1 Songkhla is the Northermost region that has so far been rocked by the insurgency... http://www.backpackthailand.com/content/thailand/images/provmap.gif Yesterday's attacks were also the most sophisticated thus far - five separate bombs were planted and it seems the authorities only managed to stop two of the devices from exploding by shutting down the entire region's mobile phone network (the bomb's were all remotely detonated by cell phones). They also stand out because i.) it was the first time an Airport has been directly targeted & ii.) it was the first time Western foreigners were caught up in the violence (an American & a French citizen were both injured). It'll be interesting to see how Shinawatra responds to this escalation - at the beginning of the year he had the army drop millions of 'peace doves' (oragami figures) as a goodwill gesture. Immediately before Sunday's attack he also expressed renewed interest in 'moderating' his approach to the rebels (he was accused of being heavyhanded after his army suffocated 87 detained civilians). So... he's buggered if he strikes with an iron fist, and he's buggered if he adopts the softly-softly approach. Doesn't look very good, does it?

2 I wonder if the jihadi "A" team has sensed the winds shifting, and moved from Iraq to Asia. I'd look for lots of small-to-mid sized attacks increasing in frequency over the next 2-3 years, probably culminating in a 9/11 size attack on Japan or Australia, which will prove to be another fatal overreach.

3 Both of you guys are right on.

4 Minor update: "Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra condemned the violence, but said he would not use force to retaliate." (BBC News)

5 Stupid non-violent buddhism.

6 Damn those amish.

7 The Thai government is taking a brave step in their attempt to defuse the conflict without unnecessary force. Thailand's steps to use non-violence and nation-building will be painful in the short run, yet yield results much more favorable than the brutal "Fallujah model".

8 Brought to you by the religion of peace? Hope they don't have the same traitors as we. I quess not. They would have hanged them long ago.

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