The Thai New Year festival of Songkran occurs April 12-15, and security forces are on high alert in the far south of the country because of several attacks by Islamic separatists since January. Some 55 people have been killed this year in the provinces near the Malaysian border, mostly security or government officials, but a blast in the border town of Sungai Kolok March 27 injured 28 civilians, many of them Malaysian tourists. Malaysia’s prime minister warned citizens to avoid crossing the border into Thailand, and Thai officials are doing everything possible to prevent any large-scale attacks during the festival. Of grave concern is the recent theft of 1.4 tons of explosives from a quarry in Yala province. Martial law remains in force in the three southern provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala. Songkran is celebrated by sprinkling water on elders in a show of respect, but usually becomes an all-out water fight with anyone on the street fair game. As such, any disturbance might be easy to disguise.
