Since January 2004, there have been thousands of victims in the ongoing conflict, the majority of them civilians. According to the Southern Border Provinces Administration Center, the smallest amount of deaths and injuries from 2004 to July 2008 constituted insurgents with a total of 271. The largest group, on the other hand, were civilians numbering 5,119 followed by state authorities with 2,837 deaths and injuries.
In April 2004, hundreds of men with machetes stormed government offices in three provinces at the same time. Five policemen and soldiers lost their lives while 106 militants died. Among them were 32 militants who had sought refuge in the Krue-ze mosque in Pattani. In October 2004, in Tak Bai district, Narathiwat, more than one thousand people gathered in front of the provincial police station demanding that the authorities grant bail to six Thai Muslims.
Officials used force to break up the crowd, resulting in six deaths. About 1300 persons were arrested. During transportation of those arrested to a military camp, 78 men suffocated to death from being stacked upon each other in the trucks.4 The judiciary is currently inquiring into those deaths, however without any concrete results.
In addition, six persons were shot in front of Tak Bai Police Station, and one later died from gunshot wounds in hospital. To date, there has been no proper investigation into these events; local human rights groups demand the truth on this incident and request that the perpetrators be identified and brought to justice.
The impunity with which these human rights abuses are committed is a clear obstacle to the restoration of a sustainable peace in the South. Several government bodies, including the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) have attempted to raise the government’s awareness on this issue. The NHRC, however, is lacking authority and can only make non-binding recommendations.
In the realm of civil society, the human rights community in Thailand is small, especially advocacy NGOs. Their voice regarding the situation in the South is not always heard or respected. As for journalists, few of them are following the situation in the South for the main Thai media outlets, and they themselves do not belong to the Muslim minority. As a consequence, coverage by mainstream Thai media is limited, and often carries stereotyped views of the Thai Muslim minority. There are however a few alternative media outlets which report with a more balanced approach on the conflict.
The decrease in violence during the past years and the current political turmoil in Thailand have lessened concerns over the situation in the South. The conflict does not seem to be a priority for the authorities.