September 21, 2007:
The continued violence in the south is more an ethnic rebellion, than a
religious one. The Malay Moslems in the south are culturally and linguistically
different from the vast majority (over 90 percent) of Thais. Add to that the
fact that the south is rural and poor, and you can see why the southern Moslems
have always felt like outsiders. Then there's the criminal element. The
smuggling gangs have always been one of the few employment options, and the
outlaw angle added to the smuggler's popularity. In the past few years, some of
the gangsters got religion, at the same time some local clergy turned radical.
While there was wide appeal in the south for the terrorists, at first, the
growing violence, and attacks on schools, turned off many Moslems. The
terrorists were making big promises (a separate Moslem state, prosperity) that
had little popular appeal. That's because the fine print indicated that the
Moslem state idea came with Sharia (Islamic ) law and all the lifestyle
restrictions that implied. Locals were particularly unhappy with the terror
campaign to drive Buddhist teachers out of the south and shut down schools.
Education was recognized as one way out of poverty, and the Islamic radicals
wanted to shut down that option. So now, more and more of the violence is
against Moslems who speak out against the terror, or are suspected to passing
information to the police. The Islamic radicals have managed to divide the
Moslem population, creating a low level civil war, lots of misery and not much
else.