The sad tale of an ageing couple in the deep South
By Abdullah Wangni
The seemingly endless violence in the restive deep South has not only taken a heavy toll on officials and civilians alike, but has also created an atmosphere of mistrust between Muslims and Buddhists in several communities.
The following is a story of an aging Buddhist couple, 82-year old Uncle On Boonmee and his 72-year old wife, Auntie Cham, who has spent almost their entire lives living in the midst of their Muslim neighbours in Tambon Na Kate, Kok Po district of Pattani.
A former kamnan of Tambon Na Kate, Uncle On recalled that he used to live happily and peacefully with his children and grandchildren in the same neighbourhood with their neighbours who are mostly Muslims. He said that Kok Po district was peaceful until the insurgents’ raid of an armoury in Narathiwat on January 4, 2004, when the situation started to change for worse.
Uncle On’s daughter-in-law was gunned down one day as she was leaving the house to tap rubber latex at a rubber plantation. Not long afterward, his nephew who worked as an employee of the government’s job creation project was also shot dead in the house by gunmen.
Recalling the fatal incident, Uncle On said he heard the gunshots but dared not leave the house to find out what happened until a neighbour showed up at his house and told him that the victim was his nephew.
“I was shocked that I almost fell to the floor although it was not the first time that someone in my family was killed,” said Uncle On, adding that he hoped peace would, one day, return to the region “but it has not..
He disclosed that he was told by some people to just pack and leave for his own safety but he refused “because this is my birthplace.” “Besides, you can just fall dead anywhere when the time comes, therefore, I choose to die here at my birthplace rather than running away from the problem,” he said.
Uncle On many people in his neighbourhood had very little option. “They cannot escape because there is no where to run to.” Except for the aging couple, a niece and her husband plus a granddaughter, the rest of his expanded family had either left or had been killed.
While admitting that financial help for the victims’ families from the state was necessary, Uncle On said that what the affected families had wanted most was that the officials should pay more regular visits to the affected people so that they would not feel like being abandoned.
Uncle On’s big house which used to accommodate his expanded famil and to play host to his Buddhist and Muslim neighbours is now almost deserted. “Almost a decade ago, there were many visitors to our house. It was a lot of fun especially during the festive season. Now, most of them have disappeared especially my Muslim neighbours who have never paid even a single visit,” said the old man.
He, however, admitted that he didn’t think the Muslims were responsible for the deaths of his family members “because we used to live like brothers and sisters and we used to share food with each other.” He added that his Muslim neighbours had occasionally warned him to be more cautious as he might be harmed or killed by suspected insurgents.
Uncle On suspected that the surge of violence in the restive region might be caused by conflict of interests over drug trafficking and politics rather than insurgency.
Although the couple still owns about ten rai of rubber plantation which generates a little more than 10,000 baht in monthly income, the couple admitted that the income was barely enough to feed the whole family which includes a couple of orphaned grandchildren.
Meanwhile, Auntie Cham who is suffering from chronic coughing admitted that she felt very discouraged and demoralized by the worsening situation.
“Throughout my life, I have never hurted anybody, never taken advantage of anybody even once. Why do I have to suffer from such a situation? Why they have to kill?” she asked.
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