In Thailand the battle lines being drawn between the Thaksin supporters and the current regime run not only through businesses and civil society, but also through the military and police forces. The first spate of violence broke out in Bangkok with the New Year's bombings. The problems elsewhere in Southeast Asia will only add to the allure of Vietnam, the region's newest WTO member. Hanoi has addressed many of the problems that undermined its earlier attempts at opening economically and attracting foreign investments. With FDI stagnating in China, and places such as Thailand and the Philippines facing domestic political and social troubles, Vietnam becomes the region's darling. This will play into Vietnam's parliamentary and presidential elections, which will not be too contentious but instead will reflect the continued focus on anti-corruption and economic modernization.
The problems elsewhere in Southeast Asia will only add to the allure of Vietnam, the region's newest WTO member. Hanoi has addressed many of the problems that undermined its earlier attempts at opening economically and attracting foreign investments. With FDI stagnating in China, and places such as Thailand and the Philippines facing domestic political and social troubles, Vietnam becomes the region's darling. This will play into Vietnam 's parliamentary and presidential elections, which will not be too contentious but instead will reflect the continued focus on anti-corruption and economic modernization.
More than 100 people were injured July 22 at an anti-government protest in Bangkok, Thailand, when demonstrators began throwing bottles and other objects at security forces. The protest, sponsored by the United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), drew about 5,000 demonstrators. Previous rallies in Bangkok organized by the UDD have been peaceful. The rally took place outside the residence of Prem Tinsulanonda, president of King Bhumibol Adulyadej's Privy Council, whom the UDD accused of instigating the September 2006 coup that ousted then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The UDD has been trying mightily to draw support and was hoping to use the protest to bolster existing criticism against the regime.
Instead of the beginning of a move toward more violent protests in the Thai capital, this particular outbreak more likely was a slip-up by police, who had too few officers on the ground. The protesters were able to take advantage of the inadequate security at barriers, causing the violence to escalate.
Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratglin, the leader of the Thai army and a strong promoter of the use of emergency decrees, said the situation is under control and there is not a need to take more severe measures such as declaring a state of emergency. His statement demonstrates the Thai government's confidence that the protest, violent though it was, poses no threat. Rather, it gives the regime a fresh excuse to crack down harder on Thaksin supporters. Neither the members of the dissolved Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party who have aligned with new parties nor the members of the new TRT who are attempting to restore the party to power will benefit from the protest; the regime's crackdown will only hurt the efforts of each group.
The July 22 protest does not indicate a major uprising or increasing tensions in Bangkok. Though demonstrations are planned in the run up to the elections and constitutional referendum, the latest protest's violence does not reflect the general public's mood. Instead, the protest was a poorly thought-out attempt by Thaksin devotees to create trouble for the regime and a last-ditch effort to express their political grudges.
Reuters reported on August 28, 2007, that southern Thai separatist insurgents are prepared to continue their armed struggle for an independent Muslim homeland for another five years before they contemplate talks with Bangkok, a leading rights group said yesterday. In a 104-page report on the Muslimlmajority deep South where 2,400 people have been killed in the last four years, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the BRN -Coordinate group that appears, to mastermind the unrest had more than 7,000 "youth members". New York-based HRW said it had made rare contact with members of the BRN" Coordinate, which has never made its aims public, and been 'told the group had "no plans to give up ,the armed struggle for Pattani Darulsalam". Pattani is the name of the independent sultanate, annexed by predominantly Buddhist Thailand a century ago. Along with Narathiwat and Yala, Pattani is one of the three provinces racked by the daily shootings, bombings, machete attacks and beheadings that began with a well-organized raid on an army barracks in January 2004.

Recently, a member of Hizbul Mujahideen founded by the head of the Jamaat ut-Dawa in Kashmir threw a grenade into a mosque compound in Kashmir targeting a preacher of the the Barelvi strand of Islam killing 5. Showing the complexity of such religious motivated political fights in S.Asia, within days a close associate the leader of the Hizbul Mujahideen was killed in Lahore. The Jamaat ud-Dawa has released a statement, claiming that Mujahid was killed by three "terrorists". And although it is not certain Pakistan ’s ISI would have been involved, a Kashmir activist in India , soon thereafter admitted to a last months bombing.

A lot of questions remain about 'religious violence' especially, in Asia. For example, three days before the Sept. 19 military coup that ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, six bombs exploded in the city of Hat Yai , in southern Thailand 's Songkhla province, killing four people. Among the dead was a Canadian schoolteacher, the first Westerner known to have died as a result of the ongoing violence in Thailand 's Muslim-dominated south.

As for religious violence as such, it is important to look at what provides the legitimation for the violence. Often used as a tool by political elites, targets are frequently symbols of collective identity and third, rumors, often grotesque ones, playa major role in fomenting violence. Political Religious Violence in Asia P.1:

However, the feeling of humiliation is the most common thread, it is critical to consider the economic, social, and political grievances, as originating causes of religious violence. When religion enters the mix however, emotional resonance of religious narratives, symbols, rituals, and their transcendental frames, makes the violent conflict become less susceptible to negotiation. But acts of terror can also function as "symbolic empowerment" of marginal men. Political Religious Violence in Asia P.2:

While early on we already researched ‘political religions’ like Fascism andCommunism, it should not come as a surprise that ‘religious discourse as such’, also, can empower, engender, or disrupt violence. Political Religious Violence in Asia P.3:

A jihad in Southern Thailand reportedly caused over 1,800 fatalities since October, 2004, as against 3,200 in India 's Jammu & Kashmir during the same period. Hopes that the ouster of the former Prime Minister, Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra, would bring down the temperature and bloodshed have been belied so far. There were reportedly 10 deaths on December 6, 2006, alone. Political Religious Violence in Asia P.4:

Political Extremism in S.Asia P.4: Recently three Christian militants were sentenced, and in a direct connection last year three beheadings. Thus recently: Indonesia and Conclusion.

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