Bombs serve as reminder of Tak BaiBombs serve as reminder of Tak Bai

Category: Network

Narathiwat was the hardest hit province with bomb and arson attacks blamed on separatist groups at 12 locations in eight districts from 3.30am to 10am. The attacks took place in Rangae, Rueso, Yi-ngo, Sukhirin, Si Sakhon, Muang Narathiwat, Sungai Padi and Cho Airong, in that order.

Col Banpot Poolpian, spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command’s 4th Region, said the coordinated attacks were intended to be a reminder of the Tak Bai, Narathiwat, incident of Oct 25, 2004, in which 85 Muslim-Malays died, most of them while in army custody.

Most of the deadly attacks on Monday involved the use of booby trap bombs and took place in rubber plantations owned by Thai Buddhists.

The landmine-style bombs were buried under rubber trees and targetted rubber tappers who start work in the pre-dawn hours.

One person died in Narathiwat and 15 others were injured, three of them security officers.

Narathiwat was the hardest hit province with bomb and arson attacks blamed on separatist groups at 12 locations in eight districts from 3.30am to 10am. The attacks took place in Rangae, Rueso, Yi-ngo, Sukhirin, Si Sakhon, Muang Narathiwat, Sungai Padi and Cho Airong, in that order.

Col Banpot Poolpian, spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command’s 4th Region, said the coordinated attacks were intended to be a reminder of the Tak Bai, Narathiwat, incident of Oct 25, 2004, in which 85 Muslim-Malays died, most of them while in army custody.

Most of the deadly attacks on Monday involved the use of booby trap bombs and took place in rubber plantations owned by Thai Buddhists.

The landmine-style bombs were buried under rubber trees and targetted rubber tappers who start work in the pre-dawn hours.

One person died in Narathiwat and 15 others were injured, three of them security officers.

• Editorial: The outrage of Tak Bai

Most of them sustained serious leg injuries, while some lost their legs from the impact of the blasts.

Police identified the person who died as Aree Chaisongkram, a female rubber tapper in Rueso where most of the attacks occurred yesterday.

Rawpee-ah Arwae, 50, one of two rubber tappers hurt by the militants’ home-made bombs in Pattani’s Kapho district, was reported to have lost both of her legs after stepping on a bomb while working in her rubber plantation.

In Yala’s Raman district, a 70-year-old man was badly wounded when he also stepped on a bomb.

Security and medical officers who went to help the injured or inspect various bomb sites were on high alert for ambushes by militants after three officers were injured by bombs while examining the blast scenes in Rueso.

The Justice for Peace Foundation yesterday released a statement to mark the sixth anniversary of the Tak Bai incident. In it, the foundation condemned the Thai justice system for not being sincere about bringing an end to the conflict in the lower South.

It said the problems could not be solved until the authorities offered true justice to southern people, especially the families of those who died in the Tak Bai incident.

No official had been made accountable for the incident, the foundation said.

The Tak Bai affair is one of the most notorious incidents since the southern insurgency began anew in early 2004.

On Oct 25, 2004, six local men were arrested and accused of supplying defence force weapons to insurgents. Villagers organised a protest at Tak Bai police station, demanding that police release the accused. In the afternoon, police, fearing a riot at the station, called in army reinforcements who used tear gas and water cannons on the crowd and seven people were killed.

Hundreds of local citizens, mostly young Muslim men, were arrested. Their hands were bound behind their backs and they were loaded on to trucks to be taken to an army camp. They were stacked on top of each other in the trucks, and after a three-hour trip to the camp, 78 men were found to have suffocated in the heat.

From: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/security/203202/bombs-serve-as-reminder-of-tak-bai

• Editorial: The outrage of Tak Bai

Most of them sustained serious leg injuries, while some lost their legs from the impact of the blasts.

Police identified the person who died as Aree Chaisongkram, a female rubber tapper in Rueso where most of the attacks occurred yesterday.

Rawpee-ah Arwae, 50, one of two rubber tappers hurt by the militants’ home-made bombs in Pattani’s Kapho district, was reported to have lost both of her legs after stepping on a bomb while working in her rubber plantation.

In Yala’s Raman district, a 70-year-old man was badly wounded when he also stepped on a bomb.

Security and medical officers who went to help the injured or inspect various bomb sites were on high alert for ambushes by militants after three officers were injured by bombs while examining the blast scenes in Rueso.

The Justice for Peace Foundation yesterday released a statement to mark the sixth anniversary of the Tak Bai incident. In it, the foundation condemned the Thai justice system for not being sincere about bringing an end to the conflict in the lower South.

It said the problems could not be solved until the authorities offered true justice to southern people, especially the families of those who died in the Tak Bai incident.

No official had been made accountable for the incident, the foundation said.

The Tak Bai affair is one of the most notorious incidents since the southern insurgency began anew in early 2004.

On Oct 25, 2004, six local men were arrested and accused of supplying defence force weapons to insurgents. Villagers organised a protest at Tak Bai police station, demanding that police release the accused. In the afternoon, police, fearing a riot at the station, called in army reinforcements who used tear gas and water cannons on the crowd and seven people were killed.

Hundreds of local citizens, mostly young Muslim men, were arrested. Their hands were bound behind their backs and they were loaded on to trucks to be taken to an army camp. They were stacked on top of each other in the trucks, and after a three-hour trip to the camp, 78 men were found to have suffocated in the heat.

From: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/security/203202/bombs-serve-as-reminder-of-tak-bai