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We went to a funeral in a Buddhist temple. The village chief had been killed that morning.
Praying for *** victims is becoming a familiar ritual in southern Thailand. All Buddhists
are potential targetsIn the last five months there've been six shootings just in this village,
four of them fatal. The violence isn't restricted to this area. All across the south hundreds
of people have been killed in the last twelve months. The government blames Islamic separatists
and has declared martial law in the south. Trouble is, they're not sure who they're fighting.
Thailand's three southernmost provinces used to belong to Malaysia till they were annexed
a century ago. Though Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist country, 90 per cent of the population
here is Muslim. Southern Muslims have long complained of being treated like second-class
citizens. Now they feel like enemies in their own country. We're entering Tak Bai, which
is normally a fairly sleepy city, but a few weeks ago an event happened here that changed everything.
In October, hundreds of Muslims gathered outside this police station. The
police had arrested a group of Muslim villagers on charges of supplying militants with guns.
Locals said the accusations were unfounded and came to demonstrate. 1,300 people, men
women and children came here to protest. Then suddenly someone started to fire. Some of
the protestors had thrown stones at the station. The police responded with live ammunition.
Six people were shot dead; the rest ran for the river. The demonstrators were unarmed.
As they ran here, the security forces rounded them up, tied their hands behind their back
and forced them to lie face down. Some of the demonstrators drowned in the river. Others
had their necks broken from beatings. In Thailand showing this footage is illegal. It's never
been broadcast by the Thai media but bootlegged copies are available in the markets and it's
been shown on Malaysian TV. 78 of these men suffocated when they were piled into trucks
and driven to an army base. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra expressed regret -- but
stopped short of an apology.
Mee-Noh was at the market that morning. When she went to
see what the demo was about, things turned ugly. She was very scared.
She started crawling towards the river. She got into the water and tried to swim away
from there. And then she could feel something over her head. She looked up and a bullet
going through her hair. So she swam back to shore and hit behind a rock.
What she remembers most are the dead people. She feels pain. She feels sorrow for them.
The seven people whose arrest sparked off this
protest came from this village and six people from here were killed that day. The villagers
don't like Prime Minister Thaksin's government. They believe it has taken power from local
leaders and imposed western values on their Muslim way of life. Masadee Yako's brother
Ade was shot dead at Tak Bai. Thai translationHe said he got up that morning and did the same
thing as every day. Then his mother said, don't you want to go to the protest? His brother
had already gone. He went to Tak Bai. Then he could head gunshots. He saw people fall
to the ground and realised that these were real bullets and people were being killed.
Masadee, a father of five, is lucky to be alive. Masadee was lying on the ground when
the bullet entered his back here, went straight through him and came out this side. He said
he's still in a lot of pain with this.He said the Muslims were used to injustice but now
things were worse than ever. He said the Thai Muslims are treated differently to the Thai
Buddhists in the rest of the country. He said if you are a Buddhist you can get a good job
and have a better way of life but if you are a Muslim you can't get a good job. And now
resentment against state violence could help insurgents win new recruits. Most of these
people have lost relatives, husbands or fathers, sons or brothers, and they're staying together
to give each other strength because afraid if people are alone in their own houses they
might commit suicide. Saleeha's husband Makaseng was shot in the head. At 27, she is bringing
up four children alone. She said before they married her husband served in the Thai army.
Saleeha found out about her husband's death on the TV news and had to get the body herself.
Now she is retreating into Islam for comfort.
She said she thinks the south should split
from Thailand and go under Malaysian rule. Because if it belonged to Malaysia, it might
be more peaceful. Prime Minister Thaksin decided some response was needed to placate Muslim
anger in the south.
The kids are going nuts.100 million paper cranes
were folded by Thais from all over the country and airdropped on the south. A gesture of
unity. Peace. Lots. Messages. Lots of people seem to have sent messages. This is one that
was send by a little girl from a kindergarten in the centre of the country and she says:
'I hope the peace comes back, we care about your heart.' Not everyone was impressed.
Every night the insurgents are active. We've just heard that there's been an armed robbery and guns were stolen.
We're on our way to find out what's happened.
