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Author: Kim Barker, Chicago Tribune
Publication: Belleville News-Democrat
Date: December 17, 2006
URL: http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/16261525.htm
Now enemies, they once were friends
Once they were friends, the chiefs of neighboring Buddhist and Muslim villages, separated by less than a mile of rice paddies and rubber-tree plantations.
Violence drove them apart. And when Muhammad Dunai Tanyeeno, the chief of the Muslim village of Jaroh, was gunned down Oct. 20, the chief of the Buddhist village of Saikaew was not even sad. None of the Buddhists of Saikaew went to Dunai's funeral.
"He was a good friend," said Yoon Yencheun, 51, the chief of Saikaew, who carries two guns with him whenever he leaves his village. "But when any Muslim dies, I'm happy. So many Buddhists have been killed by the Muslims."
The history of violence in Thailand's Muslim-majority South, where a low-level Islamic insurgency has claimed nearly 1,700 lives since 2004, can be traced through these two villages, just southeast of the provincial capital of Narathiwat. In these villages, it's clear just how murky this insurgency is. It's also clear that violence is growing worse since the Sept. 19 coup, despite the new prime minister's apology to Muslims for past harsh treatment.
Most government schools were shut down recently in the three southern provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani, a reaction to an insurgent campaign of school burnings and attacks on teachers. A mysterious group recently put up fliers announcing an Islamic state and warning Muslims not to work, open their shops or go to the bank or hospital for 10 days. "Otherwise we can't guarantee your safety," the fliers said.
People listened. Shops were closed. People stayed away from restaurants, from karaoke bars. The local hospital in Rangae district had one-third fewer patients than usual. The streets at 7 p.m. in Narathiwat felt as empty as they do at 1 a.m.
In this insurgency, there is never a spectacular attack, never a huge bombing. Bangkok, the capital of this predominantly Buddhist nation, has not yet been targeted. Suicide bombs have not yet come to the South. But the violence is steady and random. Almost every day, a teacher or government worker is shot dead, a small bomb explodes in a busy market. Buddhist and Muslim government workers have been killed.
This is a shadow war. No one ever claims responsibility for attacks, unlike other attention-seeking insurgencies in other countries. Government officials and local residents believe this insurgency is fueled by smugglers and drug runners. Chaos is good for business.
Many Muslims blame the heavy-handed government of deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra for human-rights abuses, for punishing innocent Muslims, jailing and killing them without evidence. Thaksin cracked down on the South, often with force. And in 2004, the separatist rebellion that had simmered since Thailand annexed the independent southern sultanate a century ago gained momentum. Long-dormant separatist groups such as the Pattani United Liberation Organization and the National Revolutionary Front-Coordinate resurfaced, but it's not clear how active they became.
That year, the insurgency arrived in Saikaew and Jaroh.
Saikaew is a slow-moving village of 700 people, one of 19 Buddhist villages in the Tak Bai district, a few lanes of small houses and paddy fields and children on bicycles. The teashop on the corner is the center of village life; years ago, neighboring Muslims such as Dunai would come here late at night to talk and drink tea.
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