Word: songkhla
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...LAIJIAN village leader in Lampaya, southern Thailand, where the escalating conflict with Muslim insurgents has prompted civilians to take up arms. In recent days suspected insurgents stopped a commuter van in Yala province and killed eight passengers, while three students died in an attack on an Islamic school in Songkhla province...
...April 28 Security forces receive tip-offs that Muslim separatists are planning predawn attacks on government targets across Yala, Pattani and Songkhla. The army and police launch counterattacks, killing 108 Muslims. Five security personnel also...
...whiff of a publicity stunt. In the Muslim south, an area already weighed down by corruption, poverty and violence, the arrest of three prominent citizens has been met with suspicion. "People down here are shocked and angry," says Chid-chanok Rahimula, a political scientist at the Prince of Songkhla University in Pattani in southern Thailand and an acquaintance of one of the accused, Dr. Waemahadi. "The three are all well-known and well-respected in the south. No one here believes they were members of JI." The accused have denied being involved with JI, but police claim they have strong...
...already surrendered and were handcuffed. Television cameras showed them being marched into a shack, six shots were heard, then six bodies wrapped in white sheets were carried out. But here in the deep south, it's the police who are afraid. Among the Malay Muslims of Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala, Songkhla and Satun provinces, hatred of the mostly Buddhist police runs deep?stemming from what Muslims contend are decades of religiously motivated violence and discrimination. "They used to beat us at will. People disappeared every day," claims Yuso Pakistan, a former Muslim separatist. Locals also claim that police are deeply enmeshed...
...thick forests and craggy hills of this region provide an ideal haven and hideout for outlaw gangs that run contraband, sell drugs and weapons, or extort protection money. But it's not just the impenetrable terrain that shields the bandits, says Perayot Rahimula, a political scientist at Prince of Songkhla University. Both Perayot and Vairoj say what most locals are afraid to: the outlaws are controlled and protected by corrupt local politicians, rogue soldiers and the police. As disputes over these illicit businesses flare up, so do the killings. So far, most of those who have been killed have either...