April 21,2008:
The Thailand Army Rangers are not an elite force, but a paramilitary
organization, and recently they formed an all female battalion to support operations against
Islamic terrorists in the south. The Rangers (actually, their literal title
means "hunter soldiers") were originally formed three decades ago to run down
communist rebels in the northeast jungles. Many of these original rangers were
convicts, given the option to work off their sentence in uniform. Other
recruits were local people, looking for a paycheck. Officers and NCOs were from
the army. The rangers continue to be used along the border, often recruited
from locals who know the territory. That often leads to corruption, but it does
provide a force that knows its way in isolated rural frontier areas.
There had
always been about a hundred female rangers, but usually deployed in squad
(about ten troops) sized units. The 300 strong battalion was formed for service
in the south, where the Moslem population gets really angry if male soldiers
search or manhandle their women. But there were also problems with
pro-terrorist Moslem women carrying out demonstrations to provide cover for
male terrorists. The Moslem women rioters would make a big media stink if they
were dispersed by male soldiers or police. So the army asked for volunteers and
soon had 300 women rangers. Some were widows or daughters of men killed in the
south, or elsewhere in army service. But most were just women looking for
something a little different.