Adam John // Martial Law allows military in Patani to arrest civilian for merely taking pictures | Prachatai English

25.4.18

Martial Law allows military in Patani to arrest civilian for merely taking pictures | Prachatai English: Malays from the Patani1 region in southern Thailand have long accused the authorities of treating them as second class citizens. Fourteen years of Martial Law in the three provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat - the region which made up the former Patani kingdom before it was annexed by Siam (modern day Thailand) - only re-enforces the feeling amongst the local Malay population of having less rights than the rest of Thailand.

Of course, Thailand as a whole has seen a disturbingly downward turn in democratic practices and the protection of individual rights since the military coup in 2014. However, it is important to point out that the inhabitants living under Martial law in the Patani region live under a separate regime altogether with even less respect for individuals’ rights and allows the authorities to operate with impunity. For example, despite 382 recorded extrajudicial killings2 between 2004 and 2017 in the Patani region, not one security official has ever been convicted for an extrajudicial killing in court.