Thailand: Terror Victims Strike Back

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May 3, 2007: Some 90 percent of Thais are Buddhist, and many are warming to the idea of making Buddhism the state religion. This would mean more restrictions on Moslems looking for special treatment. What Moslem Thais fear the most, is the violent reaction to threats that is so typically Thai. There has already been some of that in the south, and the response was more terrorism. But if this triggers another outburst of violence against the Islamic terrorists, eventually the vastly outnumbered Moslems lose. The government is trying to avoid this, but in the past, this has proved difficult. Attacks on Moslems in the south are increasing. Some are coercion by Islamic militants, to persuade Moslems not to cooperate with the police. But more and more of these attacks are retaliation by Buddhists. The government is working out an amnesty plan, to try and get more sober-minded Islamic terrorists a way out, before things get completely out of hand and the Buddhists strike back hard.

May 2, 2007: The military wants to increase security forces strength in the south by a third (to 40,000).

May 1, 2007: A bomb went off in a night market in the south, killing one and wounding twenty. A note left nearby said this was in retaliation for a recent bomb attack on a Mosque.

April 30, 2007: In the south, Buddhists are increasingly arming and fighting back. This includes bombing Moslem targets, in response to bombs used against Buddhists.

April 29, 2007: Terrorists burned down two schools and a medical clinic in the south, continuing their attacks on symbols of the Thai nation. At the same time, over a hundred young Moslem men blocked a main road to protest the death of their religious leader (via a grenade attack).

April 28, 2007: Someone drove by a mosque in the south and fired several dozen shots at it. No one was injured, and the shooters were believed to be Islamic terrorists (who were "celebrating" the death of 32 fellow terrorists in that mosque three years ago.

 

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