Meeting with Fishing Community in Thai Conflict Zone

The Peace Fellows met with a community at the fishing village, Tan Yong Pao. At the village, we got a briefing from a Malay-Muslim advocacy group known as the Academy of Pattai Raya for Peace and Development, Kampung Damai Network. This fishing village was searched 300 times since 2004 - and according to our military tender, bomb making materials were found in this village. The chief of the village gave us a tour of the town, and we were able to see local women gathering shrimp from nets and the local mosque. We were also shown a house that was shot at by the military during one of the raids. I met a Mohamed LNU (Last Name Unknown) who asked if I was from Afghanistan (some people say I look Patan from Northern Pakistan), I said no, that I had another colleague, Maqsood from Afghanistan and introduced them (see man on left of photo with the turban). I also met another man named Shukri Aquya, a Muslim-Malay who said he now only tries to speak Malay. Then I met a woman Nim, who was very curious but cautious about the visitors, asking us where we were from. All the community leadership seemed well versed in conflict dialogue processes and were active in getting grants for their community through ASEAN and the World Bank. Overall, it was a very interesting look at a community in the middle of the conflict in the deep south of Thailand.