The media outlets of Thailand are doing the Thai people a disservice by their inadequate reporting on the ongoing violence in the South. The murders and bombings occur on a daily basis. The Thai media appear to be repeating the Western media's mistake of believing that appeasement and silence over the Islamists' war on non-Muslim people will result in Muslim expressions of gratitude and cooperation. The reality is unequivocally the opposite.
In just the past week, from Friday to Friday, here is the actual record of atrocities committed by Islamist terrorists:
On Friday, November 24, in Narathiwat, four Islamic militants spray a teashop with automatic weapons, killing a patron and injuring four others. On the same day, in Pattani, a 42-year-old man is gunned down by Islamists on his way to work. The man survived with serious injuries.
On Thursday, Nov. 23, in Yala, Islamists murder a young man as he is sitting in his car. On the same day, in Pattani, a man is murdered near his home by Islamic gunmen and a 40-year-old Buddhist teacher is shot to death by Muslim militants; in Narathiwat, Islamists gun down a rubber tapper on his way to work.
On Wednesday, Nov. 22, in Narathiwat, a husband and wife are pulled from their pickup truck and brutally killed by radical Muslims. The woman's body is burned.
On Monday, Nov. 20, in Sungai Kolok, 16 Muslim terrorists detonate a bomb at a market, killing two people.
On Sunday, Nov. 19, in Pattani, Muslims gun down a middle-aged Buddhist taxi driver standing in line for food. The man survived with serious injuries. On the same day, in Yala, a 68-year-old Buddhist man is nearly decapitated by Muslim attackers; in Hat Yai, Islamists murder a civilian and dump his body in a ditch; in Narathiwat, Islamists drive up to three men having tea and pound them with automatic weapons for 30 seconds.
On Friday, Nov. 17, in Pattani, a Buddhist villager is murdered by Muslim terrorists while shopping at a market and a Buddhist security guard is murdered by Islamic extremists; in Yala, Islamists shoot a man off of his motorcyle and a Buddhist ice-cream seller is gunned down by Islamic terrorists; in Narathiwat, 27 people are injured when Islamists set off three bombs, and a flower seller is killed.
This is just one week in the life in the southern provinces of Thailand. The more conciliatory the Thai government becomes, the more the attacks escalate. This is the same pattern playing out elsewhere in the world today.
The Islamists respond to silence and appeasement as a provocation. Show compassion, and they attack. Show tolerance, and they attack. Give them money, and they attack. Seek negotiations, and they attack. Isn't the solution obvious? Stop seeking peace. Seek war and peace will come very quickly indeed.
The media is abetting this situation by not reporting more thoroughly on the overt Islamist strategy of daily violence against innocent civilians. It is also a mistake to legitimize their activities by referring to them as "insurgents". They are not. They are killers and thugs.
Stephen J Carter | SF Novelist
