CULTURE
Safe From Southern Unrest
By Bestofkolanta.com
May 1, 2006, 12:31

International media and governments paint a picture of the troubles in "South Thailand" -- a very large geographical region covering 14 provinces -- using a very small brush. Southern provinces such as Phuket and Krabi, where no religious or ethnic unrest exists, are 4 to 6 hours travel (over a mountain range) away from the problem areas.

The problems are confined to the lowest three provinces closest to Malaysia, in a 30 year old-conflict that has never involved any actions against tourists.

The alienation caused by the central government's policies has been the source of a decades-old separatist struggle, which subsided after an amnesty in the late 1980s before exploding with the army arsenal raid in January 2004. The military also crushed pro-democracy uprisings in 1973, 1976 and 1991.

So rest assured, you're quite safe on our island paradise.

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