Tak Bai Massacre: Endless Legendary of Brutality

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Six local men were arrested  charging of stolen the  weapons from government village defense  volunteers and jailed in Tak Bai police station for further action and  investigation.  A demonstration was organized to demand their release and the police called in  army reinforcements. The peaceful demonstration for justice of  Malay ethnic turned to bloody feast for  Thai security forces when some unknown rocks thrown out from the demonstration crowd and  the police presumed  that an attempted were made to storm the police station, security forces used aggressive tear gas and gunfire in response, this  Tak Bai incident  was happened on October 25, 2004  in Tak Bai, Thailand, which resulted in at least 87 deaths and number of hundreds were seriously  injured and  disabled.

Tak Bai mass killing was not the first events in the history of Patani and Thailand, in fact there are many and some of them are as under:-

The Dusungnyo Village

On April 28, 1948 at Dusong Nyo village, now in Narathiwat  province, 400 hundred people  were killed and  30 Thai police men also killed after  fire exchange, thousand of them fled to neighboring Malaya states. The Thai official report said that the villagers which mostly the Malay Muslim of Patani planned to attack the police stations in the surrounding area “the long and well trained 1,000 Muslim Malay of Patani guerillas in disguise were ready to make an assault to the police stations and every Thai government offices in the area” said one of the Thai official report explain about the causes of the assault to the village of  Dusong Nyo  on April 28, 1948.

The Historic 1975 Patani Demonstration(Perarakan Patani)

The demonstration caused by Thai marines shooting 6 Muslims Malay of Patani with one thirteen–year-boy on November 29, 1975 and  thrown in to Saiburi river at Kor Tor(Kota) bridge, on the border of Narathiwat-Patani province. The thirteen–year-boy  survived, come back and told the massacre story to the activists, the demonstration was organized  and the Civil right protection group was established asking 4 demands from Thailand government:

1. The arrest of the criminals by rule of law.

2. Compensation for the victims’ families.

3. Withdrawal of government troops within seven days.

4. A meeting by December 16 between Prime Minister M. R. Kukrit Pramoj and the people.

However, the Thai government did not seem to take these demands seriously, but the Muslims persevered.

The demonstration was first taken place  at Pattani provincial hall compound on December 12, 1975. The Patani Malay people come and join the protest, on December 13, 1975, University students from institutions in the south also came to join the protest.  The military and the police surrounded the city of Pattani.  During a panel discussion that evening, a bomb exploded among the people.  One of the coordinators of the protest rushed to the microphone and   he was fatally shot on the stage.  The police came and put an end to the protest.  There were twelve deaths and more than thirty people injured, seven of whom were women and children,  on the same day, around fifty thousand gathered again  in Pattani central mosque compound under the rain drop, the protest were supported by the Patani Malay everywhere  with hundred of thousand people a day  and  on January 10 1976,  the Muslim Malay of Patani  representatives met with the prime minister of Thailand who promised to go to Pattani.  The protest ended after forty-five days with, among other things, the removal of Patani’s governor and his replacement by a Muslim. After the protest,  the key leader were hunted down by Thai official secret agent, some were shot death, the others were seek refuge in the neighboring  countries and the countries in the middle east as practiced by their ancestors when they lost the war.

The Krisek Mosque (Kruese Mosque)

April 28, 2004,  38 people believed(by Thai government)  to be the separatists were shot dead  by the Thai security forces  in the historic Krisek(Krue se)mosque  after 8 hours of  mosque surrounding while another hundreds were shot dead at difference places in the provinces of Yala, Patani and Songkhla.

This incident was started  by the young men who later  executed controversially by the security forces as the objectives of them were, later the Thai security forces heavily criticized by the human right activists and human right organizations regarding  human right  practiced in this bloody incident.

Tanyong Limo Tea shop Bullet Spraying

On September 19, 2008, in the evening,  unknown gunmen on the pickup truck spraying the bullet targeted at teashop crowded with people who enjoy the evening tea and coffee in Tangyong Limo village killed 2 people  with 4 injured, after a few minutes of bullet spraying 2  Thai marines came to the village, people in the village arrested both of them for the demand of arresting the gunmen on the pick up truck which the villagers believed that they must be the Thai secret forces and wanted foreign press to come and witness  the situation in Tanyong Limo,  during 8 hours of negotiation with Thai official  the marines were beaten to death. After the marines were killed, the whole villagers who join the blockade for negotiation with Thai official for justice were round up for questioning using the emergency decree, many of them  spend long month and year in the army camp and custody, many ran out from the village for safety, many seek refuge in neighboring country and many found mysteriously dead nearby village.

Boa Ngo Massacre

On November 16, 2005 unknown group of gun men abducted bombs in the center of village No.5 Kampong Kathong, Boa Ngo sub-district, Range district, Narathiwat province and shooting the people in the village, especially on Mr. Ludeng Awaebuesa house killed two men, six women and an eight  month infant in the cradle, Mr.Ludeng was excused by the Thai authority as the retired member of separatist group, he with 7 children(one was an eight month infant) and a wife was brutally killed in the middle of the night, fortunately one of his son survive because of working in Malaysia during his family tragedy.  Five people were shot at the leg and abdomen seriously injured. Thailand authority announced that the killing was the retaliation of the separatist group to the villagers who denied to cooperate with the separatist movement. The villagers give a difference statement, they said that the Thai security forces were the killers because the navy camp was less than 2 kilometers away from the village and the killing was against the liberation principle of the separatist.

Massacre at Aipayae Al-Furqan  Mousque

On 8 June 2009, five to six masked assailants dressed in black opened fire with M-16 assault rifles and shotguns directly into a crowd of worshipers as they were bending down in prayer in Al Furqon mosque in Ban Ai-payae, Cho Ai Rong district of Narathiwat province. Ten people died at the scene, including the Imam. Another 12 people were seriously injured. The killers believed to be para military rangers(Tahan Pran), later warrants issued to the Buddhist suspect name Suthirak Kongsuwan, a former para military ranger and professional gun man , after his surrender, he was released on bail and at last he was dismiss by Narathiwat criminal court and until today no one was arrested .

Police and military  believed that the attack was in retaliation for the killing of the Buddhists.

Yala Teashop Bullet Spraying

On May 3, 2011, at least four assailants dressed in camouflaged uniforms and riding in the back of a pickup truck shot into the crowded tea shop in Kasot village No.5, Bannang Sata district, Yala province killing 4 people and wounding 15 others including one child before fleeing the scene. At first Police blamed the attack on separatist rebels. Later,   Thiraphon Pandam, 22 years old Buddhist, A former para military ranger(Tahan Pran) surrendered to the police with four others after Yala court issued the warrants. The suspects said that they had done for  the revenge of the insurgents killing one   Buddhist villager.

The killing of innocence people had become an easy target for Thai authority to frightened the Patani villagers and Patani people who inclined   or  sympathy to the separatist movement side  because this tactic had long been proof successful  time after time, as the government and  being Thai Buddhists who possessed both power and privilege, mass killing had become unofficially lawful and easy for them( yet no killers from govt. side  were sentenced), this had been excused of creating  the  “counter revenge” situation from the movement side, no wonder that now both parties were blamed by the international human right and justice communities.