The government's handling of these outstanding cases and a few prominent others, such as the forced disappearance of Muslim human rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit and the Krue Se mosque attack, has been viewed with extreme mistrust and suspicion by local Muslims in general that they are denied basic justice. In the Tak Bai case, the court ruled that the victims died of suffocation and none of the military officers charged were held accountable
The last time Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva visited the violence-plagued far South was on December 9, 2009 when he was accompanied by his visiting Malaysian counterpart, Najib Razak. But the working trip was marred by a spate of bombings and shootings believed to be perpetrated by radical militants, leaving two officials and one female civilian dead and many more injured.
Despite the violence, the two prime ministers managed to preside over the opening of a friendship bridge in Narathiwat and to visit a village of widows, also in the same province. It was, however, very disappointing that Mr Abhisit decided to cut short the trip; he flew back to Bangkok that afternoon in order to be able to attend the official opening of the SEA Games in Vientiane in the evening, leaving Mr Najib to be taken care of by Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban for the rest of the planned itinerary.
For seasoned observers, Mr Abhisit's last visit to the region, specifically Narathiwat, could hardly be described as an achievement that would contribute to the improvement of the situation in the far South. If he is not satisfied with the performance of authorities concerned in their handling of the situation down there, as he recently admitted, then, he too might be partly held accountable for their failure, in his capacity as the government leader.
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