Conflict in Southern Thailand Islamism, Violence and the State in the Patani Insurgency

This paper is one of the products of a larger SIPRI research project, Conflict, Islam and the State-Nation: New Political and Security Challenges, kindly supported by the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In it, Dr Neil Melvin seeks to unravel these different strands of the Patani conflict and to shed light on its dynamics. He warns that the insurgents are now gaining the upper hand and it will be hard to stop the conflict escalating still further. The case is strengthening, therefore, for the international community to intervene, over and above the expressions of concern that have already come from Thailand’s neighbours. I am grateful to Dr Melvin for this original and illuminating study, and to Caspar Trimmer for the editing.

Alyson J. K. Bailes
Director, SIPRI
August 2007