Share your thoughts

Discussion 1 : 11/10/2012 at 02:15 AM

"brilliant" -- when ammat lackeys (Surayuth and Abhisit) were in power, the situation in the South was not even better than the current one. Surayuth even made a deep bow and apologized to the local people and the next day, the militants increased their attacks.

Discussion 2 : 10/10/2012 at 08:30 PM

hangover - "Pheu Thai is in power now after winning landslide elections but the South has always been the Democrats' stronghold. People in these three provinces should have voted for Pheu Thai where better ideas and policies such as decentralization and local governor elections will be introduced. " Are you saying that because the South didn't vote for PTP, that PTP won't help them? Dead on.

Discussion 3 : 10/10/2012 at 07:40 PM

ref: dis 20 It is also my impression, the underlying Problem in Thailand is centralization towards Bangkok, almost all Problems are somehow related to this by any means, we had a similar structure in Europe until the 19th Century and this was one on the main reason for the wars etc. Thailand must change this totally the current structures are still a fossil from 200 years ago and cant work, it tells a lot about the "quality" of this people in Bangkok that they obviously haven't noticed that.

Discussion 4 : 10/10/2012 at 06:10 PM

Pheu Thai is in power now after winning landslide elections but the South has always been the Democrats' stronghold. People in these three provinces should have voted for Pheu Thai where better ideas and policies such as decentralization and local governor elections will be introduced. The Thai military should also be blamed for stubbornly rejecting decentralization.

Discussion 5 : 10/10/2012 at 02:00 PM

Obviously Bangkok has lost a big part of the country, it looks to me as if they already gave it up and don't care anymore, as usual just ignoring a problem instead as solving it.

Discussion 6 : 10/10/2012 at 01:04 PM

@Spicemen It's true that they want to be "left alone". Currently, local politics and economy is to a large extent controlled by (Buddhist) Thai minorities. Statistics show that the Malay (Thai) population, even though they are the majority have been excluded from positions of power, they are also the poorest, least educated ethnic group in the region. In summary, this conflict is very much about economy and power.

Discussion 7 : 10/10/2012 at 11:02 AM

That has to be one of the lowest senseless murders I have ever heard of in my entire life.

Discussion 8 : 10/10/2012 at 10:21 AM

I don't know how to resolve the issue, but I find it amazing that lifes are taken on a daily base and NOTHING but absolutely NOTHING seems to be done. Like it or not, now Phuea Thai is in charge. So don't blame anybody else than Phuea Thai for what is being done or not done. Here and today it is PT's job to handle the situation one way or another.

Discussion 9 : 10/10/2012 at 10:04 AM

Khun Bobby #11, that was then PM TS' greatest mistake, of assuming that the Deep Southerners, who're mostly Muslims, wanted economic development plan from him. Coming from the Far North, he failed to understand that our Deep Southern Muslims were/are not interested in any economic development, but wanted to be left alone to practice their islamic way of life, surrounding worshiping their Allah in their mosques five times a day. At that time, he wouldn't listen to anybody neither, especially, those who're really knowledgable and familiar with the region.

Discussion 10 : 10/10/2012 at 10:01 AM

@musashi d1. Since you refer to Mr. Abhisit is an "ex-puppet-PM", then why do your turn to him for help and answers? Obviously an ex-puppet-PM cannot be expected to have much power or control over anything! Anyway, lets put the blame where it belongs, on the extremist followers of the religion of peace!

Discussion 11 : 10/10/2012 at 09:52 AM

This is a failure of intelligence (if indeed there is any). The Thai Army and Police need to take advice from anti-terrorist specialist in UK (as many countries do). Their blundering, incompetent approach is causing more deaths. Only recently a 'few' reservists were killed and weapons stolen! There needs to be an intelligence led approach. PS- I'm surprised at the lack of CCTV in the South, it should be saturated with visual intelligence.

Discussion 12 : 10/10/2012 at 09:41 AM

I think buying the blimp was a big mistake. Why not invest the money in protective equipment and vehicles, and training for the soldiers. I think they need it more as they are putting their lives on the line everyday. Riding on motorbikes offers nothing but a simple duck shoot for the terrorists. I wonder if any high raking government official issues their personal condolences to the families of the soldiers or civilians that have been killed.

Discussion 13 : 10/10/2012 at 08:51 AM

One of the main problems is that the army refuses to take advice from academics and other specialists. They believe "their way" of dealing with the "problem" is the right way, even though the results have been disastrous. Secondly, if only a fraction of the money given to the military were instead used to develop the region, the "hearts and minds" of the local people would easily be won over. But, the army won't let that happen since the generals want their money!

