YALA – As the kingdom plunges into economic recession caused by global slowdown and the decimation of the tourist season by last month’s actions of the People’s Alliance for Democracy, southern insurgents are expressing anger at not being credited for helping to damage the nation’s reputation and investment environment.
“We’ve been planting bombs for seven years,” declared Muhammad Bentalayintak, a spokesperson for several violent Muslim separatist groups. “We’ve blown up or shot over a thousand people, burned down over a hundred schools, and sparked a sectarian rift that has torn this peaceful society apart. And now some clowns camp out in the airport for a week and they’re suddenly the destroyers of Thai society? We demand recognition for our brutal terrorist hatred. It’s only fair.”
The separatist groups’ list of demands include a front-page special edition in all Thai newspapers documenting the carnage of the last half-decade of unrest; an upgrade in terminology from “insurgent” to “terrorist” in the press; televised interviews with families of victims; and a Finance Ministry admission that their actions have had severe consequences on the Thai economy since 2002. If these demands are not met, the various insurgent groups threaten to escalate their “war of freedom” for a separate Muslim homeland.
The new Thai government, however, appears unconcerned over the threats. “We do hope they don’t start bombing and shooting more people,” said Police Commissioner Phatcharawat Wongsuwan. “But, as much as we hate to see an innocent rubber tapper have his throat cut, or a vegetable market hit by a grenade, it doesn’t really affect anything important.”