Masked assailants had attacked civilian security guards at a
fire station. It was a typical militant raid -- speed
in by motorbike, attack, then flee. Hundreds of weapons have been stolen in the last 18
months from both army bases and civilians who've been given rifles to protect their
communities. The robbers came, put guns to the security guards heads, handcuffed them,
then stole the guns. At least that was their story. But these days, the army doesn't take
anything at face value. The men are being taken for further investigation. This is the
kind of incident that sparked off Tak Bai. Villager defence volunteers who had guns were
accused of either selling them or giving them to militants and were arrested. Their fellow
villagers disagreed with this interpretation and went to protest for their release and
that's when it all kicked off. We travelled to Ai Ti Mung, a Buddhist village in the Sukhirin
district. In November militants attacked the village Deputy Chief and beheaded him. Sukhirin
is surrounded by very dense jungle that makes it very easy for assailants to creep in and
out. The residents have set up a defence force and the army has provided them with guns and
training. Buddhists monasteries are now military bases. Even monks have been killed in this
conflict. The urn contained the ashes of the Deputy Village Chief. A note beside his head
said the killing was revenge for the Muslim protesters killed at Tak Bai. If anyone witnessed
the slaying, they're not talking. We met the Village Chief, Boonserm Petchuan.
He said some people want separatism here. Some people want to kill the Buddhists or make
them leave this land so the three provinces can be Muslim. He said it's working in some
places already because many people have left.He believes Muslim neighbours are carrying out
the attacks. He said the Islamic population .. women can't use birth control so they have
a lot of children. Their families are big and quite poor, there's a lot of impoverishment
and these young boys grow up and can't get a good job. So when these teenagers grow up
and are offered money to do things they accept it. And there are teenagers now who have been
guided in this way for a long time. At least three people have been beheaded since Tak
Bai, apparently by Muslim insurgent groups. Since the killers are still at large, everyone
is under suspicion. Thai He said when we drove in past the army checkpoint he was radioed
and told that a strange vehicle was on the way. They speak to each other by walkie talkie.
That's how paranoid everyone is here. The Chief knows he could be next. He said the
villagers need 24 hour security now and people are even looking for permission to buy guns
so they can protect themselves.
Arrests are rare. The security forces can't detect any
single organisation behind the killing. This is a newly issued poster of the 'most wanted'
suspects. According to this, 'people who have been making trouble in the south and are behind
the killings. And some of these are specifically linked to particular crimes like the killing
of a judge or a student. They're all Thai citizens but the security forces think they
may have already fled the country. Whether the suspects are guilty or not, the attacks
go on. We've just heard that a village chief has been shot this morning. Apparently he
was shot first and died a half an hour later. Another assassination of a Buddhist official.
A drive by shooting. The village chief was shot over here. There's a trail of blood as
he started to crash on his motorbike. He came as far as here and crashed into that area
over there. As usual, the killers had escaped. This is where he died. There was a pool of
blood and there's a tradition around here for the relatives to burn the blood, that's
why it's charred. Kliang Chankong was shot a mile away from home. His wife said that
even if their Muslim neighbours witnessed the shooting they could say nothing for fear
of being killed themselves.A few months earlier the Buddhists in this village received leaflets
warning them to get out. The Post M is being carried out here outside the temple. And at
the same time the body is being prepared for the funeral. His wife and daughters are working
along side army medics. Kliang's father didn't expect justice for his son. And revenge wasn't
possible. He said if they wanted revenge they wouldn't know where to look for it because
they don't know who's doing it. He said he raised his son for 52 years for this. He said
his tears are dry. The Buddhists feel abandoned by the state. This is a daily occurrence now.
Yesterday a teacher was shot, today the village chief, and later we heard that an ice-cream
seller was shot.
State schools that teach Buddhists and Muslims are targets. Dozens
have been burned in arson attacks. half of this school was burnt to the ground. Dozens
of teachers, Muslim and Buddhist, have been killed. Teachers and children travel under
army escort. The 25,000 strong military presence has not stopped the violence. We've just heard
that a bomb has exploded in Rangae, a place about half an hour from here. It's too dangerous
to drive there, it's too late at night, we don't know what it might be like on the roads.
Again, the perpetrators got away. We know that a grenade or firebomb was thrown into
an army patrol vehicle and at least three or four soldiers have been hurt. None of the
soldiers died -- this time. It was the third such attack in this particular district in
two days. Neighbours were repairing shrapnel damage.Because it's rainy season, the soldiers
were sheltering from a downburst. When it eased off they came out here to patrol by
a checkpoint, That's where the bomb went off and this is where the crater remains. Packed
with nails and ball bearings for maximum damage, the device was detonated by mobile phone.
