 The massacre was probably ordered by the government's Communist Suppression Operations Command (CSOC).It was only one example "of a pattern of widespread abuse of power by the army and enforcement agencies" during the brutal anti-communist operations of 1971–1973 that took an official death toll of 3,008 civilians throughout the country (while unofficial estimates are between 1,000 and 3,000 in Phatthalung Province alone).Those killed were accused of working with the Communist Party of Thailand.