The uprising was a disaster.
"The reason 108 people were killed was because the 108 believed that they would be invincible," he said.
Abdullah saw pictures of one of his friends lying dead after the army assault on the ancient Krue Se mosque, the spiritual home of Muslims fighting for an independent homeland in the south.
Soh disappeared for a while, said Abdullah, but he eventually returned with new tactics. The 40-day incantation did not work; Soh gave Abdullah a handgun and orders to kill a soldier. With an accomplice, he lay in wait for a week before spotting a couple of soldiers arriving at a market by motorbike.
Abdullah, riding motorbike pillion, followed them and opened fire hitting one soldier in the back, killing him instantly before swinging around to finish off the second soldier who had fallen from his vehicle.
Instead the uninjured soldier fired back, hitting him three times.
"My friend just drove off. I was in a lot of pain and I just remember someone kicking me in the face."
Feeling betrayed by the movement and carefully groomed by the Army, Abdullah has rejected the militants and given the military details about his former comrades, although Soh and the few others he knew have all fled.
The military said the militants would now kill him if they could, but despite praising his "brave" actions, Abdullah still faces court for the killing of the soldier. He regrets it, but still supports the idea of an independent southern Thailand under traditional Islamic law. He has little idea what his own future holds.
"I just want to grow vegetables," he said.
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