தெற்கு தாய்லாந்து பிரதேசத்தில் காஷ்மீர் போல மாநில சுயாட்சி

தொடர்ந்த இஸ்லாமிய பயங்கரவாத தாக்குதல்களால் ஆடிப்போயிருக்கும் தாய்லாந்து அரசு, யாலா, நராத்திவாத் பகுதிகளுக்கு காஷ்மீர் போல மாநில சுயாட்சி கொடுத்து இஸ்லாமிய பயங்கரவாதத்தை கட்டுப்படுத்த முடியுமா என்று யோசித்து வருகிறது.


Thailand Weighs Self-Rule for South
1 hour ago
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — Thailand is considering granting partial autonomy to its Muslim-majority southern provinces, which for the past four years have been the scene of a bloody Islamic insurgency, the new interior minister said Tuesday.

More than 2,900 people have been killed since early 2004 in nearly daily drive-by shootings and bombings in the three provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, the only ones with Muslim majorities in Buddhist-dominated Thailand.

A recent escalation in violence presents a major challenge to Thailand's new government, which took office last week. Military and political measures imposed by previous governments had little success in curbing the violence.

While conceding that some degree of self-rule in the south "is a possibility," Interior Minister Chalerm Yoobambrung said independence for the region was out of the question.

"Thailand is one state that can't be divided, but we must find a way to make the situation better," he said. "We can't sit still and wait to be killed."

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said autonomy was a "delicate issue."

"We want to hear from senior officials, including military officers, on the situation in the region before we come up with any policy," said Samak, who is also defense minister. "Chalerm thinks it's a good idea so he proposed it but it may be dangerous ... it might get out of hand."

Violence has surged this year after a lull in the second half of 2007.

Srisompob Jitpiromsri, a political scientist at Prince of Songkhla University in Pattani, said 55 people were killed and 100 injured in January, compared to 27 people killed and 37 injured in December.

Chalerm said intelligence suggested the militants are planning to expand their violent campaign to southern Thailand's tourist and commercial hub, Hat Yai, in Songkhla province. In April 2005, two people were killed by a bomb at Hat Yai International Airport.

He also said that nightclubs and other entertainment venues in the region are particularly at risk because insurgents view them as an affront to Islamic values.

In the latest violence, a Muslim district chief and his son were killed in a drive-by shooting Tuesday in Narathiwat province's Rangae district.

Southern Muslims have long complained of being treated as second-class citizens. Two successive Thai governments have failed to quell the insurgency despite the presence of 40,000 troops and police officers.