayu Association), an organization set up to incorporate Thailand’s four majority Muslim provinces into Malaya and the Patani People’s Movement, a Thailand-based organization with the same goal.
1959
The first group to organize armed resistance in the south, Barisan Nasional Pembebasan Patani (Patani National Liberation Front) / Barisan Islam Pembebasan Patani (Patani Islamic Liberation Front) was founded.
1960
Barisan Revolusi Nasional-Coordinate was established to fight for an independent Patani state. Thought to be the largest and best organized of the armed groups, it is focused on political organizing and recruitment within Islamic schools.
1968
Patani United Liberation Organization (PULO) formed and becomes the largest and most effective of the separatist movements during the next two decades.
1970s
Guerilla activity increased and, in response, the government launched military operations.
29 November 1975
Thai marines allegedly murdered five Muslim youths in Bacho district of Narathiwat. The incident led to the emergence of several small Islamist militias and unleashed the most intensive violence yet seen which led to the declaration by the government of a state of emergency.
20 January 1981
Southern Border Provinces Administrative Center (SBPAC) established as part of a new government strategy emphasizing enhanced public participation, economic development and a broad amnesty signaling a shift from confrontation to negotiation. Over the 1980s and 1990s, violence dropped significantly.
August 1997
New tactical alliance under umbrella group known as Bersatu was formed by PULO, BRN and GMIP
24 December 2001
A new round of violence opened with five-well coordinated attacks on police posts in Patani, Yala and Narathiwat that left five officers and a village defense volunteer dead.
May 2002
SBPAC abolished under Thaksin Shinawatra.
4 January 2004
Attack of the 4th Development Division in a military camp of Joh-I Rong district, Narathiwat province; 22 schools and patrol outposts set on fire by insurgents. Five suspects confessed but it was later revealed that they were tortured.
12 March 2004
The suspects’ lawyer, Somchai Neelaphaijit, disappeared in mysterious circumstances the day after he called for an investigation into the torture of the suspects.
28 April 2004
Kru Se Massacre: involved synchronized attacks on eleven police posts and army checkpoints and ended in a bloody showdown at the Kru Se Mosque when Thai army gunned down 32 men inside. By the end of the day, 105 militants, one civilian and five members of the security forces were dead.
25 October 2004
Tak Bai Incident: began with a demonstration outside a police station and ended with the deaths of at least 85 Muslim men and boys, most from suffocation after arrest as a result of being stacked five and six deep in army trucks for transport to an army base
19 July 2005
PM Shinawatra enacted Emergency Decree in order to manage the three troubled provinces.
May 2005
National Reconciliation Commission formed by PM Shinawatra in order to analyse the conflict and recommend policies, measures and mechanisms to spur reconciliation and peace in Thai society.
1 September 2005
131 Thai Muslims cross into Malaysia to seek refuge after 3 near-simultaneous bomb explosions.
6June 2006
Report of the National Reconciliation Commission submitted (http://www.nrc.or.th/th/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=37&Itemid=47)
19 September 2006
Ouster of Thaksin Shinawatra through coup d’etat
1 November 2006
Newly appointed PM Surayud Chulanont publicly apologizes for atrocities committed under the previous administration, especially regarding the Tak Bai incident. Tak Bai protesters on trial are being released and case is dismissed.
Charged 
