• [AP] Thai ex-PM's fortunes boosted by electoral results

  ["Right now, they don't want a new election. Despite cracks within the coalition, they would rather stick with it because they know they may lose in the next round," said Somjai Phagaphasvivat, associate professor of political science at Thammasat University.
  
  "But this may change in the next two to three months as the protest movement gains momentum and people become more frustrated with the government's management of the economy," he said. ]
  
  BP: Some good reporting as always from Ambika. Agree with the above quote - said the same thing almost in a previous. Am reluctant to put a time frame on when the cracks may start to appear as we have the budget, constitutional reforms, possible by-elections over shareholding conflict of interest, Newin's trial etc.

  tags: no_tag

• [NY Times] Suspected Arms Dealer Challenges U.S. Tactics

  "Viktor Bout, the Russian businessman and suspected arms trafficker facing possible extradition to the United States, is pursuing what his lawyer calls a rare legal procedure that accuses American officials of overstepping their jurisdiction during a sting operation here last year"

  tags: no_tag

• [Bangkok Post] Tak Bai decision contested

  [Rassada Manurassada, a lawyer provided by the Lawyers Council of Thailand to represent the relatives of the victims, said accounts from witnesses and evidence including video footage indicated that officials were to blame for the deaths of the 78 protesters who had been piled into the trucks and were later found dead.
  
  "Petitioning to contest the court decision is not in contempt of court," Mr Rassada said.]
  
  BP: It is extraordinary that the lawyer needs to set out that merely petitioning the court is not contempt of court.

  tags: insurgency

• [Bangkok Post] When faulty technology can cost police lives

  "A number of technology-based security measures has been introduced in the strife-torn deep South to tackle militancy and aid police investigations.
  
  But several incidents have proved that authorities cannot absolutely trust the technology, which could lead to misunderstandings among local residents.
  
  Bomb detectors and surveillance cameras are among the tools used to give security authorities an edge in their struggle to restore peace and order."

  tags: insurgency

• [Reuters] Buddhist teacher shot dead in Thai south

  "A female Buddhist teacher was shot dead by suspected insurgents in Thailand's restive Muslim south on Sunday, police said"

  tags: insurgency

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• [Straits Times] Red shirts return

  [While the 'red shirts' had been staging smaller events across the country regularly in recent weeks, they still lacked a national- level organisation, Mr Jaran Ditta-apichai, a former national human rights commissioner who is one of the UDD's ideologues, admitted. But the UDD's propaganda machine is cranking into gear after being shut down by the government in April.
  
  Saturday's rally was beamed 'live' on the movement's new 'People's Channel' TV station. A red shirt newspaper has also been launched, featuring articles and columns by key red shirt leaders and ideologues.]
  
  BP: The level of organization at the latest rally lacks the "professionalism" of the PAD rallies.

  tags: udd

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

• [IPS] Dams Across the Mekong Could Trigger a ‘Water War’

  "For now, the lower stretches of the Mekong River remain a symbol of peace and tranquillity in a region that was once bloodied by war. But for how long?"

  tags: no_tag

• [AFP] Thai police offer reward for mosque attack leads

  "Whoever gives information to the police that leads to the arrest of those who shot people at the mosque will get 200,000 baht," said Major General Dejnarong Suthicharnbancha, deputy regional police commander.
  
  He told AFP that he could guarantee full protection for informants, whose identities would not be released
  
  BP: Can guarantee protection?

  tags: insurgency

• [GlobalPost] The Killing of Teachers in the Deep South

  It’s a “win-win,” Abuza said. “Schools have shut down for months at a time, which further convinces Buddhists to leave the region. And Muslims are compelled to enroll their children in privately run madrassas.”
  
  [BP: Have a note of Duncan McCargo's comments as well]

  tags: insurgency

• [AFP] 7 wounded in Thai south attack

  "SUSPECTED Islamic militants opened fire at a Buddhist temple in Thailand's restive south where people were taking part in an aerobics class, wounding seven, police said on Tuesday.
  
  Four armed insurgents stormed into the building in the troubled province of Narathiwat and attacked the group of around 50 villagers gathered inside the temple late on Monday, they said.
  
