The unheard voices of the deep South of Thailand

Sometime in November last year.....

The heart piercing voice of Yaena filled the air with despair. It was a voice of a wailing heart, singing the anguish of a widow who had lost a husband in such a tragic way. I sat still in the darkness, quietly listening to the song sung by Yaena and my heart was troubled. I wished our presence could somehow comfort her.

There I was, at Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand, which is located at the penthouse of Meneeya Center Building in Bangkok. The penal discussion on community response to violence and unrest in Thailand’s southern provinces was officially started after the song ended and the lights turned on. The projector had somehow failed to function at such an important event but our good spirits were not dampened. Thank goodness the televisions were in good conditions, which allowed the slide show to be screened.

The slide show of a series of portrait photos of the Lost Loved Ones graced the screens of the televisions. This event also marked the soft opening of the Lost Loved Ones photo exhibition at FCCT by Masaru Goto, an award winning photographer, who had travelled through rural armed Buddhists villages as well as Muslim villages to document the many faces of those who lost their loved ones in the conflict.
Speakers of that evening were Yaena, Lamai Manakarn, Isma-ae Salae from The Young Muslim Association of Thailand, Yala Province and Sunil who also acted as the translator, not to mention the charismatic Kraisak Choonhavan.

Yaena, clad in head scarf, spoke in Thai instead of Bahasa Melayu, her mother tongue. Then, Mr. Sunil acted as a translator. Last year, Yaena’s husband was assassinated. Then, Yaena received a letter from a government agency, accusing her of being an insurgent.

The day before the panel discussion, 50 kg of car bomb exploded in Narathiwat. It was said to be the biggest since the conflict started. According to one of the speakers, every time a bomb exploded, the security forces started to sweep the area in the vicinity of two to three kilometres, arresting everyone including children. I started to have goose bumps upon hearing that. Of course, I know the security forces had done more than just that. Few years ago, Amnesty International, Malaysia sent me a soft copy of a special report on the conflict in the deep South of Thailand. I felt like fainting while reading the report. There were just way too many cases of unlawful killings committed by the Thai security forces.

Looking at the mild mannered Yaena, I wondered how on earth the Thai government agency could even have the thought that Yaena is an insurgent. It was just ridiculous. Yaena is a Thai Muslim woman who is in her 60s. She started a small scale community project for women affected by poverty and the conflict in Narathiwat, selling batik shopping bags sewed by women affected by the conflict.

This year, there will be another Panel Discussion on ‘The Southern Unrest Today’, which will be held on 6th August 2009 in Bangkok. To go or not to go, there's the question!

Actually, last week when my mum gave me her left over Thai Baht, I knew it was a sign. I already had a feeling that I have to go to Bangkok again. To go or not to go?!!!!!!!