Introduction Election Coverage Analysis & Party Details     Vote Tally: Nation-wide vote tally Regional vote tally Bangkok total vote tally Bangkok vote by constituencies	Tak Bai calls for urgent action Justice must be done, but sometimes it is even more important that it is seen to be done. It has been more than three months and two investigations since the death of 85 or more people at the Tak Bai police station in Narathiwat. The Ministry of Defence has just got around to appointing another investigation to determine if charges should be levelled against officers for negligence, or worse. Those accused deserve fair treatment, but the drawn-out series of inquiries are gathering the aroma of cover-up. The army must wrap up the investigation quickly and proceed with the case. No one can seriously doubt that an outrageous injustice took place at Tak Bai last Oct 26. After the army intervened to help besieged police end a violent protest by largely peaceful means, something wrong happened. Young men detained for their part in the demonstration were handled worse than prisoners of war. Soldiers beat some even after they were subdued and handcuffed. They were thrown trussed atop one another into army trucks. On the way to an army camp for processing and possible arrest, more than 80 died, apparently of suffocation. The basic facts of this scandalous incident are unchallenged. To his credit, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra recognised the appalling message that the Tak Bai incident sent to the country, and particularly to southern Muslims. With even neighbours protesting the deaths, Mr Thaksin appointed a credible and efficient outside and independent committee to investigate. Judge Pichet Soonthornpipit and his panel worked quickly and reported to Mr Thaksin and then to the country that they believed three senior officers failed to supervise an arrest process that quickly became disorganised. For the government, that was that. Mr Pichet's panel found that the Tak Bai deaths were not intentional, but officers on the scene were negligent. The top officer named, Maj-Gen Chalermchai Viroonpetch, commander of the 5th Infantry Division, disputes the finding. Mr Thaksin went silent the day he released Mr Pichet's report. A second attempt to investigate the Tak Bai deaths, by the Senate, has met government stonewalling. Mr Thaksin has made many comments about the security situation in the South, but has not mentioned Tak Bai again. Defence Minister Sumpun Boonyanun signed the order for an official army investigation just last month. It is not clear why he waited so long, and he has not explained the time gap. He said correctly that Mr Pichet had neither the power nor the intention to bring any charges over Tak Bai. But the suspicion is growing in the minds of some that the military is performing its long-famous act of closing ranks in order to protect both the guilty and the innocent. The military remains unconvinced that its place in a democratic society is under civilian control. It is unacceptable if officers try to drag out the Tak Bai case in an effort to make memories of both witnesses and the public grow dim. No event in recent memory has shocked Thais, the Muslim population and important Thai neighbours like the death toll at Tak Bai. This somewhat obscure district in the far South now is famous throughout the region as an event, rather than a town. Those who died of what most agree was shocking mistreatment deserve justice. So do their families. The Muslims of the South, and indeed in all of Thailand, deserve an answer to the question of whether the army treated the young protesters so harshly because of their religion. A dragged-out military inquiry may save a few military careers and pay back a few favours in the chummy world of those in uniform. But there is more at stake. If the Tak Bai incident was a tragic series of errors, then an honest military investigation will show that. If officers extend the investigation interminably, the public and Thai neighbours will smell a cover-up. Justice must be seen to be done, and that is why the Defence Ministry must hurry the investigation, not prolong it. Tak Bai is too important to sweep under the rug.
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