BANGKOK, June 6 (Reuters): The separatist insurgency intensified in Thailand's Muslim-majority south last month, taking the number of people killed since January 2004 past 2,300, a researcher in the region said on Wednesday.
Srisompob Jitpiromsri of the Prince of Songkhla University said that 103 people were killed in May, making it one of the bloodiest months in the region, an independent sultanate until annexed by overwhelmingly Buddhist Thailand a century ago.
The toll reflected increasing attacks on security forces and civilians as insurgent numbers rose and support increased, Srisompob told Reuters from Pattani, one of three far south provinces which have borne the brunt of the violence.
At the same time, the largely Buddhist government in faraway Bangkok was still struggling to produce coherent policies and combat tactics, he said.
"The insurgents have been expanding in the past two years while the national reconciliation policy can't stop the attacks," he said
Since taking office in October, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has fought off pressure from the Buddhist majority to take stronger action against the insurgents, saying he remains committed to a peaceful resolution.
He went to the region to apologize for the harsh policies of his predecessor, Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a coup last September, and promised restraint in dealing with the violence.
But he has been no more successful than Thaksin in dampening the insurgency in a region where most people speak a Malay dialect.
The daily killings and bombings by secretive militants who never claim responsibility have increased steadily despite the presence of 30,000 troops and police.
Insurgents also attack infrastructure, including railways, power sub-stations, schools, banks and mobile phone towers.
On Monday, they derailed a train by sabotaging tracks, shutting down rail services south of Hat Yai, the commercial centre of the south.
The state railway expects to resume train services in the far south on Thursday after finding and fixing the damage.
Only in two other months since the latest insurgency in the region began had the death toll been higher than in May, and those were due mainly to single events. In April 2004, security forces killed at least 108 militants in one day after insurgents launched attacks on security outposts and a main mosque, pushing the monthly death toll to 151.
Bloody May reflects mounting insurgency in Thai south
FE Team | Published: June 07, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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