Editing Death squad (section)

==== Thailand ====
During the [[Cold War]], in the short period of democracy in Thailand after the [[1973 Thai popular uprising]] (1973–1976), three right-wing paramilitary groups, [[Nawaphon]], [[Red Gaurs]], and [[Village Scouts]] were founded and supported by [[Internal Security Operations Command]] and [[Border Patrol Police]] to promote national unity, loyalty to [[Thai royal family]], and [[anti-communism]]. They were also heavily funded and backed by the [[United States]] government and were under the patronage of the royal family themselves. Among their ranks were former soldiers, veterans of the [[Vietnam War]], former mercenaries in Laos, and violent vocational students.

These groups were first employed to counter protests of the pro-democracy and left-wing students movement, attacking them with firearms and grenades. When the ideological conflict escalated, they started assassinating labor and peasants union officials and progressive politicians, the most famous was Dr. [[Boonsanong Punyodyana]], the general secretary of the [[Socialist Party of Thailand]]. The conflict reached its peak with the [[Thammasat University massacre]] in 1976, which the [[Royal Thai Armed Forces]] and [[Royal Thai Police]], supported by the three aforementioned paramilitary groups, stormed [[Thammasat University]] and [[6 October 1976 massacre|shot mostly unarmed student protesters indiscriminately]], resulting in at least 46 deaths. A military coup was staged later in the same day. During the military rule, the paramilitary groups' popularity diminished.

In contemporary Thailand, many [[Human rights in Thailand#Deaths relating to the 2003 war on drugs|extrajudicial killings occurred during the 2003 anti-drug effort]] of Thailand's prime minister [[Thaksin Shinawatra]] were attributed to government-sponsored death squads. Rumors still persist that there is collusion between the government, rogue military officers and radical right wing/anti-drugs death squads, with both Muslim<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/thai/articles/20070214.aspx |title=Thailand: Death Squads and Roadside Bombs |publisher=Strategypage.com |access-date=13 November 2011 |archive-date=21 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121105940/http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/thai/articles/20070214.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Buddhist]]{{Citation needed|date=February 2013}} sectarian death squads still operating in the South of the country.