Solutions sought to protect teachers
Officials inspect the site of an explosion in Narathiwat’s Rangae district yesterday after a bomb attack and ambush of 18 soldiers on patrol.
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Southern Border Provinces Development Centre chief Pranai Suwannarat yesterday rushed to call a meeting with school executives in the deep South, to seek solutions to protect teachers from violence.
More than 1,000 state-run schools in the provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat stayed closed yesterday amid safety concerns. Some 100 schools in Narathiwat remained open after Pairat Saengthong, director of the province's Education Zone 1, said they were not in a risky area. The Teachers' Federation had earlier recommended that state-run schools in the restive region cease operations, after militants brutally attacked teachers. More than 80 Islamic religious schools in Pattani yesterday decided to close their doors for two days in a show of solidarity with the state schools. The religious schools faced no threat of violence, said Islamic Religious Schools' Association secretary Abdulrohni Kahama. Violence has rocked this predominantly Muslim region since January 4, 2004, and killed about 1,800 people. Meanwhile, violence continued yesterday in Narathiwat province, as an explosion and ambush injured three soldiers. The attack took place at about 10am as a group of 18 soldiers travelling in a truck and on three motorbikes were on patrol in Rangae district. The bomb hurt soldiers on the truck, while militants hiding along the roadside opened fire on six soldiers on the motorbikes some 20 metres away. No one was injured in the 10-minute exchange of gunfire.
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