Teacher shot dead, 4 wounded in blast in Thai south

The Straits Times, February 14, 2007

YALA (Thailand) - A teacher was shot dead early on Wednesday while four soldiers were wounded in a roadside bomb attack by suspected separatist militants in Thailand's Muslim south, police said.

The 30-year-old part-time teacher was gunned down in Yala, one of three Muslim-majority provinces where a separatist insurgency has raged for three years.

Meanwhile, four soldiers who were escorting teachers to school in another part of the province were wounded when a 20-kilogram roadside bomb exploded under their vehicle, police said.

The bomb was detonated by a trip wire, and the explosion left a crater three metres wide and two meters deep, police said.

Teachers are frequently targets of attack because militants view them as symbols of Bangkok's effort to impose Buddhist Thai culture on the region.

Violence along Thailand's southern border with Malaysia has surged since the military seized power in Bangkok in a bloodless coup in September.

Army-installed Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has launched a raft of peace initiatives that have yet to produce tangible results.

General Surayud on Tuesday criticised Thailand's junta leader, General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, for failing to do enough to improve security in the region.

The new government has succeeded in improving relations with Thailand's mainly Muslim neighbour Malaysia, which offered Tuesday to mediate with the insurgents.

Officials are still unclear on the identity and exact demands of the militants, who never claim responsibility for attacks. -- AFP