Off the record, security officials say the militants may be linked to Jemaah Islamiah,
the Indonesian group behind the Bali bombing. Round here they are known as Asia's wing of
Al Qaeda. But there is no concrete evidence. A mosque in Krue Se offered us a clue about
Thailand's shadowy militants. This is the oldest mosque in the south. It's a place of
pilgrimage. In fact it's seen as a little Mecca. In April last year this was the scene
of a bizarre martyrdom mission. A local cameraman filmed the aftermath. Some thirty men from
around the three provinces came here to pray. They told locals they were going to wage holy
war. Then, wearing headbands and wielding knives, they attacked the police station.
The police opened fire. The men ran back here, took refuge in the mosque and a siege situation
went on for a few hours. The Police didn't know who was behind the attack. When the men
wouldn't come out, the police fired on the mosque and threw grenades on the mosque. 32
people died When the bodies were found, the Police discovered that their attackers had
been armed only with Holy Water and knives. Hayeeniseng Nilae met the fighters during
prayers in the mosque. He said he doesn't know why the men attacked the police station.
They weren't from here; nobody from here took part in their raid. He doesn't know if they
had guns, he just saw them with knives. He said they came back here again and the police
surrounded the mosque and surround it for hours, there are still scars on the mosque.
He said he didn't understand what the men gave their lives for. He said he cannot say
if they were martyrs or not, that depends on their own beliefs. But he said they chose
to die in this mosque. This wasn't an isolated incident. That same day, in Susho village
an entire football team took part in a suicide mission. Their method was identical to Krue
Se. The footballers attacked this police station wielding knives. They provoked the police
who followed them down the road when the footballers took refuge in this restaurant. They ran in
here, crouched down in these alcoves. The police opened fire and you can still see the
bullet marks here. In all, 109 men died that day. Martyrs' graveyards are commonplace in
Kashmir or Pakistan -- in Thailand they are something completely new. All these men were
buried as shaheeds or martyrs. Whatever Godly cause they died for, most of the men had abandoned
earthly wives and families. We met the widow of Ya Haskayae. Z is 23. She was only married
for a year. She had the baby after her husband died and she doesn't want to talk about his
death. She's still not able to. This place is full of sorrow. Lots of the families don't
understand what motivated their relatives to go on a suicide mission. The baby's name
is Nur Shaheed - Light of the Martyr. Ya's father Salae doesn't blame the police for
shooting his son. He blames the people who persuaded him to go on the mission -- whoever
they are. He said nobody's explained to him why Ya took part in these attacks. He's spoken
to his friends and they can't explain either. One thing all the men had in common is that
they were very devout. ThaiHe said his son was very religious and he also preached religion.
He taught people at home. Like 70 per cent of Southern Muslims, Ya had been educated
at a strict private Islamic school. The government is now connecting the insurgency to these
schools. 'We've just heard that the security forces have tried to arrest a teacher who
works at a private Islamic school. Apparently he's run away, but they've surrounded the
school. The authorites arrested four Islamic teachers that day. The Prime Minister said
it was the beginning of a campaign to root out the terrorist masterminds. The government
believes that some teachers who studied in other Muslim countries are importing Jihaddi
ideas. Have you found anything here yet? Police: Not yet, still looking. You're still looking?
For guns? So you think these guns, if there are guns, may be connected to the violence?
Yes.
Schools are very much on the front line here. Private Islamic secondary schools like
this one are under increasing scrutiny because the government believes that some teachers
are preaching radical Islam and recruiting militants. From this school alone one school
has been arrested for shooting a soldier and three more are on the run. For Bangkok, a
crackdown on Islamic schools risks being interpreted as an attack on Muslim identity. A backlash
could drive thousands more into insurgency. Most of the evidence points towards
the insurgents being local people organising themselves spontaneously. Thank you Col Sam.
The army is trying desperately to restore relations with the locals. They fear what's developing.
So the soldiers have brought all these kids to see us. Yeah.This is the way for the army
to win hearts and minds and to secure the trust of the people and to make them feel
protected and as well as that they teach them self-defence and how to use weapons.This is
up to the law. Oh, it's legal to possess it.Yes. It's easy to win over little kids by giving
them sweets -- unless they believe you've killed their fathers. Col Sam expressed regret
for the army's massacre and mishandling of demonstrators at Tak Bai. When do you think
peace will be restored to the south? When? Really hard to predict. But I can say that it's
better and better. The Col seems optimistic but last year there were around 1000 violent
incidents - ten times more than the year before. Prime Minister Thaksin has ordered the army
to be more aggressive.The Muslims are afraid of the army. Everyone is in fear of the insurgents.
In this age of globalised terrorism, it is easy for the ghost warriors to manipulate
the situation -- whoever they are and wherever they come from.