  Two volunteer guards providing security for residents fired back and the rebels fled the scene. A 20-month-old girl was among the wounded but no one was seriously hurt, said police."

  tags: insurgency

• [MCOT] Thailand, China agree to push for closer trade and tourism ties

  " Visiting Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Wednesday said Thailand and China would strengthen bilateral economic and trade partnership and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao affirmed he would encourage more Chinese to visit Thailand.
  ...
  Tourist arrivals to Thailand totalled some 3.2 million in the first quarter of 2009, down 19 percent compared to the corresponding period last year, according to Tourism Authority of Thailand."

  tags: economy

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

• [CS Monitor] North Korean ship poses challenge for US allies along its route

  "The Kang Nam is believed to be carrying conventional small arms. In the past, North Korea has sold artillery and rocket launchers to Burma, says Bertil Lintner, a Thailand-based journalist and author of several books on both countries. In 2007, the same vessel docked in Burma and offloaded some heavy equipment, fueling suspicions of weapon systems transfers."

  tags: burma

• [MCOT] Cabinet proposes to move border agency to PM's control

  "IIn an attempt to end the ongoing violence in Thailand's restive South, the Cabinet has proposed that the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre (SBPAC) fall under the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), Deputy Interior Minister Thaworn Senneam said on Wednesday"

  tags: insurgency

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

• ]International Crisis Group] Recruiting Militants in Southern Thailand

  "The Islamic schools in which pious young Muslims are recruited and radicalised are generally the larger, more modern and better-equipped institutions in a complex educational system that ranges from secular state school to traditional Muslim boarding schools (ponoh). The classroom is the point of first contact. Recruiters invite those who seem promising – devout Muslims of good character who are moved by a history of oppression, mistreatment and the idea of armed jihad – to join extracurricular indoctrination programs in mosques or disguised as football training. As recruits are drawn into the movement, they take an oath of allegiance followed by physical and military training before being assigned to different roles in village-level operations."
  
  Report available from the above link

  tags: insurgency

• [Al Jazeera English/AP] Temple attacked in south Thailand

  "Eight people have been wounded in southern Thailand after suspected Muslim separatist fighters opened fire on a Buddhist temple in the latest violence to hit the troubled region.
  
  Lieutenant Colonel Piyawat Chalermsri said at least four armed men shot into the compound of the temple in Narathiwat province on Monday as about 30 people were taking part in an aerobics class.
  
  "The security forces fired back as soon at the attack began, otherwise there might have been more casualties,'' Piyawat told the Associated Press"
  
  BP: This comes just a week or so after the attack on the mosque.

  tags: insurgency

• [Bloomberg] Thailand Credit Ratings May Be Cut on Weaker Economy, S&P Says

  “Recent events have damaged medium-term economic growth prospects,” S&P said in an emailed statement today. “Heightened political tensions continue to undermine support for the Thai sovereign ratings,” which may be cut if the “economic performance weakens sharply, causing government finance to deteriorate seriously or banks’ asset quality to worsen markedly,” the ratings company said.

  tags: economy

• [Bloomberg] Thailand May Extend Shariah Law in Violence-Ridden Muslim South

  "Thailand may allow more local autonomy and consider extending Shariah law to defuse a separatist insurgency in Muslim provinces that border Malaysia, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said.
  
  “More decentralization and provisions that respond to specific needs are fine,” Abhisit said in an interview in Singapore yesterday. “We can respond to needs on Shariah law, on the education system.”
  
  [BP: Good summary of recent events]

  tags: insurgency

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

• [Bangkok Post] Why govt presses on with temple push

  "Thailand's continued objections are likely to fall on deaf ears, just as they did last year at a World Heritage Committee meeting in Quebec. The Thai delegation to the WHC meeting in Seville, Spain, this week will also probably be unable to convince the meeting to accept the change.
  
  Similar cases in the past are proof of this.
  
  Chile objected against Argentina's registration of the Los Glaciares National Park as a World Heritage site in 1981, claiming the registration was incomplete because some parts of the park were in Chilean territory.
  
  Unesco noted the differing opinions in its report but the park went on to become a World Heritage site."

  tags: preahvihear

• [The Nation] Democrats consider going it alone

  "Leaders of the ruling Democrat Party are thinking seriously about remaining as a slim majority or even a minority government as they prepare to oust some coalition allies, says a party source" [BP: Really??]

  tags: democrats, bhumjai

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.