| Publication |
2007.
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| Summary/Abstract |
In Thailand, efforts to identify the dynamics, causes, and culprits of the ongoing violence in the Muslim-majority provinces of the south have been informed by narratives of conspiracy. The surge of violence that has wracked the border provinces since early 2004 is suspected by many to be driven not only by ideologically motivated "militants," but by pragmatic interest groups. Suspicions of secret manipulation are deeply embedded in Thailand, reflecting the ways that power is disguised and deployed in state and non-state realms. Low thresholds of trust inform an existing culture of rumor which is easily exploitable by competing groups, including militants. Thailand's borderland Muslim-majority provinces have long been the site of overlapping networks of predatory officials, criminal interests, and political groups, where ethno-religious difference and a problematic history add a potent ingredient for volatility and manipulation. This paper explores the interlinked themes of conspiracy-disorder by examining a number of intelligence documents and commentaries over the period 2004 to 2006. Prevailing suspicions of conspiracy expose the critical role of Thailand's "disorderly state-society complex" in perpetuating instability in the southern borderland. The intimate connection between crime and militant groups in the current violence is highlighted
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