PATTANI — Thai authorities say they have found the bodies of two suspected separatists who escaped a raid conducted by police and soldiers in Pattani province yesterday.

A team of police and soldiers raided a riverside house in Nong Chik district early yesterday morning. Following a gunfight, the officers entered the home and arrested one man, but were reportedly unable to catch two others who fled the scene.

Local residents alerted police that evening that two dead bodies were caught in a fisherman's net in the river, said Pol.Col. Chamlong Suwalak, the superintendent of Nong Chik Police Station.

The deceased were identified as Muhammad Seeteelah, 35, and Muhammad Posi Samah, 36. Both bodies bore gunshot wounds.

According to authorities, both Muhammad and Muhammad Posi were wanted for assisting the ongoing insurgency in the Muslim-majority region, known as the Deep South. The men were allegedly behind several deadly attacks on Buddhist civilians, including a fatal shooting of a public school teacher in January 2008. 

A statement from Thailand's Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) said that Muhammad was wanted on four arrest warrants, and Muhammad Posi, allegedly a high-ranking operative and bomb-maker, was wanted on one arrest warrant.

Pol.Col. Chamlong said he believes the two men were injured in the gunfight that preceded yesterday's raid, and attempted to swim away in the river, but later succumbed to their wounds. He said an official autopsy will not be possible, because their relatives have already sent the bodies for burial at a local mosque in accordance with Islamic rituals. 

The man who was arrested in the raid yesterday, Sama-ae Salae, 51, is being interrogated "in accordance with the laws," police said.

Thailand’s Deep South has been governed under martial law – which grants security forces sweeping powers to detain and arrest suspects without warrants – for more than nine years.

The three rifles discovered in the raid yesterday are being tested for any evidence that links them to previous crimes committed in the three southern border provinces, police said.

Former insurgent stressed economic development 

On the same day, Sama-ae Thanam, a former leader of one a separatist groups who was recently released from prison, applied for a national ID Card at the Panare District Office.

The 63-year-old was the commander of the armed wing of the Patani United Liberation Organization (PULO) until he was arrested and put in jail in 1997 for terrorism charges. Sama-ae, also known as Ismael Gaddafi, was pardoned by the government on 17 July after after spending 18 years in prison.

He was released as part of a government program to reward prisoners who display good behavior and encourage former militants to help broker peace in the region.

Taekingsak Yoksiri, deputy governor of Pattani province, said he visited the District Office today to show his support for Sama-ae, who is required to report to authorities every several months for the next ten years, as a condition of his pardon. 

Sama-ae told reporters he is glad to be re-united with his family and friends. He also said he would like to encourage economic development in the three restive border provinces of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat.

"Development is an important issue that needs to be stressed" Sama-ae said. "As for my release from prison, right now many [separatist] movement groups have already heard about it from the news. Everyone is happy and satisfied that I am freed. But there has been no initiative about a [peace] discussion, because I have been out of prison for only three days. It may take some time to find a way to solve the problems. But this is a good sign that can build confidence and lead to a peace dialogue, to a certain extent. Without confidence and trust, it will be hard to turn the idea of peace dialogue into a reality." 

The Deep Sout has been a hotbed of insurgent violence since the region was annexed by Thailand in the early 20th century. More than 6,000 people, mostly civilians, have died since the most recent wave of secessionist violence broke out in January 2004.

PITSANULOK – An irrigation pump was stolen from a farmer in the drought-stricken province of Pitsanulok in northern Thailand last night.

Wanpen Kaewkongsap, 58, said she installed the Japanese-made Kubota pump last week to drain water from a canal into her rice fields in Bang Rakam district.

Although she normally checks on the pump daily, Wanpen said she was unable to yesterday because she was attending a monk ordination ceremony in the village. 

"This morning my neighbors said my Kubota had been stolen, so I called the village chief and police," Wanpen said. She said the thieves unscrewed the water pump from its wheel and carried it away from the farm, adding that the contraption is very heavy and requires at least two adult men to move. 

"I am shocked, I am sad, and I am really upset, because I work on the farm alone," Wanpen told reporters. "My husband has been staying home because of his illness for many years now, and it costs so much to farm these days." She estimated that a new water pump will cost between 20,000 and  30,000 baht.

Toi Decha, another rice farmer at Lai Mue See village, said it was the first time in years that a water pump had been stolen.

"It happened sometimes, but that was really long time ago," Toi said. "Now that my neighbor had her Kubota stolen, I cannot leave my pump in the farm on its own. As soon as I finished pumping water, I will have to carry it home, or have someone watch over it." 

Police said they are investigating the incident. 

The wheel left  that used to hold up Wanpen's water pipe in Pitsanulok, 20 July 2015.

Nearly half of Thailand’s 77 provinces have suffered from a severe drought this season. The Department of Disaster Relief and Prevention announced today that recent rains have eased the situation, with the number of drought-inflicted provinces now down to nine. Those provinces include Pitsanulok, Nan, Nakhon Ratchasima, Phrae, Chonburi, Sukhotai, Pathum Thani, Pichit, and Phetchabun. 

The drought, which is the severest in the last 30 years in some districts, is particularly devastating for rural rice farmers, many of whom rely on loans to cultivate their crops and are trapped in annual cycles of debt. 

PATTANI — A suspected militant was arrested by Thai authorities in a raid on a house in the southern border province of Pattani early this morning.

Soldiers and policemen surrounded the riverside house in Nong Chik district at around 3am after learning that a Muslim insurgent named Seri Wamamu was hiding inside, police said.

According to police, people inside the house opened fire as the officers approached, prompting the raid team to shoot back. After surrounding the house for several hours, the team entered at 7am to find three assault rifles and a 51-year-old man named Sama-ae Salae. Sama-ae was arrested and sent to an army camp for questioning.

Police said they saw two other gunmen jump into the river behind the house and swim away from the scene. No injuries have been reported.

Military divers from a nearby army base have been dispatched to search for the two suspected militants in the area. 

One of the M-16 rifles found inside the house was reported stolen during a gun battle between soldiers and separatists in Pattani province on 28 April 2004, while the identification numbers of the two other weapons were obscured, police said.

More than 80,000 security officers are stationed in the region, known as the Deep South, to quell the protracted insurgency waged by Islamic separatists seeking to secede the provinces of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat, which were annexed by Thailand in the early 20th century.

At least 6,000 people – mostly civilians – have been killed since the latest wave of secessionist violence broke out in January 2004, according to data compiled by human rights groups. 

Although a majority of the victims have been killed in bombings and shootings staged by suspected insurgents, Thai authorities have also been criticized for committing excessive violence and human rights abuses in the region, which has been governed under martial law for more than nine years.

In April, security officers in Pattani shot and killed four men who an independent committee later determined were unrelated to the insurgency. Thai police initially told the media the men were active, armed insurgents.

Yesterday, a 27-year-old ranger stationed in Narathiwat was assassinated while he was riding a motorcycle, police said. Police said the believe local insurgents were behind the shooting.