Our Journey Through The "Danger Zone"

We spent Wednesday night in Kota Bahru. This time we found a great, newly opened little guesthouse. I mean, it was ok. The owner was really nice and helpful and there were all kinds of DVD's to watch, which means I got some real relaxation time on the couch. And that hasn't happened in a long time, so I was happy.

The guy at the guesthouse asked us where we were headed. We said Thailand. Kota Bahru is really close to one of the Malaysia/Thai borders (there are three altogether) so it was much easier for us to cross over at this border after spending time in the Perhentians. That being said, Southern Thailand has been in a state of emergency for some time. We were fully aware of this and had discussed the border crossing with every backpacker we met who had gone that way. Every backpacker said the same thing: lots of soldiers with guns, and no problems whatsoever.

I remained unconvinced. Lonely Planet had warnings about the area in their guidebook and the Canadian government website (which one should never read if they ever want to travel ANYWHERE because there are warnings about every country) said that travel through the area should be avoided at all costs. The supposed "terrorists" (really, they are Muslim separatists who have a huge beef with Thai Buddhists) have never directly targetted tourists as they have no problems with them, but being in the wrong place at the wrong time has seen a few Canadians shot in past years. The same goes for Halifax, or Toronto. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time can really suck.

So, taking the word of allll the other backpackers who have crossed the border here already (and because we really had no other choice in the matter), we got up early Thursday morning, had a quick breakfast and boarded a bus to the border- about an hours drive away.

You can tell you're reaching the border immediately, simply due to the army's presence- on both sides of the border. There have been problems at this particular border in the past and both sides were heavily guarded as a result. As we got off the bus, we sudden;y heard all kinds of sirens. Later, Pat would tell me he cursed under his breath as soon as he heard them, because he knew I would be difficult enough to get across the border. As we watched all the "Bomba Squad" trucks race past, I stood firmly and told Pat we were NOT going across this border today. No way.

Well, Pat put his foot down and practically dragged me across the border. And I was glad he did. It was only a drill, and there was noone threatening our safety. As we crossed over into Thailand, the number of men in khaki with large guns drastically increased. We got through the border with no problem and made our way to the train station. The number of soldiers with large guns increased even more! The train was full, so we found a minibus to take us to the city of Hat Yai, where we could get another minibus to Krabi and out of the conflict zone. I was still nervous but I didn't have to be.

About every few kilometres there were blockades set up to slow vehicles down as soldiers checked inside (with very large guns). After awhile I began to feel very well protected, and of course we made it to Krabi without even a scratch. The food here is amazing.

The "conflict" in Southern Thailand is rarely brought up on the news, but over 2000 people have been killed- both by these "terrorists" on the Muslim side and by Thai soldiers. While the separatists have never targetted innocent civilians in the past, when the military coup happened a few years ago the government took a verrrry heavy handed approch to the conflict- which included brutally killing over a hundred young men found with machetes and strangling another 70 soon after. Thing escalated after this, and the separatists began more indiscriminate acts of violence, stating that "they would kill all Thai Buddhists".

It's a very sad situation. And it's taking place in a very beautiful part of Thailand, which rich culture. I hope some peace comes to the area someday. I'm glad we went through there, even if we weren't really supposed to.