January4, 2007:
The violence in the Moslem south continues unabated. Most of the
terror appears to be directed at the Moslem community, where the majority are
not keen on living in an Islamic theocracy, although more autonomy would be
nice. The terrorism is working, at least insofar as Moslems are not eager to
come forward with information on who the terrorists are. The lack of enthusiasm
for a life of Islamic conservatism in the south, has many police officials
thinking that the real power behind the violence is the leaders of criminal
gangs. Smuggling and extortion have been a major part of life along the border
for generations, but now the thugs have added religion and nationalism to their
arsenal.
January
3, 2007: Since the New Years Eve bombing, there have been several bomb threats
phoned in, but all were false.
January
2, 2007: In the south, a prominent ant-extremist Moslem leader, was shot dead,
apparently by Islamic terrorists.
December
31, 2006: Eight small bombs went off in the capital, killing three and wounding
40. The public New Years Eve celebrations were called off. No one took
responsibility for the attack. The government accused the deposed prime
minister and his supporters, but that was rejected by former prime minister
Thaksin Shinawatra. The attack was demoralizing as it came just after a
government announcement that tourism was up 18 percent in 2006.