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unhappycamper

(60,364 posts)
Fri Jan 10, 2014, 08:27 AM Jan 2014

Thai insurgents extend their reach

http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/SEA-01-100114.html



Thai insurgents extend their reach
By Anthony Davis
Jan 10, '14

BANGKOK - In retrospect the days before Christmas 2013 marked an ominous turning point in the struggle for the border provinces of southern Thailand. On December 22, attacks involving motorcycle and car bombs struck the border district of Sadao in Songkhla province, wounding 27. They were followed shortly after by the discovery and disarming of a second car bomb on the resort island of Phuket.

To the relief of many Thai security officials, these events were largely overshadowed by political turmoil in Bangkok and received only cursory attention in the local media. But the conclusion to be drawn was plain enough: after 10 years of escalating attacks Malay Muslim separatists are now moving beyond their traditional area of operations.

That this comes against the backdrop of a failed southern peace process and a fast deteriorating political situation in the rest of Thailand only compounds concerns.

The attacks in Sadao marked the first time any major violence had occurred in the district since the beginning of the insurgency in January 2004. The first motorcycle bomb exploded close to a check-point near the police station of Padang Besar, some 10 kilometers southwest of Sadao district center where the railway from Thailand crosses into Malaysia.
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Thai insurgents extend their reach (Original Post) unhappycamper Jan 2014 OP
Damn. My sister lives there. Atman Jan 2014 #1

Atman

(31,464 posts)
1. Damn. My sister lives there.
Fri Jan 10, 2014, 09:05 AM
Jan 2014

She's on the island of Samui. She just opened up a cafe and yoga studio which has been doing very well, getting great reviews, and even featured I the airline's in-flight magazine as a "must do" visit for tourists. She's been open a little over a year, and has been growing. But she says she's taking a hit now, as tourists are staying away because if the violence. You can't get to the islands without going through Bangkok. They're usually isolated from this kind of stuff, but on our last visit we had to change our travel plans because the Red Shirts and military were in open gun battles in the streets of Bangkok. Not good. Thailand is such an awesome place...I hope this works out.

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