The events of 11 September 2001, and the Bali bombing of 12 October 2002, have had a profound impact on the Southeast Asian region. In some areas governments have benefited. Eager to gain support for the war on terror, the United States has been more accommodating on such awkward issues as human rights. Incumbent governments have also found citizens more willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on a wide range of issues — such as Thailand's introduction of tough anti-terror regulations by emergency decree in August 2003.

But what has focused international attention on Southeast Asia has been the issue of terrorism. Thailand has not been exempt from this scrutiny. Indeed the international media has depicted it as part of the terrorist problem — particularly in the Muslim South — because jihadi organizations with global links are firmly entrenched there. Is this concern justified? What are the long-term prospects?

GROWTH OF INTERNATIONAL CONCERN

Thailand has gained major international attention on at least three recent occasions. The first period, from November–December 2002, began with an article in the Asian Wall Street Journal alleging that the Al-Qaeda linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) had used Southern Thailand in January 2002 as a “pivotal planning area” for the Bali bombing, part of a shift from “hard targets” such as U.S. military installations and embassies, to “soft targets” such as nightclubs. Several other sensational reports of alleged JI activities appeared around this time, though by early December reports of the JI planning meeting shifted the venue and timing to Bangkok in February 2002. Some of these reports also linked JI to a sudden outbreak of killings directed at the police and security forces after December 2001.

The second period of media attention was between May and August, 2003. In late May two Thais with alleged JI links were arrested in Cambodia; on 10 June three alleged JI were arrested in the South (reportedly following a tip-off from a Singaporean JI, whose arrest on 16 May was announced at this time), and one more the following month.