News and Analysis - Thailand: Foreign Fighters in the South? (27 May 2007)

Thailand:  Retired Royal Thai Army General Watanachai Chaimuanwong, a senior advisor to Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, was quoted by AFP saying that, “There are overseas experts from Indonesia and Cambodia conducting weapons training, bomb making and war tactics…We do not know the exact number, but I think they are not many…This is not doing any good to the current situation, because they are real warriors and tough fighters." This statement initiated a lively regional debate on the international aspects of the insurgency in Thailand’s southern provinces. The Cambodian government issued a strong denial through Minister of Information, Khieu Kanharith, who related that he believed General Watanachai was not speaking on behalf of the Thai government and that there is no truth to these accusations. Although, the Thai government/military began to distant themselves from the General Watanachai’s earlier statements, the issue continued to persist as demonstrated in a follow-on statement from Thai Supreme Commander, General Boonsang Neimprait, who was quoted by The Thai News Agency (TNA/22 May) as stating,  “ As for Cambodian Muslims entering Thailand, we’re examining what they come here for. Sometimes, we wonder why the numbers of people entering and leaving the country are not equal. We’re verifying whether they are linked to the southern insurgency or not.”

(Comment – The issue of external links between regional and global terrorist organizations to the Thai southern insurgency have been debated over the last couple of years, and to date, there remains no definitive evidence to support such claims. There is, however, almost certainly an indirect connection between militants in the south and internationally recognized terrorist organizations such as Jemaah Islamiyah and al-Qaeda via the internet and other media, something along the lines of virtual community where ideas are shared, ideology transferred, and tactics, techniques and procedures replicated across international boundaries. There are also family ties between Thai Muslims and known terrorists, through marriage, but it should be noted that to date, these ties have not been associated with any support to the insurgency. 

As for members of Cambodia’s Islamic Cham community conducting weapons and tactics training in Thailand, this is farfetched and highly unlikely. The fact that there are substantial numbers of Cambodian Muslims entering Thailand illegally and undocumented at overland crossing points such as Poipet in Cambodia’s northwest and Koh Kong in the southeast is certainly true, but these individuals are mostly poor unemployed and unskilled workers, some of whom find work in Thailand, mostly in the fishing industry, but the majority of whom are escorted through Thailand by Thai intermediaries to find work in Malaysia. This is a growing problem and is the real issue that Thailand, Malaysia, and Cambodia need to come to grips with and resolve. This represents a security concern for several reasons: the first is that the same underground conduits that these workers use can be exploited by members of terrorist organizations to slip undetected and undocumented between national borders. Secondly, it is possible that Cambodia Muslims working in southern Thailand or attending schools there will be radicalized by the ongoing conflict in the south, leading to a rise in militancy in Cambodia upon their return home, and lastly, the issue that concerns the Thai government the most is that these individuals will be recruited on the behalf of Thai Muslim insurgents and take up arms against the Thai government. Though this last scenario has yet to become a reality, it is a distinct possibility for the future, and thus, at some future date, General Watanachai’s remarks may not be as far off the mark as they are today.) [slr]