EDITORIAL: CONCERN about car bombs in Bangkok

By The Nation

The detention of Patani Malay youth amid fears of an attack in the capital reflect a knee-jerk response

Mainstream media has had reports for some weeks now the possibility of car bombs in Bangkok but the latest stories singling out Sathon district as a likely target have jolted a lot of people.

Authorities confirmed the make of the two vehicles that they said were stolen from the conflict-ridden deep South over a year ago. At least one car – a black Honda Accord – was seen entering Bangkok about a month ago, prompting security officials here to go on high alert about a possible car bombing, reportedly slated for between October 25-30.

Why is Sathon a potential target? According to security officials, it is an area with a great number of foreign interests. And the dates coincided with the Tak Bai massacre, an incident dating back to October 25, 2004 when 85 Patani Malay Muslim males died at the hand of Thai security officials – 78 suffocating to death and 7 shot dead at the protest site in Narathiwat.

Thousands of unarmed protesters had gathered in front of Tak Bai Police Station, calling for the release of a group of village defence volunteers who were accused by the local police of handing over government-issued shotguns to insurgents. The village volunteers denied the accusations but were detained without charges, prompting the protest that ended in a tragedy and continues to haunt the country to this day.

But why would Malay Muslim insurgents from the far South want to attack Western interests in Bangkok (assuming that it was southern insurgents who stole the two vehicles and didn’t bother to change the car colour or plates)? The officials pointed to terror attacks in the Upper South in August – arson and bomb attacks in seven provinces, saying that areas popular among Western tourists have already been targeted.

But the August attacks were small bombs, not something aimed at mass killings. Moreover, didn’t the government say the August attacks in the seven provinces were not related to the Patani Malay insurgency in the three southernmost provinces?

Nothing has been ruled out, these officials say, and the government is still trying to come up with a convincing narrative to explain to the public and the world about what happened in August.
Nevertheless, after authorities saw what they believed was a stolen Honda Accord entering Bangkok, the city police were unleashed to round up over 100 Patani Malay youth in and around the capital. Most said they were treated disrespectfully while a few said they were beaten up.

Sensing a need to control the damage because of the Bangkok police’s handling of the matter, the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre rented vans to take family members of the detained students to Bangkok to visit their sons.

Sadly, this is how the Thai security apparatus operates and it is not very assuring when shallow, half-baked analysis on security matters continue to guide their operating procedure.

The big and blind sweep didn’t implicate any students but managed to capture five non-students in the process. Authorities believe they were linked to the ongoing insurgency. The sweeping police operation has only widened the historic mistrust between the state and the Malays of Patani.
Most Thais probably don’t care if a hundred or so Patani Malay students from the far South get slapped around. Most probably don’t cherish our historic and cultural narrative.

If anything, the harassment of the Patani Malay youth has resulted in a spike in bloody violence, including the attacks on night food stalls in the city of Pattani and the simultaneous attacks in Narathiwat and Songkhla.

We are about to enter the 14th year of this wave of insurgency and sadly, our security apparatus has yet to understand the simple fact that whatever they do will have consequences. But the vast majority of the country’s people don’t want to question their culture of impunity.