Religion Of Peace Strikes Again In Thailand

[Poetess]

Those peace-loving Muslims are at it again striking twice in a single day in the latest string of attacks against Buddhists in dreamy, laidback Thailand. Commentators say Thais are fed up with the government's hitherto "softly-softly approach". Is another Bosnia in the works?

Ian MacKinnon, Guardian

Violence in southern Thailand boiled over today when suspected Muslim militants ambushed a commuter minibus and killed nine Buddhists in cold blood. The execution-style attack in the province of Yala - which included women and children among the victims - shocked even those who have become inured to the almost-daily tally of bombings, drive-by shootings and beheadings.

Thailand's military-installed government, which has made strenuous efforts to calm ethnic tensions since seizing power, further stepped up security across three restive southern provinces populated by ethnic Malay Muslims.

The tempo and brutality of the attacks has escalated since the prime minister, Surayud Chulanont, switched tack from his ousted hardline predecessor, Thaksin Shinawatra, and offered an olive branch to the fragmented separatist movement. The latest murders, which add to a grim litany of killings over the past week, mark a new low and send a clear message that the separatists have no intention of compromising or entering a dialogue.

In today's attack, three men and six women, including two girls aged 14 and 15, were shot in the head at point blank range after their vehicle was held up in daylight.

Logs had been used to block the road, and when the bus slowed down five gunmen opened fire on the vehicle, which ran off the road and crashed into a ditch. The Muslim driver, the only survivor, was shot in the face before the militants wrenched open the side door to shoot those inside.

"When the bus slowed down, they opened fire," said army spokesman Colonel Acar Tiproach. "The bus veered off the road. Then the militants shot the passengers in the head at point blank range." A small bomb was also detonated by the militants near the scene of the attack to hamper the police and army operation to reach the victims.

Officers discovered the victims - described as Buddhist villagers, traders, teachers and school students and a soldier - slumped in their seats. One passenger was still alive, but they died on the way to hospital. Security forces were already on heightened alert over fears that one of the main separatist groups, Barisan Revolusi Nasional or the National Revolutionary Front, would seek to mark today's anniversary of its founding.

The failure of the government's "softly-softly" policy is a dramatic reversal. It took the unprecedented step of offering an apology for the excesses of the Thaksin government, provided compensation for victims and released prisoners.

"There was a genuine attempt to reach out to the ethnic Malay Muslims initially, but it fell flat in the implementation," said Sunai Phasuk, a consultant for Human Rights Watch in Thailand. "Now the insurgents' clear message is that they don't want dialogue with the government and will not compromise to achieve independence for the south."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international ... 43,00.html

[Padishah]

We do love peace. We don't like being occupied.

It seems these separatists are using Marxist style geurilla tactics, and not the whole sale suicide bombing that is the 'Islamist' trademark. Poetess, your just hanging yourself here.

[Poetess]

Tell me Padishah, how long till Muslims are being collectively hauled out and laid to waste do you think?

Allah's boys don't stand a chance pitied against Buddha's don't you think? Those Buddhist chaps I hear don't take well to killers of their women and school girls.

I have a soft spot for Thailand. Let the purge begin in earnest.

Thailand Akbar!

[Padishah]

There's a simpler solution. Give them autonomy, or Independence.

But of course, you opt for the most violent method available.

[Poetess]

No sir, I'm all for peace, love and smoking pot around the fire except Muslims want to deny us our freedom, wanting to impose Sharia on us all.

Moreover, why should their demands for indepedence at the end of a machete be granted when they're not indigenous to the land? If they want sharia, let them bugger off to Malaysia where they crawled out from.

Thailand is the land of the free and civilized, and will stay as such. The question is how much massacres of women and children before these amiable creatures turn into vigilantes?

I give the goat-faced Islamists 3 months. What say you Padishah?

[Padishah]

Which Muslims in Thailand want to impose Sharia on the Thais? They're to busy trying to get their Independence from Thailand, and join the rest of their people in Malaysia. Where would they get the time to try and impose Sharia on Thailand, and which army are they to use in order to do such a thing.

The land these Muslims live on was originally under the rule of two Malay Rajah's, populated by ethnic Malays, and has been Muslims since they were converted from their animist and spirit worshipping beliefs those centuries ago, and then conquered by these peace-loving Thai Buddhists you seem to be blabbering about under the banner of Siam during the turn of the century.

So your little 'get off Thai land' is irrelevant nonsense. Its Malay land colonised by an Imperial power, and suppressed in order to keep the land as a part of badly named 'Thailand', when its inhabitants want nothing of the sort.

One good thing is, these Muslims love the current King Bhumipol, and revere him as would any other 'Thai', but you fail to mention that, don't you?

Give these goat faced non-existent Islamists all the time you want Poetess. It really isn't going to change the situation much.

[Steeler [Crawler2]]

Padishah
The boundaries are over 100 years old. They are not going to be redrawn and everyone knows it. The violence being perpetrated to achieve that, or some other spurious end, is not legitimate. Period, end of story. People that pull innocent people off of buses, line them up, and shoot them in the back of the head, are criminals. They're not freedom fighters, they're not heros, they're murderers, and those that support them are accomplices. If the Ummah supports this kind of behavior, then the Ummah can be fairly classified as scum, animals, swine of the first order. Do Muslims wish to be part of the global community or not? Stop making excuses for this shit. It's bullshit.

[Bagamundo]

I don't know much about these people's history, but i am in support of their seperitist idea and their wish to re-unite with the rest of the ummah in Malaysia.

If you want to worship your dala lama thing un disturb, grant peace otherwise expect the out-come of your actions.

[Steeler [Crawler2]]

Bags
If individuals wish to live in Malaysia, then they can move there. The boundary between the two states has been there for over 100 years, and Malaysia has no irredentist claims against Thailand. Thailand has invested a lot of money into the infrastructure of that region. They are not now going to just cut it loose.

[Bagamundo]

Well i'm not an expert nor a spokesperson for those thai muslims. But i hope they can get some kind of autonomy if not a full grant to excercise their religous freedom.

I'm sure Thailand will not want to risk their peace to attract tuerism by striking a full scale crack down on them.Because in the end that will only result more blood shed and turmoil in their relatively peacefull country.

[Steeler [Crawler2]]

The problem is, the current government has an Army Chief that IS Muslim. And he reversed the hard line tactic of the Thaksin government. But it hasn't changed anything. The extremists can't seem to be placated and continue to conduct ridiculous acts of violence with no accountability to anyone. They are like a mafia, and once they start, you can't turn them off. They will now each and every one have to be found and executed, because they are not going to go into retirement. Beyond that, they are very loosely formed, they're not in a cohesive organization. So you can't negotiate with them as a group.