Silent Killings - Thailand's Tumultuous South

I'm often surprised by what makes the news, and maybe more importantly, what doesn't. For instance, today on the Headlines page of BBC World News, one of the more reputable mainstream news sources, caried this: "Scientists discover a mineral with the same chemical make-up as the fictional kryptonite seen in Superman." I'm not certian that references to a comic book-turned-movie are necessarily front page news, but I guess that's kinda cool. But there is much happening in our world that deserves a little more coverage than Superman's nemisis in mineral form.

What if I told you that there is a battle lead by Muslim extremists that has taken over 2,000 lives in the past two years? And what if I said this violence has included beheadings and mutilations, some caught on tape for the purpose of making a political statement? Or that the majority of killings were carried out with the use of home-made I.E.D.'s. Any guess where on the map this is taking place?

If you guessed Iraq, try heading east about 3,750 miles and you'll end up in Thailand. That's right - Southern Thailand is home to a growing battleground of terrorist violence, though much of the world has never heard a word about it. While the reasons behind the violence are varied and complex, it will suffice to say that the pridominately Muslim population in Southern Thailand is fighting back against the discrimination and poor treatment in an otherwise overwhelmingly Buddhist nation (surely an oversimplification of a complicated situation).

Upon closer examination of the violence, the statistics stand out as rather appalling. Nearly 3 people a day are killed in the three southern most provinces of Thailand. And the targets: most recent targets have been the elderly, school teachers, monks and passing pedestrians - all Buddhist, all civilians - purly for the purposes of terrorism. An average of over a 1,000 murders a year may not seem extreme - on par with LA County's comparable homicide rate according to 2002 statistics. Yet when comparing the size of the populations, the southern provinces have a murder rate that is over 5 times larger per capita than in good ol' LA County (complete with its gangs and violent reputation), and with all victims in the Thailand statistics are defined as 'civilian terrorism-related deaths'.

To drive the point home further, as of the end of March 2007, the War in Iraq had claimed 3,213 United States Soldiers' lives in the 4 years since the invasion. On average, fewer U.S. soldiers have died fighting in a war than have innocent Thai civilians in day-to-day life, yet where is the media coverage of this Jihad of the East? I am in no way belittling the loss of life of our Service Men and Women, but merely illustrating the extent of violence happening each day here in Southern Thailand while the rest of the world turns a blind eye.

~Bear