April 24, 2007: Buddhists are calling for Buddhism to be
declared the official religion of Thailand, and for Islamic terrorists to be
treated more harshly. This means growing approval of all out war against the
Islamic militants. The government would rather offer amnesty and try to
convince the Moslems in the south to stop supporting the terrorists. There is a
good case for this, as the Moslem population is too small to ever seriously
threaten the Buddhist majority. Moreover, the Thais have a tendency to get
really vicious when threatened. The government is trying to put a cap on that,
because when the revenge attitude gets going, the Moslem population in the
south will be in great danger. So much so that over a million Moslems could be
pushed across the border into Malaysia, and thousands more killed. Several
thousand have already fled to Malaysia, fearing retaliation by Thai Buddhists.
Many Buddhists in the south are arming themselves and joining self-defense
organizations.
April 23, 2007: Soldiers, on their way to put out a fire at
a school, were ambushed by Islamic terrorists. At least 19 soldiers were
wounded by gunfire and roadside bombs.
April 21, 2007: In the south, a roadside bomb killed three
soldiers.
April 19, 2007: Thailand rejected a U.S. officer of help in
dealing with Islamic militants in the south. Such American aid has been
successful in the Philippines, where U.S. intel experts have been valuable in
keeping tabs on terrorist communications. Thailand said it would be happy to
receive any intelligence the U.S. had on the Islamic terrorism effort in
southern Thailand.
April 16, 2007: Islamic terrorists are now destroying more
schools, with five burned down in one day. The Islamic terrorists consider
non-religious schools as an attempt to destroy their Moslem culture.
