Gunmen kill two Buddhist monks in Thailand's troubled south

Many will not think this is a big deal as people are killed all over the world; so what is the big deal with two Buddhist Monks being killed ?

At least 23 monks have been killed and more than 20 wounded since 2004, but there has not been an attack on monks since 2015. An imam was shot on Jan. 11, also in Narathiwat province.

This has been going on since at least 1973 however then we used to call them Communist. Now they are known as Muslim separatist. Their demands change but as usual and the bottom line is they want autonomy and self rule.. It ain't gonna happen and if they kill a few more Monks I can see a date when some serious hell will be brought upon their heads.. Justly so IMO. Buddhist are very good at removing problems if pushed, and killing Monks is pushing rather hard.

The killings have added a religious dimension to a conflict that initially was rooted in ethnic and national tensions.

“Many Buddhists, not just in the south but across the country, are feeling aggrieved by Muslims, and it will take time for that to change,” Rakchart Suwan, chairman of the Buddhist Network for Peace, told Reuters.

Most of my local national friends (Thai) not to mention the expat community hate to see something like this that can lead to midnight death squads of young Buddhist hot heads going forth for revenge; but if that is what it takes to beat down the radical Muslim idiots then if it happens it will be "GAME ON" big time.

I am personally surprised the military and police have used such restraint. It seems like every month there is a new story about some attack at a market or a school where people doing their daily chores are gun downed or blown up.

www.reuters.com...

This is a good story, as usually people are killed by guns or bombs and the so called insurgents get away.

STUDENTS screamed in fear on Friday morning as they heard guns being fired near their school in Narathiwat province.

A gunfight erupted after rangers and police confronted a group of suspected insurgents in a rubber plantation nearby. One suspect was killed in the clash, and authorities believe other suspects were wounded.

The firing happened a couple of kilometres from the Ban Teukor School in Chanae district, but the sounds of a hovering helicopter and guns firing had the students so terrified, they had to be ushered into the school library.

Police officers and rangers had surrounded the rubber plantation after learning that some five suspected insurgents had set up camp there. However, as they got closer, one of the suspects became aware of them and alerted others.

newsletter.thaivisa.com...

Myanmar had a Muslim problem and the military and local Buddhist population in the far north finally decided they had had enough. They are still finding unmarked graves is the last word I got. Of course the international news outlets screamed about brutality and any other disparaging word they could come up with about Myanmar's actions. It would appear things have settled down in Myanmar this last two years as far as innocent people being killed while going about their daily business so, go figure.. The problem with this kind of stuff is innocents get killed on both sides. It does not matter if you are good of heart and at peace with your surroundings...be in the wrong place at the wrong time and standing on the wrong side and "POOF" your earthly body is no more.

Monks , the young ones need to be alert on their whereabouts in their preaching.
People in Asia are very tempermental.

The problem in Rakhine state in Myanmar is about China and Myanmar plans in the Rakhine state.

The Rohingya separatist (Sunni muslim) thought Saudi and US influence would be able to help them (Syria style) but Myanmar cracked down hard on all Rohingya and did not bend to outside pressure.

One Belt One Road
www.reuters.com... dUSKBN1KN106

The initial $7.3 billion price tag on the Kyauk Pyu deepwater port, on the western tip of Myanmar’s conflict-torn Rakhine state, set off alarm bells due to reports of troubled Chinese-backed projects in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, the official and the advisor said. Deputy Finance Minister Set Aung, who was appointed to lead project negotiations in May, told Reuters the “project size has been tremendously scaled down”. The revised cost would be “around $1.3 billion, something that’s much more plausible for Myanmar’s use”, said Sean Turnell, economic advisor to Myanmar’s civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.

Kyauk Pyu is an entry point for a 770-kilometre (480-mile) pipeline delivering oil and natural gas to China’s Yunnan province. That gives China an alternative route for energy imports from the Middle East that avoids the strategic chokepoint of the Malacca Strait.