SOUTHERN THAILAND:
The situation in three of the four Muslim dominated provinces bordering Malaysia is dire. Over the past three years the provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat have been going through turbulent times. Since 2004 about 2350 people have been killed.
In September 2007 we wrote:
* Three weeks ago two men aged 71 and 81 were at their home when a Muslim extremist walked in, shot them both, beheaded them and then burnt their bodies.
* Two weeks ago at about 7 am a small patrol of police were guiding Buddhist monks as they collected food as they have done for centuries. A remote controlled bomb went off killing a civilian, a policeman and one of the monks.
* On one day last year 22 banks were simultaneously bombed in Yala.
* A Buddhist couple working as fruit pickers were shot dead, their 3-year-old child injured. The couple was then decapitated.
For very good reason people (especially non-Muslims) are scared to work in the fruit and rubber plantations because they are fearful of being murdered. In actual fact Thais all over the kingdom are very reluctant to travel down south.
When we made our first exploratory trip there we saw schools that had been torched, mosques where many had been killed and drove past road sites where there had been murders.
A striking aspect of the South Thailand insurgency is the anonymity of the people behind it and the absence of concrete demands.
A number of the militants are reported to have received training at al-Qaeda training camps in Pakistan.
This insurgency is not necessarily caused by lack of political representation, nor by poverty or economic problems even though Muslims in the border provinces do have lower levels of educational attainment compared to their Buddhist neighbours.
One important fact, however, is that in 1902 these three Muslim majority provinces were formally annexed by Thailand. Prior to this they had their own form of self-rule. Clearly the extremists want the return of self-rule.
Another terribly worrying aspect of this is the targeting of school teachers for assassination. School teachers and Headmasters are being murdered even though in Thai society they are held in very high regard. To the extremists they are soft targets who, because they are government workers, are considered to be fair game.
In some areas, schoolteachers have a bodyguard who daily escorts them to and from school. A number of teachers are now armed.
The government does not know how to handle this situation. How can they? In the worst incident the army rounded up hundreds of young men whom they suspected of being insurgents, tied their hands behind their backs with their shirts and threw them in the back of a truck. They were stacked sardine style six deep in the truck. By the time they reached the army camp five hours later seventy-eight of them had suffocated. Of course this only worked to exacerbate the problem.
Government soldiers are scared and rightfully so. Some 4000 soldiers from north of Bangkok who have been sent to the deep south are now compelled by their very senior army superiors to wear religious amulet/necklaces blessed by a revered Buddhist monk. These amulets, now officially part of their uniforms, are believed to keep them safe from danger. Some soldiers are wearing up to 40 amulets at any one time.
HOW WE CAN PLAY A PART Late in 2007 we set up a board with a group of southern Thai church leaders to establish a new work amongst children in Thailand’s deep south.
Our new work will be based in Songkhla city where there is an established church, universities and good infrastructure. Additionally this province is adjacent to the three Muslim dominated provinces that we wish to work in.
We like cutting edge and we aspire to both pioneer and to be unique. Undoubtedly this work falls into this category.
To the best of our knowledge there is no other similar work like ours aimed at southern kids.
Please click on this link to view our latest news with regard to this project: http://empower.asia/news/
We have one other potential project that we are planning on commencing – in Calcutta, India.
CALCUTTA:
During December 2007 Paul made his third trip to Calcutta to meet with a friend who is well placed and respected within the Calcutta Christian scene.
Visiting Calcutta is always a mind blow. To compare the towering offices of the newly established multi-national computer software companies with the lives of the million or so impoverished souls whose regular dwelling is the footpath is an anthropologist’s dream.
The Trusty Footpath: Home to 1 million Calcuttan souls
Empower Asia believe that we are making progress toward establishing indigenously-run residential homes for poor kids who over a period of time will be trained up to reach out to their fellow Bengalis.
At this stage we are establishing a working committee that will investigate the characteristics of the children who we will accept as well as the qualifications necessary for the house parents. From there the search will begin for the “right” adult staff.
