About 12,000 nurses in the provinces will receive further training to enhance their capacity to provide services, said Public Health Minister Dr Mongkol na Songkhla.

Nearly 700 health volunteers will be selected to study to become assistants to nurses and doctors at health centres and medical centres.

"This should help to improve access to healthcare services, particularly in those areas where there is not a single healthcare worker available," Mongkol said.

Canada's donation cannot be made directly to the ministry because of a letter by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra announcing that Thailand would not accept financial aid from other countries.

Mongkol said the contribution would be made through the National Health Foundation instead. "If we waited for an amendment to Thaksin's letter, it could take as long as six months," he said.

Denis Comeau, Canadian Ambassador to Thailand, said the aid would be the first Canada had given to the health sector in the South. "We have had an interest in the situation in the South for some time because it's a troubled region. It's a region that needs as much care and assistance as possible," said Comeau.

Canada once had had similar issues from which the country had learned, he said, adding that about 600,000 Canadians were Muslims.

"We are concerned about the divide between the Muslim world and the rest of the world," Comeau said. "We are trying to bridge those differences and to make people understand each other."

In an associated project, the Cabinet had previously approved the ministry's proposal to provide 3,000 more nurses for the three southernmost provinces.

The region has long had a shortage of medical and healthcare personnel, largely due to the persistent violence.

Arthit Khwankhom

The Nation