Background

The Muslims in southern Thailand have been attacking civilians more recently. They have been killing innocent people protesting the government. Their main goal is to break off and become an independent Islamic state. They are a type of terrorist group, but aren't related to Al Queda or the Taliban. They even kill Muslim people if they don't support their cause. They killed roughly 2,500 people between 2004 and 2007.

Location

This struggle is taking place in the southern provinces of Thailand. The provinces are: Yala, Narathiwat, Songkhia, and Pattani. The climate in the south is hot and humid, with heavy rain. The terrain is very hilly, with the Titiwangsa mountains.

Development

In the 1970's the first insurgencies in Thailand started causing trouble with the people, but quickly calmed down. Then in 2004 the violence started up again, and between the time it started to 2007, more than 2500 people died. This began because the Separatists wanted to create an independent Islamic state, no matter the cost. Today, the violence has gotten worse, the Separatists began killing their own Muslims if they didn't support their cause. There is a lot more human rights violations also.

• 1970- first insurgencies in Thailand
• 2004- violence began throughout the country
• 2007-violence finally ended with death toll of more than 2500
  

Impact

One of the biggest impacts on the people, is that 89% of all deaths are innocent civilians. The people are losing more and more rights in Southern Thailand. The economy is slowly suffering from the movement because the government is divided and the resources are being taken for the Separatists. The government is suffering because it is being accused of being discriminatory against the south and isn't helping.

1. Government wont treat the Muslims equally
2. More innocent people will die because of this
3. The Muslims will separate into a separate Islamic state
   

Future

This issue will continue to effect my region because the violence doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon. The government also doesn't seem to want to help the south, and will continue to discriminate against the south. But the government has decided it wants to end the violence so steps have been taken to treat the south more equally and to provide what it hasn't before. The government is going to protect the rights of the people.

For Further Information

Big Picture

The people in the south have a different culture than the people in the north and are being hated for it. The southern Muslims want to create a separate state for the Islamic people. They want the government to help with services and goods, but they haven't had any luck so far. My theme is Conflict and Compromise and this fits with it because the government wasn't willing to compromise with the Muslims, so now there is a conflict about the Muslims separating from the rest of Thailand. People could use this topic to learn that governments shouldn't discriminate against religion because it will just cause more problems for everyone.