Thailand - Excerpt DoS Report on Terrorism, 26 April 2006

Thailand

Thailand continues to support domestic and international counterterrorism efforts. The country is a major beneficiary of U.S. antiterrorism assistance; numerous Thai police and security officials participated in U.S. Government training programs.

Thailand's biggest domestic security challenge is the ongoing insurgency in the far south of the country. This region, bordering Malaysia, has experienced episodic separatist-related violence for decades. Since January 2004, however, violence has increased dramatically and has continued throughout 2005. There are no indications that transnational terrorist groups are directly involved in the violence, and there is no current evidence of direct operational links between southern Thai separatist groups and regional terror networks. Overall, the Royal Thai Government maintains that the situation remains a domestic issue.

Elements of the government expressed public concern, however, that militants involved in the violence may have received funding and training from outside Thailand. Relations between Thailand and Malaysia were strained as the violence continued in Thai territory near their common border. The ongoing unrest attracted increased international attention and the concern of international Islamic organizations. In March, in response to the violence, the Indonesian-based Nahdlatul Ulama Islamic organization sent a delegation to Thailand. In June, the Organization of Islamic Conferences sent a fact-finding delegation to study the underlying causes of the violence.

Police forensics and ballistics work often failed to produce evidence that led to arrests following insurgent attacks, and government prosecutors struggled to develop cases that could stand up in court. In June, four southern Thai Muslims, accused of having links with Jemaah Islamiya (JI), were acquitted by a Bangkok court because of a lack of evidence.

No current direct evidence exists that regional or transnational terror groups such as Jemaah Islamiya or al-Qaida are operating in Thailand. Several Thai JI associates who provided financial and logistics support to JI fugitive leaders and operatives remain in Thailand. Since Hambali's capture in 2003, there has been no indication that these Thai nationals had any form of contact with JI. Thailand does not have any indigenous terrorist groups, but there are several militant domestic separatist groups implicated in the ongoing unrest in the far southern Muslim-majority provinces of Narathiwat, Yala, and Pattani and in several districts of Songkhla Province. These organizations include the Pattani United Liberation Organization, Barasi Revolusi Nasional, and Pattani Islamic Mujahedin Movement.

Some of these separatist groups may share the basic ideology and general rejection of Western influence held by international Islamic terrorists, but by all indications they remain primarily focused on seeking autonomy or independence for the far southern provinces. During 2005, separatist militants conducted attacks that included coordinated bombing attacks using improvised explosive devices (usually triggered with a cell phone), shootings, and beheadings. There is no evidence that foreign governments provided financial, military, or diplomatic support for Thai separatist groups.

The U.S. and Thai militaries conducted a large number of joint exercises and training programs that supported counterterrorism objectives. The United States and Thailand have undertaken a joint effort to create a national training facility that will provide field training for Thai military and police units involved in counterterrorism operations. Bangkok's International Law Enforcement Academy is a center for law enforcement skills training that is useful to counterterrorism efforts. Under the auspices of the Container Security Initiative, Thailand is engaged in a range of port security programs. Thailand is working with its international partners to eliminate financial support networks for terrorists.

The government participated actively in international counterterrorism efforts, but areas of concern remain. Thailand has not endorsed the Proliferation Security Initiative, a key objective given Thailand's regional leadership role and strategic location. Because Thailand is an international center for document fraud, the Thai Government has engaged with the G8 Counterterrorism Action Group (CTAG) on increasing penalties for document fraud, but proposed legislation has not yet been passed.