SOUTHERN VIOLENCE: VILLAGERS FORCE POLICE TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L BANGKOK 007749 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EAP, EAP/MLS, S/CT E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/19/2015 TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER TH SUBJECT: SOUTHERN VIOLENCE: VILLAGERS FORCE POLICE TO RELEASE DETAINEES REF: BANGKOK 6093 Classified By: Poloff Mark Lambert. Reason 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Media and Embassy sources offered differing accounts of a December 19 event in which a mob of Muslim villagers in Narathiwat apparently forced police to release two men held in connection with the shooting of a local official. The media reported that up to 1,000 villagers had taken 22 government teachers hostage, forcing police to turn over the detainees. Local sources, however, reported that no hostages had been taken and that police released the two suspects following a protest involving several hundred villagers. All sources believed that the villagers had been agitated/organized by local militants. The confrontation follows the pattern of other mob actions seen in the South. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) On December 19, the media reported that up to 1,000 villagers had taken 22 government teachers hostage in Sungai Padi, Narathiwat, in order to force police to release two local men held in connection with the shooting of an assistant village chief. Shortly after the men were detained, villagers reportedly seized two local schools, held the teachers hostage, and demanded police release the men. Soon thereafter, police released the two detainees and the mob released the teachers unharmed. ¶3. (C) Local sources disputed this account, reporting a few hundred villagers had been involved in a "protest" and that no school teachers had actually been taken hostage. Sungai Padi District Chief Chamnan Muendam told emboffs that a total of around one hundred villagers -- mostly women and children -- had gathered in front of the schools to demand the release of the two locals and had not seized any teachers. A local reporter told emboffs that the crowd was approximately 500-strong and agreed that no hostages had been taken. ¶4. (C) Both media accounts and Embassy sources did agree in their analysis that local militants had manipulated the drama in order to create further distrust between local Muslim residents and authorities and perhaps precipitate a violent clash. ¶5. (C) COMMENT: While accounts differ, the incident leaves everyone with the impression that local authorities capitulated to a mob. This incident is reminiscent of other recent events in the South -- including the September 21, 2005 murder of two Marines (reftel A) and the October 25, 2004 Tak Bai incident -- where local villagers appeared to have been manipulated by militants in order to provoke confrontations with RTG authorities. Wisely or not, Thai security officials, with these other incidents probably in mind, moved quickly to diffuse this incident. END COMMENT ARVIZU