Thailand: No One To Talk To

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January1 4, 2007: The violence in the Moslem south is running at about half the level seen in Iraq. For a generally peaceful part of the world, that's still pretty scary. The Islamic groups behind the violence refuse to communicate, except via occasional calls for all non-Moslems (about 28 percent of the population) to leave the south, and for the three southern provinces to be granted independence (as an Islamic religious dictatorship, run by persons unnamed). Local political groups in the south are also unsure who is behind the violence, although the names of several local religious teachers, and some gang leaders, keep coming up.

January 13, 2007:Another three people were murdered in the south by Islamic terrorists.

January 11, 2007:In the south, two small bombs went off, while death squads killed a Moslem government official, and two non-Moslem civilians.

January 10, 2007:There was a grenade explosion at a Malaysian border post on the Thai border. It later turned out to be an accident, not an attack.

January 8, 2007:The police investigation of the New Years Eve bombings indicate that all nine bombs were made by the same team, and were different from the bombs used in the Moslem south. It is believed that the New Years Eve bombs were part of a political plot to overthrow the current government (which was formed by a military coup that overthrew an elected government last October.)

January 5, 2007:Nine of the 40 people wounded by the New Years Eve bomb blasts were foreigners. As a result, tourists are staying away, with tourism related business down at least ten percent and still falling.