Another Panel Discussion on the 10-year Muslim Insurgency in Southern Thailand

Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand.  Bangkok.  October 31, 2013. 

For 10 years, the three southern Thai provinces bordering Malaysia have been a war zone, with daily killings totally to date about 2,750 lives and no end in sight.  These provinces are about 80% Muslim and have a strong identity with Muslim Malaysia.  It is unclear who is behind this Muslim insurgency, who leads it, or exactly what are its goals; still, the beheadings, assassinations, bombings, and killings (teachers are a favorite target) go on.  A “peace process” brokered by Malaysia was initialed by both sides in February, but the cease fire never took place and both sides seem to agree that the talks, to the extent that there are any, have not gotten anyplace.

I’ve attended numerous panels at the FCCT over the years about the southern insurgency, but they have proved repetitious and not particularly informative beyond what I read in the newspapers, of which there is a lot and much of it is thoughtful.  Although I decided I would not attend any more panels on this so important a subject, I made an exception for this panel because it was sponsored by The Asia Foundation, an NGO, and the panel consisted of southerners, community activists, who were on the scene and living it daily.  Unfortunately, while the panelists were personally engaging, I found their thinking muddled and unclear, and although I did learn a few things, I can’t say that I learned enough to justify the time spent.  No more southern Thailand panels for me.