Don’t overlook situation in Southern Thailand, says terror expert

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia should not overlook the conflict in Southern Thailand as many people in the region are supportive of the Islamic State (IS), says a terror expert.

Ahmad El-Muhammady of the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) said that while Thai separatists did not necessarily support the terror group’s brand of violence, they subscribed to IS’ ideology.

Ahmad said he had made the discovery recently in conversations with people he knew from there, and from observations on social media.  

“The close proximity to the conflict zone is what bothers us. Everyone talks about the threat from Indonesia and the Southern Philippines but we shouldn’t overlook the situation in Southern Thailand,” he told The Star Online.

In Southern Thailand, groups such as Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), The Patani United Liberation Organisation (Pulo) and Patani Malays People's Consultative Council (Bersatu) are fighting for their independence from Thailand, said Ahmad.

“The ideology of an Islamic state is compatible with what they are fighting for,” said the lecturer, who regularly assists the police in the rehabilitation of captured militants.

But while he doesn’t believe that the separatists will harm Malaysia, he said the possibility of them using the country to hide from Thai security forces or as a transit point could not be discounted.

Ahmad added that militants from Southern Thailand did not go to Syria or Iraq, as they believed in their own struggle.

Since 2004, violence in Thailand’s three southern-most provinces – Yala, Patani and Narathiwat – has resulted in more than 6,200 people killed and more than 10,000 injured.

The three Muslim-dominated provinces were once part of a Malay Muslim sultanate until annexed by Thailand in 1909.