JP/6 /NATION

JP/6 /NATION

Don Pathan
The Nation
Asia News Network
Bangkok

In the past few weeks, the conflict between rival interest
groups in green and khaki uniforms has threatened to deepen the
crisis in southern Thailand, where most Thai-Muslims live.

Locals, intellectuals and concerned authorities said the
recent violence in Narathiwat was linked to interest groups
fighting for their turf and business in the deep South.

They are police, military, politicians, provincial officials
and businessmen who have extensive networks of legal and illegal
businesses throughout the southern provinces.

They said that after the government decided recently to
abolish both the Civilian-Police-Military Combined Command 43 and
the Southern Provincial Administrative Center, the two bodies
that oversee the South, violence has increased.

Also, they fear the turf wars could have far-reaching
ramifications for the delicate fabric of the Thai-Muslim
community because it would lead to negative profiling of them as
being a part of certain overseas organizations.

Even Interior Minister Purachai Piumsombun, who toured the
South last week, conceded that conflicts over illegal gambling
operations, narcotics and arms trafficking had contributed to the
growing violence in the southern most province of Narathiwat.

"Officials from the local districts and Bangkok are some of
their supporters. The pending annual reshuffle of police is one
of their causes," he admitted.

So far, most of the targets have been local police and
security officials and their units.

The aim is to rob the officials of their weapons and use them
for other purposes. More than 80 rifles and arms have been taken
during the various ambushes.

The pattern of the ambushes and arms robberies have led
officials concerned in the military and police to believe that
remnants of separatist groups are active again.

When top security officials -- including Defense Minister
Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, National Security Council Secretary-
General Kachadpai Burusapatana and armed forces commanders -- met
on Monday, they agreed to set up a new intelligence operations
centre run by the 4th Army, which used to handle all security
matters in the South.

Before Monday's decision to bring in the military for
intelligence gathering and psychological operations, there had
been heated debate on the overlapping responsibility of police
and the Civilian-Police-Military Combined Command 43 and Southern
Provincial Administrative Centre.

Essentially, the new plan reverses the government's earlier
position that the violence was caused by thugs and bandits and
that the threat from organized separatists no longer existed.

It is also a face-saving device for the Interior Ministry and
police over their failure to establish the cause of violence and
build counter-strategies as they had assumed all the
responsibility related to security in the South.

Inevitably, local Muslim residents are caught in the crossfire
of the growing conflict.

Although they view the ongoing situation without great alarm
because of the overall calm and stability in the South, they
nevertheless fear the conflicts of interest among uniformed
officials and their networks could have a spill-over effect on
their lives and the Thai-Muslim communities.

Pirayos Rahimmula of Songkhla Nakarin University, Pattani
campus, said that conflicts among vested interests were the key
factor that has been influencing the overall situation in the
South.

He urged the government to set up a study center which will
pool resources from police, local communities and academics so
that they can have a clearer understanding of local conditions.

Abdul Rahman, chairman of the Islamic Committee in Narathiwat,
agreed and said the authorities, especially the police, had to be
more sensitive towards local communities.

For instance, he said the "groundless" rumors about the al-
Qaeda group could backfire as they would raise fears among the
public. This sentiment was shared by Nathmuddin Umma, a Thai Rak
Thai MP for Narathiwat. He expressed the hope that the situation
in the South would not be blown out of proportion as it would
have a devastating impact on civilians.