UNREST INTERNATIONALIZED

131 Thai Muslims have fled to Malaysia seeking shelter claiming intimidation by Thai security forces. Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra says some of the Thais are "militants in disguise" who are "trying every possible way to internationalize the unrest issue." Meanwhile, the situation in southern Thailand continues to deteriorate:

In the past week, a series of bomb explosions and shootings in the south killed three people and wounded more than 20 others. Another bomb blast on Friday wounded three soldiers, a Buddhist monk and a villager.

Thai authorities and foreign security analysts believe the violence in the south is the work of local ethnic Malay and Muslim militants. Thailand's neighbors and Western allies fear that the insurgency, if not soon curbed, will spread to a major city or tourist destination and will start to involve regional or Middle East-based terrorist groups.

Over 850 people have been killed in the region since the start of 2004. I could be wrong but there seems to be some sort of connection between Islam and violence.