Thaksin Punishes the Deep South

Thaksin yesterday unveiled his new "solution" for the violence in the three southernmost provinces of Thailand. The solution consists of dividing all towns and villages into three colour-coded categories according to their degree of loyalty to the government or sympathy with Muslim militants behind the violence. Villages that are unloyal to the government will be "red", those with divided loyalties will be "yellow" and those that are loyal to the government will the "green". The "red" villages are to be denied any funds from the Thai Rak Thai handout scheme known as the SML village fund.

Thaksin announced this policy, which amounts to economic sanctions against the majority of areas in the deep south, at a podium surrounded by sandbags. Critics have declared that the measures appear to be punishment for the ruling party's poor performance in the south in the recent elections.

The response from Muslim militants came in the form of a car bomb which exploded the day after Thaksin's announcement in front of a crowded restaurant in Narathiwat, killing at least five and injuring 50. It is the first car bombing ever in Thailand. The questin is how long before the bombings start to move north, indeed why they haven't already.

Another question is how long it will take voters outside of Thailand's south to understand what kind of man their Prime Minister really is, and how his policies could well lead the country to disaster.