Ranger shot dead as tensions rise in Thai south

By Max Constant

BANGKOK

Violence flared anew in Thailand’s Muslim majority south Tuesday as a paramilitary ranger was shot dead and a female villager injured, after an insurgent group warned civilians to stay away from military bases.

A police colonel at the Saiburi police station in Pattani province told Anadolu Agency, "a paramilitary ranger and his female passenger were shot with a war weapon when they were riding a motorbike at dawn to go to their rubber tree plantation in Saiburi district”.

“The ranger was badly wounded and died later at the hospital, while the female passenger has been slightly injured and is being treated,” Panya Karawanant added.

Police investigators have not determined whether the shooting was due to a personal conflict or linked to the insurgency against the Thai central state that has been plaguing the region for decades.

The incident came a few days after one of the rebel groups, the Patani United Liberation Organization (PULO), issued a statement on its website asking civilians to “stay away from military bases”.

It said it had “fired rockets against military bases on January 22” in the provinces of Pattani and Narathiwat.

Thai security forces have not acknowledged any recent attacks against military bases in the provinces, but last Thursday, police found an explosive device resembling a homemade rocket abandoned along the side of a road in Pattani’s Nongchik district.

The PULO, founded in the 1960s, is one of the oldest insurgent groups in the Thai south.

It is, however, less active on the ground than the National Revolutionary Front, or Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), which analysts consider to be behind most insurgent operations since 2004.

Both groups are part of Mara Patani, an umbrella organization that entered into negotiations with Thai authorities last year, with Malaysia acting as facilitator.

As the PULO is not considered a crucial member of Mara Patani, the statement on rocket attacks could have been issued to raise its profile and bargaining power.

Last year, Mara Patani set out three preconditions for formal peace talks with Thailand’s military government.

They demanded that the southern issue be prioritized on the national agenda through a parliamentary vote, that the government recognize Mara Patani as “a legitimate organization,” and finally that Mara Patani representatives be given immunity and safe passage throughout the south.

The government, which assumed power after a 2014 coup against an elected government, has not yet formally responded to these demands and talks have not moved beyond the confidence-building stage.

The southern insurgency is rooted in a century-old ethno-cultural conflict between the Malay Muslims living in the southern region and the Thai central state where Buddhism is considered the de-facto national religion.

Armed insurgent groups were formed in the 1960s after the then-military dictatorship tried to interfere in Islamic schools, but the insurgency faded in the 1990s.

In 2004, a rejuvenated armed movement -- composed of numerous local cells of fighters loosely grouped around BRN -- emerged.

Since then, the conflict has killed 6,400 people and injured more than 11,000, making it one of the deadliest low-intensity conflicts on the planet.