Muslim women split with troops

Violence continued in the region yesterday, with a bomb attack at a market in Narathiwat’s Tak Bai district killing one person and injuring seven others. And a Yala-based private, apparently under the influence of drugs, fired an M16 rifle at fellow soldiers, killing a sergeant and injuring three others.

Chaiyong Maneerungsakul, the chairman of a committee on justice and human rights related to border problems in the far South, said the southern violence was causing social problems for local Muslim women. He said when Buddhist troops were sent to keep security in the area, some had affairs with Muslim women and later abandoned them.

Some of the troops fell in love with the women and married them but when they returned home to other regions, their Muslim wives could not cope with the culture shock and had to return home to the southern border provinces.

As a result, troops deployed to the Deep South had caused a lot of social problems in the region, Chaiyong said. Over 1,000 Muslim women had been abandoned by troops or other officials, he said.

The southern violence continued yesterday in Narathiwat’s Tak Bai district with a bomb attack in the market at Ban Taba Moo 1 in Tambon Jeh He, near the Thai-Malaysian ferry pier. It killed one person and injured seven others. 

The 5kg home-made bomb, triggered by a communication radio, went off at a roadside pavilion opposite Tak Bai Marine Police Station. The injured, who mostly suffered shrapnel to body and limps, were; Sergeant-Major Thammakorn Chaemram, Privates Likhit Thanomsombat Chakkapong Thepsena, Phusit Basri, Sanadi Doloh, Malaysian man Paosi Awae, Meenoh Boonchan, and Nida Daraman. One civilian later died from injuries while three soldiers were in a critical condition.

Police investigators found that the Army team led by Thammakorn finished patrolling the market and was resting at the pavilion when the bomb – hidden in the ceiling – went off, injuring the troops and passers-by. Narathiwat Governor Apinan Suathanuwong said the bomb was aimed at the soldiers.

In Yala’s Kabang district, police arrested Pvt Bancha Raklaemkae, 22, after an early morning shooting at an outpost of Yala Taskforce 14 in Ban La Tor, Tambon Kabang. Bancha appeared to be paranoid and under the influence of methamphetamine (‘ya ba’). 

They said he shot dead Sgt Wichien Priksri and injured three others with his M16 assault rifle. 

Sgt Wachira Boonlam, Sgt Sanon Muadthip and Sgt Wikorn Chumchrt were taken to Yala Hospital. 

Police said Bancha, who had to be detained and calmed down before talking to interrogators, admitted he was addicted to methamphetamine before he was conscripted and continued to secretly use the drug. 

Meanwhile, the Southern Border Provinces’ Public Council president Prasit Meksuwan said that, starting this year, the 1,000-member council would host 220 discussions to try to come up with solutions to end the eight-year-old insurgency.

They would invite people with experience in the region, such as the former Army Region 4 chief, former Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre (SBPAC) chief, and former provincial governors to join the talks, he said.

Justice Minister Pracha Phromnok revealed yesterday that officials were checking the number of victims of violence in the far South entitled to compensation, using the same criteria as the Independent Commission for Truth and Reconciliation for those affected by political protest. 

Names of the families or relatives entitled to get money would be |submitted to Cabinet, which was expected to have a Bt2-billion budget, he said.