Thai PM Holds Security Meeting After Southern Attacks

BANGKOK — Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, already facing a flood crisis in the country's north, convened an urgent meeting on Sunday with high-level security officials in response to coordinated violence overnight in three southern provinces where a small-scale Muslim insurgency is active.

The meeting was held shortly before Anutin flew north to inspect the badly flooded province of Nan. It followed 51 incidents on Saturday night in the southernmost provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala, according to reports. Some accounts, however, put the number of attacks higher, with authorities saying suspected insurgents struck more than 70 locations across four provinces, including Songkhla, over the weekend. A breakdown from Thai officials listed at least 78 incidents: 40 in Narathiwat, 21 in Yala, 15 in Pattani and two in Songkhla.

The attackers did not engage with military or police forces, and only three civilians were known to have been wounded; they were reported to be recovering. The violence primarily involved small bombs, arson and other forms of property damage. The highest-profile target was a 7-Eleven convenience store in Pattani, where a video circulating on social media appeared to show armed men stalking outside while customers and workers fled before the store was set on fire.

A bomb damaged rail tracks in Narathiwat, forcing the suspension of local and long-haul services. Authorities also imposed a curfew in Narathiwat. At the Sunday meeting, Anutin asked the security forces to ensure public safety.

No Immediate Claim of Responsibility

As has often been the case with such incidents, no group immediately publicly claimed or was blamed for the actions. However, such attacks are generally believed to be carried out by the Barisan Revolusi Nasional Melayu Patani (BRN), the major insurgent group in the south with the organizational means and support to stage such coordinated actions. The BRN is also the group with which the Thai government has been holding intermittent peace talks.

Independent security analyst Don Pathan says the BRN carries out attacks largely for leverage as it negotiates with the Thai government. Pathan said BRN combatants wanted to use the spike in violence to demonstrate their capabilities and send a stern message to the Thais of what they are capable of doing, and were not after body counts.

Deep-Rooted Grievances

The three southernmost provinces are the only ones with Muslim majorities in predominantly Buddhist Thailand, and the BRN has said it is seeking self-rule for them. Muslim residents have long complained of being treated like second-class citizens, and separatist movements have been periodically active for decades.

Insurgent violence escalated sharply in 2004 and was met with heavy-handed crackdowns, further fuelling discontent. According to Deep South Watch, a think tank based at a local university, 7,837 people have died in the southern Thailand violence in the past 22 years.

In July, about 10 attackers opened fire and threw pipe bombs at soldiers at a security checkpoint in Narathiwat, killing five paramilitary soldiers and wounding six civilians, including a 10-year-old boy.

Peace Talks and Retaliation

The region was part of the independent Malay sultanate of Patani before its incorporation into Thailand was formalised in 1909. Thailand is now seeking to revive peace talks with the BRN. Chief negotiator Thanut Suvarnananda told Reuters in August that Bangkok wanted to move beyond trading concessions for reduced violence and address political grievances, including governance. Malaysian-facilitated peace talks have repeatedly stalled since they began in 2013.

Lieutenant General Norathip Poinok, who commands the Thai army in the southern region, told local media that authorities had received intelligence nearly two months earlier warning of attacks on government buildings, shops and power infrastructure. He described the attacks as retaliation for crackdowns on insurgents and illicit businesses, including drug and contraband trafficking, that fund militant groups.