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Originally Posted by blueangel
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I read both of those articles. Neither suggests or supports a claim that "
the big problem in Thailand is the extremist Muslim insurgency in the southern portion of the country." (Your words, my emphasis.) The closest either gets to that is this from The Australian:
More than 1400 people have died in the conflict in Thailand's far south since early 2004. The violence has been blamed on Malay separatism, religious extremism and organised crime in the border region.
Thaksin Shinawatra, the former premier ousted in last week's coup, has been accused of inflaming tensions there with heavy-handed tactics.
There have been hopes the Muslim army chief who led the coup, General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, may be able to ease the unrest.
Notice that coupled with "religious extremism" is "Malay separatism" (and organized crime). Notice also that nowhere does the article say that this was the reason for the coup.
I'm not saying religious extremism and Malay separatism haven't been a significant problem in Thailand, nor am I denying that many thought the former Prime Minister fanned the flames of the problem. But that's just a part -- and I think in the grand scheme of things, a relatively minor part -- of a much, much bigger picture that led to the coup.
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Originally Posted by RU OX Alum
I read that since that King has been reigning, there have been like 7 coups, and he is now more popular than ever, and probably more powerful than some extremeist groups in his country.
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As I said earlier, the popularity of the King -- the longest serving head of state in the world -- and the reverence with which he is viewed in Thailand really can't be overstated.
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