SUMMARY
One-sided violence by the Patani insurgents in southern Thailand occurred primarily within the context of the organization’s political goal of independence or increased autonomy for the region (See Thailand: Patani. There have been groups promoting a separatist agenda in southern Thailand for several decades based on the fact that the majority of the population in the south-eastern part of Thailand is Muslim rather than Buddhist and speak Malay rather than Thai.
The armed conflict in the region began in 2003 and was soon accompanied by increasing one-sided violence by the insurgent groups. The Patani insurgents have not published any clear statements from its leadership but have instead often distributed leaflets and left graffiti messages in the region outlining their agenda. On the basis of these messages, as well as the pattern of the incidents, it is possible to conclude that Patani insurgents consider one-sided violence a legitimate method in the promotion of their political goals. This violence has primarily targeted three types of victims: civilians accused of informing, working with or supporting the Government of Thailand, Buddhists in the region, and farmers or rubber tappers. The three categories will be discussed below.
In the years before the conflict began in 2003, there was a wave of non-lethal attacks on government property such as railroads and the torching of schools. These attacks have continued as the Patani insurgents have targeted civilians connected with government institutions, such as village headmen, teachers and low-level state employees such as garbage collectors. Furthermore, there have been attacks on retired former police and soldiers, family members of government employees, and people accused of co-operating with the Thai military.
A second type of one-sided violence that started already in 2004 but has become more common in later years has targeted Buddhists, regardless of whether these were recent settlers or have lived in the area for decades. As the insurgents increasingly framed themselves as a movement trying to establish an independent Patani Darusalam state free from Thai occupation, the attacks on Thai-speakers and Buddhists increased. There were also reports of Patani insurgents demanding that stores were closed on Fridays and attacking business owners if the declarations were not followed.
A third type of common targets for one-sided violence by the Patani insurgents was the seemingly indiscriminate killings of people on the roads in the region, regardless of whether these were Buddhist or Muslim. Particularly affected by this were farmers and rubber tappers heading out of the villages early in the mornings. The Patani insurgents did not state any reasons for these killings but it has been suggested that the motive could have been attempting to hurt the local economy or simply that the victims had come to close to temporary insurgent camps.
The Patani insurgents have used a variety of methods for their one-sided violence, including summary executions by gunshot or machete, occasional beheadings, drive-by shootings on motorcycles, as well as the use of explosives. In attacks on schools, stores, and residential homes the buildings have sometimes been torched.
In recent years, including 2024, one-sided violence by Patani insurgents has decreased substantially.
Patani insurgents first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 2004, when the one-sided violence resulted in over 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached in early May when 450 attacks in that year by Patani insurgents had resulted in 119 deaths and equally many people injured.
