South schools reopen but fears linger

Somchai Samart

The Nation

Fourth army area chied vows to protect teachers

PATTANI: -- Schools in the deep South reopen today, though teachers still feel they are being targeted by insurgents.

With students to tend to, teachers can only hope that the new set of security measures will actually boost their safety in the violence-plagued region.

"We will see whether the improved safety measures can protect teachers' lives," Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre (SBPAC) chair Boonsom Thongsriprai said yesterday.

He met with Fourth Army Area chief Lt-General Udomchai Thammasarorach, Deputy Education Minister Sermsak Pongpanich and SBPAC secretary-general Tawee Sodsong in Pattani last Friday to discuss how to better protect teachers.

More than 900 schools in the southern border provinces closed down for two days last week in the wake of violent attacks on teachers.

According to Boonsom, about 80 per cent of attacked teachers are Buddhists. The deep South is predominantly Muslim.

Udomchai said insurgents targeted teachers with the aim of terrorising locals and disrupting the development of the region.

He said if local children did not receive an education, insurgents would find it easier to mislead them.

"We will do our best to protect teachers," he said.

Authorities have agreed to improve safety measures for teachers, who are already escorted to and from work by security teams.

Among the improved measures is that teachers will know exactly who will be providing them with the security escort. This measure will remove the risk of insurgents disguising themselves as soldiers and attacking unsuspecting teachers.

"Moreover, soldiers must be ready to respond to requests for help from teachers round the clock," Boonsom said.

He added that teachers would be advised to strictly follow safety rules. For example, he said they must be on time for their security escorts and avoid being complacent.

"Don't ever think that you are safe just because you have worked in the region for a long time. Don't take any risks," he warned teachers.

Boonsom said teachers should also inform security officials when conducting non-school related activities.

In a related development, police and soldiers rushed to a bridge in Moo 7, tambon Riang, in Narathiwat province's Rusoh district, yesterday morning in response to a report that an iron box stuffed with explosives had been found.

According to the report, the explosives weighed around 10 kilograms. However, the team did not find anything unusual at the bridge or in the nearby area.

Security officials believe the insurgents must have become aware that their bomb had been discovered and retrieved it for later use.

-- The Nation 2012-12-17

"We will do our best to protect teachers he said"

Doesn't sound to reassuring.

I would have thought a statement along the lines of " we have implemented steps to ensure the safety and protection of teachers" would instill a bit more confidence.

they took a page right out of Thaksins work book.

"

"He said if local children did not receive an education, insurgents would find it easier to mislead them."

Not sure what is going on to stop them first Charlem is in charge then Yingluck is going down there now a bunch of military brass are arranging things.

Is any thing really being done.

They have announced the times that they will be transporting the teachers makes it easier to plan a bomb.

All schools in Thailand’s southernmost provinces reopen normally

By Digital Media

YALA, Dec 17 -- All schools in Thailand’s three southernmost provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala as well as four districts of Songkhla reopen normally amid tight security and worry on the part of teachers who have a heightened sense of having become prime targets for attack.

The Malaysian border provinces have been the scene or a renewed low-level insurgency since 1994.

In Yala, schools that closed December 13-14 by resolution of the Federation of Teachers in Three Southern Provinces have reopened, while joint military and police operations are providing security around the clock.

The security measures now cover school premises as well as outside, at the demand of the teachers federation to foster confidence among educators who work in the violence plagued southern border provinces.

Meanwhile, 125 schools in four border districts of Songkhla -- Chana, Thepha, Na Thawi and Saba Yoi -- are also reopened as students and teachers came to school in the early morning.

The schools were closed Thursday and Friday to permit security agencies to assess their operations in providing teacher protection, after two teachers were killed when insurgents invaded a school lunchroom at Baan Bango School in Mayo district on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra made an inspection trip to Pattani on Thursday and listened to concerns of educators from several southern provinces. Teachers demanded better security measures following the murder of several of their colleagues and local residents in the past few weeks.

Ms Yingluck promised to provide them full welfare, risk and rehabilitation payments. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-12-17

Ms Yingluck promised to provide them full welfare, risk and rehabilitation payments. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-12-17

How much to pay for a teacher's life, or for a leg or a eye? Same Hospital where she would going? She promise?

The last shirt, don't have pockets...

To reassure teachers that they are safe, k. Chalerm is volunteering to teach classes in the southern provinces one day each week. He will give lectures on Ethics and History Revision.

Edited December 17, 201213 yr by OzMick

I see in TOPS latest catalog, a request for money to buy the troops in the south bullet-proof vests.

Strange indeed.