Thailand: The Army Wants To Get Paid

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August 2, 2010: The armed forces are undergoing a shuffle at the top, with royalist officers replacing some more populist commanders. The army is afraid the new leaders won't be as diligent in getting the government to pay for new equipment. The army is currently trying to get money for forming a new infantry division up north, buying 121 armored vehicles and lots of other new equipment. The army expects to get rewarded for coming out and suppressing the red shirt demonstrators.

In the south, the police are arresting more and more of the Islamic militants they have been seeking for months, or even years. The number of tips from Moslems in the south is on the rise, as are the attacks on Moslem leaders there, by Islamic terrorists trying to stem this decline in loyalty.

The government has ordered the hundred or so Islamic schools in the south to add courses in science, English, math and computers. The core curriculum in these schools is Islamic scripture and Arabic. Parents back the new mandatory courses, while Islamic conservatives oppose it.

August 1, 2010: Several hundred populist red shirts defied the martial law (state of emergency) and staged a demonstration to commemorate the May violence that left 1,500 dead or wounded.

July 30, 2010:  A grenade went off in the capital, wounding a civilian.

July 29, 2010:  The government lifted the state of emergency in six more provinces, leaving it in force for the capital and nine provinces.

July 27, 2010:  In the south, a Moslem village leader was killed by three gunmen, believed to be Islamic terrorists.

July 26, 2010: In the south, police tracked seven Islamic terrorists to a house, but were fired on when they closed in. The gun battle appeared to wound several of the suspects, who were all able to flee.

July 25, 2010: In the capital, a grenade went off at a bus stop, killing one and wounding ten.

 

 

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