Editing Royal Thai Armed Forces (section)

====South Thailand insurgency (2001–ongoing)====
The ongoing [[South Thailand insurgency|southern insurgency]] had begun in response to Prime Minister [[Plaek Phibunsongkhram]]'s 1944 National Cultural Act, which replaced the use of Malaya in the region's schools with the Thai language and also abolished the local Islamic courts in the three ethnic [[Malay (ethnic group)|Malay]] and [[Muslim]] majority border provinces of [[Yala Province|Yala]], [[Pattani Province|Pattani]], and [[Narathiwat Province|Narathiwat]].<ref>Patani</ref>{{Circular reference|date=January 2018}} However, it had always been on a comparatively small scale. The insurgency intensified in 2001, during the government of Prime Minister [[Thaksin Shinawatra]]. Terrorist attacks were now extended to the ethnic Thai minority in the provinces.<ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/14/asia/AS-GEN-Thailand-Southern-Violence.php Search – Global Edition – The New York Times] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418003338/http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/14/asia/AS-GEN-Thailand-Southern-Violence.php |date=18 April 2009 }}. ''International Herald Tribune'' (29 March 2009). Retrieved on 2012-01-18.</ref> The Royal Thai Armed Forces also went beyond their orders and retaliated with strong armed tactics that only encouraged more violence.<ref>[http://www.janes.com/news/security/countryrisk/jiaa/jiaa071119_1_n.shtml Thailand's counter-insurgency operations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203160713/http://www.janes.com/news/security/countryrisk/jiaa/jiaa071119_1_n.shtml |date=3 December 2008 }}. Janes.com (19 November 2007). Retrieved on 2012-01-18.</ref> By the end of 2012 the conflict had claimed 3,380 lives, including 2,316 civilians, 372 soldiers, 278 police, 250 suspected insurgents, 157 education officials, and seven Buddhist monks. Many of the dead were Muslims themselves, but they had been targeted because of their presumed support of the Thai government.<ref>Data from the (governmental) Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre, cited in [http://www.isranews.org/south-news/scoop/item/18593.html ISRANews] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801083542/http://www.isranews.org/south-news/scoop/item/18593.html |date=1 August 2013 }} report, 4 January 2013</ref>