Discussion 14 : 10/10/2012 at 07:56 AM

Its outrageous that so many people are being killed in the south and the government does nothing but pay lip service when it has to .These people are Thai but seem to get treated as if they are invisible .

Discussion 15 : 10/10/2012 at 07:27 AM

musashi - your typical red rhetoric concerning the South is laughable. There hadn't been a flare up of violence for decades until 2004 when TS was PM. And then his policy was the iron fist - kill and ask questions later. No rewriting of history there. I'm surprised you haven't thrown out your Democrats/Army conspiracy theory that they keep the violence going to get rich. BTW, Chalerm is responsible for solving the problem in the South so putting the problems in a bottle with his name is appropriate.

Discussion 16 : 10/10/2012 at 07:17 AM

Disc#6: I'm sure you have researched the history of Chalerm and Thaksin just as well as I have. Anyone who thinks he got this job because of his suitability to deal with these problems needs some specialist help. As does anyone who singularly blames the Dems for the government ineptitude. He is put in charge of anything which the government need to put a lid on. He is Thaksins hammer and nothing but a bully boy. I use the fact that people like him are in such high office as an indicator of Thailands political immaturity. I think you might be too busy logging on repeatedly to click dislike to post anything else ;-).

Discussion 17 : 10/10/2012 at 07:11 AM

Police, military and government must have fear to go in and clean up these murderous gangs.

Discussion 18 : 10/10/2012 at 06:20 AM

englishjon #5: Flattery will get you nowhere. Neither will your opinions pretending you know Chalerm more than he knows himself. The Southern problems need to be addressed, and all the facts have to be put on the table - only then can we address each of them properly. Putting all the problems in Thailand into a bottle and labeling it "TS" or "Chalerm" may be your favorite pastime, but it does not help anyone except your own amusement. OK, go ahead and flame me all you want. Busy with work, and will not be replying anytime soon.

Discussion 19 : 10/10/2012 at 05:48 AM

Disc#4: "With knowledgeable supporters like you, no wonder the Dems are doing so well in elections." That is the funniest thing I've read for a long time considering the 'quality' of the blinkered red-shirt comments we see so often on this forum. So any statement from Chalerm on this one ?. Any sign of sympathy for the victims family and a pledge to catch the murderers this time ?. Of course not because Chalerm doesn't care. He expects this kind of thing in the South so why should he bother himself with it ?.

Discussion 20 : 10/10/2012 at 05:26 AM

spiceman #3: You have just given me a good morning smile by your attempt to rewrite history with wild accusations that TS "started the fire in the south". With knowledgeable supporters like you, no wonder the Dems are doing so well in elections.

Discussion 21 : 10/10/2012 at 04:35 AM

Khun Mussahi #1, what do you think the Deep South would look like today, if then PM TS didn't replace the time-proven and highly effective deep southern policy, specifically, his abolition of the Military-Police-Civilian Independent Intel Agency, with his severely misguided and disastrous one? The former PM TS's newly implemented policy had resulted in Tak-Bai and Kru-Se Massacres, and this once an unofficial autonomous region went to hell from there. So, between the person who had started a fire and those after him who failed to put it out, which one do you think deserve the most blame?

Discussion 22 : 10/10/2012 at 03:34 AM

Authorities r concern over rising bloodshed.... r they really concern ..com on give me a break here please ...their is more then 10,000 deads in past 10 years and they say that ...bla bla bla bla ...white lies again ...they dont give a dam ..its just bringing back the Dubai man in their mind and playing with corruption ..period nothing else . the proof is there 10 years not 10 months ...10 Years..or 3650 days....and still how many years to come before reaction from them ? 20 - 30 years ...

Discussion 23 : 10/10/2012 at 03:13 AM

The Dems have failed the people in the south and that they themselves are a big part of the problem. The first question AV needs to answer would be to tell his southern voters why he has refused their rights to know what the elected MPs, officials from the Dems are doing to improve the situation. Secondly, why are the local officials in cahoots with criminal gangs, rogue police and soldiers to collect “protection fees” from shops and businesses? Thirdly, what happened to the huge amounts of monies received by the local administrators in the south? Other questions:- Was any community development done to improve the situation? How are the local administrators cooperating with the army and the police to contain the violence? Or are the officials busy buying big houses, and "investing" in land plots and waiting for the next big violence to ask for more budget? And since the ex-puppet-PM is so dodgy, don’t expect him to provide any meaningful answers.