Yala Car Bomb : Weak Excuse

The recent Monday's   and  Sunday's car bomb in Yala   shows once again that the violent  group of Patani Liberation movement in the deep South have every intention of continuing their bloody attacks. They clearly are working to step up the number of casualties, by increasing the ferocity of each attack. The latest of a string of vehicle bombs - three cars, one motorcycle - in central Yala town seemed to be aimed at a truckload of paramilitary rangers.But as usual, the great majority of casualties occurred among innocent bystanders and the owners of shops and houses along the street.The failure of security forces to check...

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Southern Border Provinces Administration Act

The Southern Border Provinces Administrative Center (SBPAC) has become a juristic entity, following the enforcement of the Southern Border Provinces Administration Act. The Act was approved by the National Assembly in November 2010 and took effect on 30 December 2010 after it was published in the Royal Gazette. It covers all districts in the five southern border provinces, namely Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, Songkhla, and Satun. Does SBPAC allow real  freedom of  Conscience to the people? According to the new Act, SBPAC is a special government unit under the direct supervision of the Prime Minister and is not under the jurisdiction...

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Anatomy of a Forgotten Conflict

A Bangkok military seminar in February concluded that the conflict in southern Thailand, now entering its sixth year, "will get worse before it gets any better." In the same week, insurgents gunned down a village chief, blew up two people and shot two soldiers, mutilating and burning the corpses. Some 3,300 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since 2004. Exactly how much worse does it need to get?British academic Duncan McCargo counters such heartless defeatism with Tearing Apart the Land, an introduction to a scandalously underreported conflict. Most of the 1.8 million people in Thailand's three southernmost provinces are Malay-speaking...

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The Ancient City of Yarang

Location  The ancient city of Yarang is located in the governing area of Tambon (sub-district) Wat and Tambon Yarang , Yarng district, Patani province. Traveling to the ancient city, one can use the route of Siroros(highway 401) from Patani province down to Yala province. At 15 kilometers , turn left at the cross road to highway 405 (Yarang-Mayo) and then turn left again or turn north at 1.2 kilometers, about 400 meters from highway 405 is the ancient city of Baan Jalek, it lie about 16.6 kilometers from Patani down town.The Ancient City of Yarang The ancient city of Yarang was one of the biggest communities in the early historical period...

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Muslim Malay of Patani

The Patani Malays or Muslim Malay of Patani are living primarily in Patani Raya, the southern provinces of Thailand. The majority or approximately 2 million live in the provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, Satun and Songkhla near the border to Malaysia. Patani Raya, once a semi-autonomous Malay-speaking sultanate, is the heartland of Muslim South Thailand. North of these five provinces, there are almost a million other Malays in the central-southern provinces. Another million live in the greater Bangkok area. The Malays are not recent immigrants. Their descendants settled on the lower Kra Isthmus centuries ago, yet they have never...

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