Thailand: Unrest in the southern provinces. 44 images Created 3 Sep 2008
Thailand is struggling to keep up appearances as the land of smiles has to face up to its troubled south. Since 2004 more than 3500 people have been killed and 4000 wounded in a war we never hear about. In the early hours of January 4th 2004 more than 50 armed men stormed a army weapons depot in Narathiwat taking assault rifles, machine guns, rocket launchers, pistols, rocket-propelled grenades and other ammunition. Arsonists simultaneously attacked 20 schools and three police posts elsewhere in Narathiwat. The raid marked the start of the deadliest period of armed conflict in the century-long insurgency.
Martial law was declared on January 5th 2004, covering every district in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat alongside massive mobilisation of the security forces to the southern provinces. Soldiers and police were authorized to search and arrest without judicial warrant in order to find the weapons and perpetrators within seven days. A number of police investigation teams and army Special Warfare teams were combing through villages, private islamic schools, rubber plantations, orchards and mountains in an attempt to recover the stolen weapons and capture those responsible for the raid. They quickly resorted to extrajudicial means and human rights violations to meet the deadlines and objectives set by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Today five years after the insurgengency uprising, despite some 30,000 Thai troops being deployed in the region, the shootings, grenade attacks and car bombings happen almost daily, with 90 per cent of those killed being civilians.
Martial law was declared on January 5th 2004, covering every district in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat alongside massive mobilisation of the security forces to the southern provinces. Soldiers and police were authorized to search and arrest without judicial warrant in order to find the weapons and perpetrators within seven days. A number of police investigation teams and army Special Warfare teams were combing through villages, private islamic schools, rubber plantations, orchards and mountains in an attempt to recover the stolen weapons and capture those responsible for the raid. They quickly resorted to extrajudicial means and human rights violations to meet the deadlines and objectives set by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Today five years after the insurgengency uprising, despite some 30,000 Thai troops being deployed in the region, the shootings, grenade attacks and car bombings happen almost daily, with 90 per cent of those killed being civilians.
