Thousands of Insurgents in deep south of Thailand
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said yesterday that insurgents numbering between 4000 and 5000 have been active in Southern Thailand. He admitted that not much effort was being taken to quell the unrest which claimed more than 3500 lives since the separatists resumed armed conflict in January, 2004.
In line with what the previous leaders said, he called for poverty alleviation, education and development of local people. He called for the officials to fight the violence but didn’t clarify the steps to be taken. He said that he would be visiting the troubled region and be meeting with Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre and senior officials regarding the government’s development plans to improve education and judicial system in the region.
The government plans to develop the southern region and raise the income of each family by Bt120, 000 each month on an average.
More than 20,000 soldiers have been dispatched to fight the insurgents but so far success has eluded them. The insurgents have been resorting to guerilla warfare which includes arson, random shootings to fight the army. Militancy raised its ugly head in 1970’s when ethnic Malays in the three regions of Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala demanded independence from Thailand.