SUMMARY
The actor referred to as Patani insurgents consist of members of several different organisations who have been involved in coordinated activities with the aim of creating an independent Patani state in southern Thailand. The demand for an end of Thai rule in the adminstrative provinces of Narathiwat, Yala, Pattani, and to some extent Songkhla and Satun has been expressed at several different occasions.
The first organised movement in the post-World War 2 era was led by GAMPAR (Gabungan Melayu Patani Raya; the Greater Patani Malay Organisation) in 1948-1953, with the aim of making the southern Thai region part of an independent Malaysia. In the 1960s, other groups emerged which started to promote the idea of independence for the region. These early organisations, of which some remains active, consisted of groups such as BNPP (in 1986 renamed BIPP; Barisan Islam Pembebasan Patani, Islamic Liberation Front of Patani), BRN (Barisan Revolusi Nasional, National Revolutionary Front), and PULO (Pertubuhan Perpaduan Pembebasan Patani, Patani United Liberation Organisation).
Following a series of splits in these organisations, some exiled leaders started attempts to co-ordinate the activities of the emerging factions in 1989 through a political umbrella called Majelis Permesyuaratan Rakyat Melayu Patani (MPRMP, Patani Malay Peoples Consultative Council). ´
In 1997, members of PULO, a breakaway faction calling itself New PULO, and the newly formed GMIP (Gerakan Mujahideen Islami Patani, Islamic Mujahideen Movement of Pattani) wanted to revitalize the joint command under the name of Bersatu ("Unity"). Soon thereafter, Thai and Malaysian police captured many leaders in the groups while several others fled into exile in Europe or Arab countries.
The GMIP had formed in 1995 by some Patani natives who had returned from fighting with the mujahideen in Afghanistan and who supposedly were more militant than the established leaders of the older groups. By 2001, the GMIP and younger members in one of the three BRN factions; BRN-C (BRN-Coordinate) launched another effort to form an on-the-ground organisation in the region. This organisation also incorporated members from New Pulo and the other two BRN factions (BRN Ulama, BRN Congress).
Since then, the Patani insurgents have built up an organisational structure with the help of the BRN-C youth wing Pemuda ("youth") and consist of village-based militant groups calling themselves Pejuang Kemerdekaan Patani (“Patani Freedom Fighters”) or RKK (Runda Kumpulan Kecil, "Small Group Tactic"). Even though the current insurgency from the outside seems to consist of several different independent groups, the general strategy is centrally planned.
The Patani insurgents have been involved in the intra-state and one-sided categories of UCDP organised violence.
