no ‘moral authority’ to discuss thai carnage

i like this letter (heading as in the title above), from the don. my sentiments exactly.

excerpts:
When Indonesia was committing atrocities in Aceh and elsewhere, it was doing so under the guise of controlling a separatist movement. The world including Malaysia kept quiet. What moral authority do we have now to talk about the Thailand massacre?

It is not that people have not been killed by the police in Malaysia The only difference is that Malaysian police have a little more finesse and always have a reason such as jumping into rivers or committing suicide.

malaysia practise double standard. not to say looking at world issues but right in own homeland too – watuddo!!

btw, click on ‘jog over for more’ to read how the thais back thaksin’s hardline stance.

to continue reading, click on ‘jog over for more’.

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/sub/asia/story/0,5562,282665,00.html?

Thais back hardline stance in south
Some non-Muslims believe Muslims got what they deserved, says rights chief

By Nirmal Ghosh Thailand Correspondent In Bangkok
Nov 2, 2004

THAI Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has come under heavy fire for his
handling of the situation in the south of the country, but his tough line
appears to have the backing of the Thai public.

Human rights activists and analysts believe the Prime Minister and the
military are likely to remain firm in dealing with the turmoil, knowing that
their actions would have the support of the public.

The head of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Mr Jaran
Dittapichai, who has just returned from a fact-finding trip to the south,
said: ‘The bigger problem is public opinion.’

He felt that public opinion favoured a more hardline stance in dealing with
the turmoil in the south.

‘Last week I had people – strangers – calling me and saying why the NHRC was
bothering about the Muslims and not about the police and officials who had
been killed by the militants.

‘And in the south itself, some non-Muslim locals told me the Muslims got
what they deserved,’ he told The Straits Times yesterday.

He had been the target of hate mail before, in late April when he
investigated the clashes in the south and told reporters the army may have
overreacted.

At the time, he showed The Straits Times a pile of faxes and e-mail messages
from Thais criticising him for his remarks.

‘This time also, public opinion hasn’t changed,’ Mr Jaran said.

‘I would say perhaps 90 per cent of the public support the suppression of
the demonstration at Tak Bai on the 27th. On the 28th when news of the 78
who died in custody broke, the media – all media – was critical.

‘But the night before I went, which was after that revelation, I got the
calls. Some of them even accused me of taking money from Muslim radical
groups,’ he said.

According to analysts, the conduct of the police and the military in the Tak
Bai incident – and earlier in Pattani and Yala provinces on April 28 when
108 young Muslim militants were killed – to some extent reflected the
frustration of security forces continually needled by hit-and- run attacks.

Thai security officials insist that the deadly riot at Tak Bai was
‘organised’ by a small core of motivated radicals who acted to incite a mob
and provoke a major incident they knew would spawn an overreaction by the
army.

That overreaction would in turn play into the hands of the insurgents by
pushing more moderate Muslims to the radical fringe, say officials.

Fourth Army commander Lieutenant-General Pisarn Wattanawongkeeree insisted
that despite the tragedy, military action against Muslim militants would
continue. He said it is necessary to maintain the sanctity of the law and
protect the people.

‘If the same thing happened again, we would again mount a crackdown to
disperse the protesters,’ he was quoted as saying by the Bangkok Post
yesterday.

‘But next time we would be more careful and take a softer approach,’ he
said.

Many locals in the south noted that while Mr Thaksin in his TV address on
Friday repeatedly expressed regret about the deaths of 78 people in custody
last week, he nevertheless continued to maintain a firm position on law and
order.

He gave a long and detailed history of the bombs, arson attacks and killings
that have plagued the south for years but escalated sharply in frequency
from January.

According to analysts, the dilemma for Mr Thaksin is that if troop strengths
are reduced, insurgents may establish and consolidate their influence.

And if he appears to softpedal, mainstream Thai society which largely
supports the crackdown approach will not give him any credit for it in an
election year, they say.