Egypt ranks the most favoured destination for Thai Muslim students
The arrest of five Thai students by Pakistani officials as they were about to board a THAI flight for Bangkok on June 8 at Lahore international airport after one of them tried to smuggle a handgun represents a wakeup call for Thai security officials to increase their attention on Thai Muslim students from southern border provinces who went abroad to further Islamic studies in Muslim countries.
The Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre recently released information for 2014 about the number of students studying Islam and the countries of their choices. According to the information, Egypt is the most favoured destination for most Thai students followed by Malaysia and Indonesia.
Full details of the information are as follows: Egypt, 2,500 students; Malaysia, 1,800 students mainly in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Kota Baru; Indonesia, 1,000; Jordan, 680 students; India, 300 students; Sudan, 200 students; Pakistan, 168 students; Yemen, 131 students; South Africa, 123 students; Saudi Arabia, 117 students; Turkey, 90 students; United Arab Emirates, 50 students; Morocco, 48 students; Iran, 44 students; Kuwait, 37 students; Qatar, 22 students; Syria, 17 students; Brunei, 15 students; Oman, 11 students; Bangladesh, 9 students; Bahrain, 8 and other countries, 200-500 students.
Security officials said that most students from the three southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat preferred to further their Islamic studies in Pakistan because of low expenditure, lax controls and easily accessible. A student with a tourist visa can apply for study.
One Thai student who is currently studying in Karachi said that guns are easily available and can be easily bought like any other commodities in Pakistan, particularly in the border provinces close to Afghanistan. He said that school guards armed with AK47 assault rifles or students carrying guns to schools are quite normal.
Security officials admitted they had no idea how many Thai students went for arms training at training camps in Pakistan, saying even their school administrators didn’t know because the students went themselves without notifying their teachers.
As for the five Thai students arrested in Pakistan for attempting to smuggle a handgun on board a THAI flight, four of them have been cleared of the charges but they are still held in custody due to technical problem regarding their papers.
The Thai Foreign Ministry has been trying to coordinate with its Pakistani counterpart to help the four students whom Pakistani officials said they would be freed pretty soon except for the fifth student from Pattani who allegedly owns the handgun.