Force is no way to solve our conflicts

Force is no way to solve our conflicts

For the past few months, Pattani had been relatively calm while Yala, Narathiwat, and parts of Songkhla in the restive South took the brunt of deadly car bombs, motorcycle bombs, arson, and M79 grenade attacks.

It was just a calm before a storm.

That storm hit last Saturday night, when it was Pattani's turn. The town was rocked by 20 bomb blasts and grenade attacks that left it in utter darkness without electricity, water or phone signals.

The main targets were 7-Eleven convenience stores, petrol stations, electricity poles and mobile phone towers and stations. A navy patrol ship was also damaged, for the first time in the 10-year upsurge of violence.

For Pattani residents, the terrorist attacks were the most severe they could recall in the decade-long southern violence. For Rohima Sideh, they were the worst of her life.

Her five-year-old son Isfan was killed by a bomb.

Ms Rohima's family was riding a motorcycle past a convenience store when a bomb went off, and the blast hit them. Her husband is still in a coma. She and her other son were injured.

"I haven't got the heart to tell my husband that our youngest child has died," she told the Isra News Agency in tears. "I'm afraid the news will kill him."

Isfan was one of three people killed in the attacks. More than 60 people, all civilians, were injured. Many were women and children, including a two-year-old toddler, still in a coma.

"Ours is a life on the edge. We live in constant fear. We don't know what will happen next. But we know it's not going to be good," a friend said when I called to ask about the situation in Pattani.

After the May 22 coup in Bangkok, I know exactly how he feels.

For those who believe the use of force is a way to solve conflicts, may I humbly suggest they look at the restive South.

Since the southern insurgency broke out again, more than 10 years ago, successive governments have resorted to the use of force to suppress local political aspirations.

More than two trillion baht has been poured into the region to beef up troops and security. Yet the military solution has failed.

Last month alone, 43 people were killed in a series of insurgent attacks. As of April, 5,515 had been killed and 10,184 injured since the latest round of the insurgency began.

That does not include five-year-old Isfan, the other two killed, or the dozens injured last Saturday night.

"I'm afraid things will get worse," my friend said.

Here's how he sees it. With the suspension of peace talks, the insurgency movement will intensify its underground activities resulting in more violent attacks. "It's us civilians who have to bear the brunt," he said.

Much frustration for the locals comes from unregulated industries and top-down development projects that take away their forests and destroy their coast.

The centralised officialdom that is deaf to local grievances is the main problem. Backed by military might, it will grab this chance to push more unpalatable programmes in the deep South.

Now the country is under military rule, voicing opposition to state projects will be much harder, and literally more dangerous. Developers will also become bolder with their environmentally destructive businesses.

"All this will make the insurgents stronger," he warned.

I did not ask why he thinks the suffering of the southern Muslims fails to draw much sympathy from mainstream society - because I already know the answer.

It is the same reason that the coup happened. Ethnic prejudice may have a lot to do with how mainstream Buddhist society views the southern Muslims with indifference, but it is not the only reason.

Since the coup, many people are now talking about the need for structural changes to push the country out of its political rut. I say we first need to change our authoritarian culture. We need to change what makes us support the use of force to end conflicts.

This belief makes us dehumanise the targets of our use of force as nak paendin (burden of the land) so we may not only get rid of them, free of guilt, but actually feel good while doing it.

Thailand under military rule is relatively peaceful and quiet. My worst fear is that, like Pattani, it is the calm before the storm.


Sanitsuda Ekachai is editorial pages editor, Bangkok Post.

Sanitsuda Ekachai

Former editorial pages editor

Sanitsuda Ekachai is a former editorial pages editor, Bangkok Post. She writes on human rights, gender, and Thai Buddhism.

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