Thailand has an interesting new counterinsurgency strategy it is considering: pay civilians to shoot insurgents.
As you read the article, it will help to know that Pattani is one of four Muslim-majority provinces in the south of Thailand, which are experiencing a bloody insurgency. Like most such things, this insurgency has mainly directed its violence at the defenseless -- monks, schoolteachers, immigrant workers from even poorer countries than Thailand -- though insurgents have demonstrated a capacity for fighting off the Thai military and police on occasion. Thailand, whcih has strict gun control, began arming teachers some time ago, and certain trusted citizens. Police General Chitchai Wannasathit, in addition to being Justice Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, was recently the acting Prime Minister -- in other words, a very important man. General Sonthi is the chief of Thailand's army, also a very important man, and the first Muslim to occupy that position. It was hoped his appointment would 'win hearts and minds' among the southern insurgents, but it has not: he is a Muslim, but an ethnic Thai, whereas the insurgents are Muslims but ethnic Malays.
Now that you know all that:
The governor of Pattani wants to offer cash rewards of 50,000-100,000 baht to civilians who kill or injure insurgents in gun fights. He says rewards would give people an incentive to fight back, but academics and law experts argue it would just encourage more extra-judicial killing."People should trust the government" is not a very reassuring slogan, but "people should learn to proctect themselves" certainly is.
However, caretaker Justice Minister Chidchai Wannasathit and army chief Sonthi Boonyaratglin appeared to second the idea yesterday.
Pattani governor Panu Uthairat said his proposal was a security measure aimed at protecting the lives of innocent people in the province. ''In some cases, people want to retaliate. Some have fired warning shots into the sky. Others clashed with insurgents who were killed or wounded in the process,'' he said.''Some wounded insurgents were caught. In the past, we handed out 5,000 to 10,000 baht in cash to civilians to boost their morale so they will fight back in self-defence,'' he said.
A source said civilians would be given 50,000 baht each if their return fire hit any insurgents, leading to their capture. The amount would double if the insurgents were killed.
Mr Panu said the authorities could not provide security for people around the clock. People should learn to protect themselves. They should be permitted to carry guns but only use them in self-defence, he said.
Legal experts questioned the Pattani governor's authority to offer a cash reward. Outgoing Bangkok Senator Sak Kosaengruang, formerly president of the Lawyers Council, said the idea was dangerous and unlawful.
If the reward was offered to police, it would lead to extra-judicial killing by unscrupulous officers, he warned....
Pol[ice] Gen Chidchai, also a deputy prime minister, downplayed fears a reward-system would give rise to extra-judicial killings. He promised to consider both sides of the proposal.
Gen Sonthi said the reward offer was a strategy by the governor to stimulate people to be extra careful. People should trust the government's judgment in tailoring anti-insurgent strategies to the region.
I remain convinced that, as we see the continued development of asymmetrical warfare, we will eventually have to distribute warfighting capability across the whole society. The tyrannies of the 20th century were based on the massed standing army, and civilian gun control to ensure that the army need not spend much of its time fighting the civilians. They could be kept at bay by free nations, but only with massed armies in return.
The new, would-be tyrants avoid the armies, and slip into our societies to take cover among civilians. Civilians are also their primary targets, in order to wreak such terror as to obtain by destroying a nation's will what they otherwise lack the strength to gain. Only the armed citizen could be assured of being present enough of the time, at enough places, to defend against such an enemy.
The Thais are finding that out. Despite their attachment to the idea of gun control, which they would very much like to believe is the right and moral policy, they are having to abandon it because it is not sustainable in the face of a modern insurgency. Irony abounds: the insurgents, by proving that they are capable of defeating the Thai army, are making free men and citizens out of the subjects of Thailand's King.
The new tyrants bypass hard targets to seek soft, defenseless ones. We must therefore harden the entire society. This is not a sentiment, but a truth. Even those who are sentimental about gun control, as is Buddhist-majority Thailand, come to realize it. The citizen ceases to be a mere unit of production for supporting the state's endeavours, important only because he works to build the nation's economy, pays taxes to support government spending, and is kept disarmed so that he can't protest too loudly about the taxes.
Instead, the citizen becomes what he was meant to be. The nations of the world will find that they need him. They shall have to arm him. Therefore, they shall also have to listen to him.
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