Associated Press
2011-01-17Thailand's prime minister attended the funeral of a teacher killed by gunmen in the insurgency-plagued south, telling the dead man's colleagues Monday he is dedicated to ending the seven-year Islamist rebellion that has made them targets.
The 38-year-old math teacher was shot dead Saturday as he rode his motorcycle home from his school in Pattani province. His assailants are not known, but teachers have been past targets of the region's Islamist separatists.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva gave 590,000 baht ($19,000) to the victim's family after a speech praising teachers for their commitment and reassuring them that the government "will take good care" of them. Many schools are already guarded by soldiers, who also lead convoys of teachers.
More than 4,300 people have been killed in the insurgency since January 2004. A teachers' association says 138 victims were teachers.
The unrest _ which includes drive-by shootings and bombings _ is believed intended to frighten Buddhist residents into leaving the southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.
The insurgents have not issued specific demands but are generally believed to be fighting to carve out an independent Islamic state in the three provinces, which have a Muslim majority in predominantly Buddhist Thailand.
While many in the south do not support the rebels, there is a widespread feeling among Muslims that they are treated as second-class citizens by Thai authorities, who are mostly Buddhist.
The government claims to have made progress against the insurgents, whose attacks have generally become more hit-and-run and smaller in scale.
Abhisit's visit, scheduled before the weekend's killing, was intended to highlight the lifting of a long-standing emergency decree in one of the districts of the south. The emergency decree allows the suspension of some civil liberties and gives the military special peace keeping powers. It remains in place for most areas where there have been attacks.
An expert who closely follows the crisis said the root causes of the conflict remain unaddressed.
Most of the vast budget earmarked to curb the unrest has been spent on military projects, strategic planning and more troops, said Srisompob Jitpiromsri, a professor at Pattani's Prince of Songkhla University.
The government has spent about 145 billion baht ($4.7 billion) since 2004 on social, economic and military programs to fight the insurgency, Niphon Bunyamanee, chairman of the House of Representative's Sub-Commission on Southern Budget Monitoring said Monday.
Srisompob contended that the flow of funds has failed to improve the lives of the people in the three southernmost provinces, whose incomes and the quality of life remains lower than in other regions of Thailand, he said.
Increasing the military presence and curbing civil liberties was a trade-off that cut violence but failed to win residents' support, he added.
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