Country Weekly Report of International Centre for Political

www.rsis.edu.sg 25 –7 31 July August - 13 July 2014 2015 Country Weekly Report of International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research THAILAND Terrorism On 8 July, 2015, a man and his wife were seriously wounded by a motorcycle pillion gunman in Muang district of Narathiwat province on Wednesday. Pol Lt Sunet Thien-udom, the duty officer at Muang district police station, said the attack occurred about 11:55am on a by-pass near Ban Kanae in tambon Kaluwo Nua when 40-year-old Sukree Haji Salae, and his wife 35-year-old Raina Da-o, were travelling on a motorcycle from their home in tambon Bang Nak to Tak Bai district. Two men followed them on another motorcycle and the pillion rider fired six shots at the couple with a 9mm pistol. Mr. Sukree was hit twice in the left leg and his wife was shot four times in the left leg. The victims were taken to Narathiwat Ratchanakarin Hospital by rescuers of a charity foundation. Police were investigating, but initially attributed the attack to insurgents.1 Seven people were killed and a dozen injured in Thailand's three southern provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Songkhla in a string of bomb, shooting and arson attacks by suspected separatist militants.2 In the latest spate of attacks, three people died on Friday evening when a motorcycle bomb exploded outside a karaoke bar in southern Songkhla province's Sadao district, which borders the 1 Bangkok Post. 2015. “Couple wounded by gunman in Narathiwat.” Accessed on 13 July, 2015. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/security/616992/couple-wounded-by-gunman-in-narathiwat. 2 The Guardian. 2015. “Seven dead and dozens injured in attacks in Thailand’s south.” Accessed on 13 July 2015. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/11/seven-dead-and-dozens-injured-in- attacks-in-thailands-south. conflict-hit region and is frequently swept up in the unrest. According to Major General Puthichart Ekachant, the deputy police commander for the southern region, three were killed in the blast and four injured. According to a statement by Thailand's southern regional police, Southernmost Narathiwat province also saw three bomb blasts on Friday. These included a bomb blast at a karaoke bar in Sugnai Kolok district that wounded eight people shortly before the motorcycle bomb went off. Shortly after midnight an arson attack on shops in the same district left three more people dead, police said, while in a nearby area a 35-year-old Muslim man was shot dead by an unknown number of gunmen who fled the scene.3 Assessment In southern Thailand, it has become increasingly common for the insurgents to up their stakes in the south during the holy month of Ramadan. This has seen an increase in insurgent violence, including bomb attacks, shootings and arson attacks, in southern Thailand during the Ramadan period in the last several years. In response, the Thai military and police have typically resorted to beefing up security presence in the south during Ramadan, placing security reinforcements, and setting up checkpoints on main roads and at the entry and exit points of municipal areas.The insurgents’ continued ability and persistence in exploiting this vulnerable period however, in furtherance of violence, is evidenced by the continued spate of attacks, including at entertainment centres and at shops. In several instances in the past, attacks on mosques or on Muslim religious leaders have been also proven to be the work of rogue security forces under cover. The upswing in the levels of violence in the south during the Ramadan period however, can be attributed to the Tak Bai incident in October 2004, when hundreds of citizens, mostly Muslim young men, were protesting the arrests of six local men for supplying defence force weapons to insurgents. The Muslim protestors were made to strip and lie on their backs by the army, before being loaded onto trucks to be taken to an army camp for detention. The prisoners were stacked on top of each other in the trucks, and by the time the three-hour trip to the camp was completed, 78 men had suffocated in the heat. The incident provoked widespread protest, not limited to Muslims in the south. Many non-Muslim Thais were shocked by the army's behaviour. However then Prime Minister, Thaksin Sinawatra, gave his full support to the army and until these lawsuits were brought, very little disciplinary action had been taken against those responsible. Thaksin's response in defending the army's actions was to say the men died, "because they were already weak from fasting during the month of Ramadan." 3 Channel News Asia. 2015. “Seven dead, a dozen injured as attacks rock Thai south.” Accessed on 13 July, 2015. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/seven-dead-a- dozen/1977356.html. .

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