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Farmers forced to sell property on the cheap

Authorities in Narathiwat yesterday sought a freeze on about 1,400 rai of land on suspicion it is linked to drug trafficking rings and the insurgency in the troubled province.

Provincial police chief Chote Chawalwiwat said several properties are thought to be linked to drugs rings and insurgency groups.

He said drug traffickers were in league with militants in whipping up a climate of fear to grab land.

Rubber plantation owners were singled out for attacks and the atmosphere of fear was said to have forced land owners into selling their property at low prices.

Traffickers and militants then used the properties as hideouts.

The provincial police yesterday sought a freeze on one 400-rai plot of land and were gathering evidence to put a freeze on several other properties amounting to about 1,400 rai in total, the police chief said.

Pol Maj Gen Chote said he had instructed Pol Lt Col Preecha Kimkliang, head of the provincial task force, to ask land officials to seize the 400-rai plot in tambon Tohdeng in Sungai Padi district.

The plot, worth 10 million baht, is owned by Wae-useng Wae-yu-soh, 56, who runs a private religious school in Narathiwat's Cho Airong district.

Police found the property in question was linked to a drug trafficking gang led by Yusaree Pohda-oh, who was recently arrested.

Supreme Commander Thanasak Patimakorn said yesterday links between criminal gangs and insurgents in the far South were to be expected.

He said the volatile situation throws up shared interests between insurgents and illicit rings.

"It is quite normal to see groups of people with shared interests operating in a trouble-plagued area," he said.

He said authorities were doing their best to counter illegal activities ranging from the drug trade to oil smuggling.

National police chief Priewpan Damapong said efforts were under way to undermine collaboration between drug rings and militants but he declined to discuss details.

"We will get to it in a couple of days. It remains a secret, right now," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapa said the government's approach to dealing with the insurgency seemed to bearing fruit.

He said there are signs the Barisan Revolusi Nasional might be seeking talks with the government.

"But I wouldn't call it negotiations. The government doesn't negotiate with insurgents, or we would be legitimising their organisation," he said. He said Thawee Sodsong, secretary-general of the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre, would be sent to hear what the separatist group has to say.

Gen Yutthasak also rejected a proposal seeking to set up a special administrative zone called Pattani Maha Nakhon.

He said the National Security Council was asked to study the proposal in detail but it did not mean the government would go ahead with it.

Gen Yutthasak, along with army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha, yesterday paid a visit to the far South. They called in at Sirindhorn camp in Pattani and were briefed on the situation in the region.

Gen Prayuth yesterday rejected a call for a withdrawal of all troops from the deep South, saying local authorities were not ready to take over security.

"Some people asked me if it is time to hand over the task to local officers. I'd say troops are struggling to get it under control," he said.

Gen Prayuth said it was a misconception that a troop pull-out or the lifting of state of emergency would ease tensions. He said the militants' aim was to involve the international community in the issue.

Drugs and other illegal activities were undermining security operations but authorities were intensifying efforts. "The insurgents are weakening but they are not quitting. They continue to seek sympathisers _ those who are mistreated or even drug traffickers."

Meanwhile, Democrat MP for Narathiwat Surachet Wae-ahsae yesterday called for limited enforcement of the state of emergency.

He said districts free of violence should be spared to restore trust and confidence in security and human rights.

Areas where Mr Surachet said the state of emergency should be revoked include Yala's Betong and Kabang districts, Narathiwat's Sukhirin, Wang and Sungai Kolok districts and Pattani's Mae Kaen district.

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Drugs fuel descent into hopelessness in far South

Rofiah used to believe her traditional village in the far South was the best and safest place for her sons to grow up as good Muslims. Not anymore.

"Drugs are everywhere," she says, her voice full of worry. "It's the biggest problem not only in our village, but in all the surrounding communities.

"There's only one way to save my sons. I must send them away to live and study outside the region."

Ask any mother in the Muslim-dominated deep South about their main concerns, and their replies will not be about the deadly ambushes, the bombings, or the drive-by shootings.

"It's about drugs. It's about our children," says Rofiah, with a deep sigh.

Eight years of southern violence and military occupation have taken a heavy toll on male Muslim youths who are growing up surrounded by fear and frustrations, and with no apparent future.

At a young age their days are occupied from early morning to late at night with having to attend both religious and regular schools. But they soon hit a brick wall when they grow up.

Unemployment is high because of the insurgency and also because their religious education makes them uncompetitive in the mainstream job market, according to many employers.

Even when local Muslims are equipped with the required job skills, they can only get low-level positions. In the current centralised administrative system, the bosses are almost always Buddhist outsiders.

Meanwhile, nature is no longer an economic refuge or place of escape. Once abundant fish stocks in the seas have been depleted by trawlers, industrial waste and environmentally destructive prawn and cockle farms.

Once close-knit families also fall apart when fishermen fathers must leave home to work elsewhere or worse, when the fathers are arrested by security forces, or killed in the protracted southern violence, thus forcing mothers to struggle on their own to feed the kids.

Fuelled by the generation gap and teenage angst, the boys look around and see no hope, only resentment and frustration at seeing their Muslim brethren violently abused and oppressed by the Buddhist authorities.

Feeling alienated and angry, many become sympathisers of the insurgency movement. Others choose to drown their gloom and sorrow in drugs, which make them pawns of drug gangs who lure them into committing acts of violence for money or in exchange for drugs. Many do both.

In some communities, the number of drug addicts stands at 70-80%.

"It's when drug addicts are also drug pushers," says Rofiah. "It's when not only boys with family problems are at risk, but also those from normal homes due to peer pressure.

"This is the most painful suffering mothers have to bear _ to see our children's future destroyed right before our eyes."

It is easy to spot young drug addicts in her community, she says. "They're unkempt. They're lazy. They do not observe the daily lamad prayers or go to the mosques. They're loafing around in groups. And they're everywhere in the communities.

Other problems also arise. Theft has become all too common. Families are also put under strain when a member is a drug addict. Domestic violence often follows.

When the male youths become bums, the local Muslim girls start looking elsewhere _ often at clean-cut soldiers in smart uniforms, and despite community frowns at cross-cultural relationships.

When it is time for the soldiers to leave, the girls are ditched, or they elope together. The parents' hearts are broken. The fury of local boys is fanned, particularly when rape is involved, resulting in many violent attacks on soldiers in revenge.

Even in sincere relationships, marriage does not guarantee a happy ending. The insurgents view such marriages as part of state political and cultural oppression, so they look to kill the husbands. They often succeed.

The hopelessness among youths, the drug problem, the violence _ these are mere symptoms of a larger problem of ethnic discrimination and political centralisation.

And as long as the insurgents and the government cannot sit down and talk sense, home will be too dangerous a place for Rofiah to allow her kids to stay. When terrorism gets out of hand, Bangkok mothers, too, will soon live Rofiah's pain.