One dead after jail riot

Pattani prison commander Awuth Suwanno said the riot started after Muslim inmates accused Phanuwat Khong-in, a Buddhist inmate appointed an assistant to prison guards of treating them unfairly and not complying with halal regulations in the prison kitchen.

Small fights occurred and continued sporadically before the death of Phanuwat was reported and inmates Wayu Engchuan and Sak Kai, a Burmese, were injured, Awuth said. There are no details on who attacked the three men.

Yesterday's riot was the third in a month after two incidents at Narathiwat prison in August because of overcrowding. The Pattani prison has capacity for 900 inmates but has had more than 1,300 for many years.

Confrontations continued all day after the fights in the morning but rather in a non-violent way, with groups of rival inmates separating each other, and those not involved sitting in the middle of the main lawn, Awuth said.

The situation improved but had not returned to normal at press time last night, after authorities and prison managers agreed to seven demands. These included appointing Muslim inmates as kitchen hands, guard assistants and clerks, plus the transfer of three Buddhist inmates and a few others to areas where there are no Muslim prisoners.

Awuth said there were 19 inmates transferred from Narathiwat prison and 15 from Yala prison, who would be questioned on whether they planned yesterday's riot or influenced inmates to stage it.

Security sources said warnings that people may try to stir up trouble using race and religion as motives had been sent to the local prisons but corrections officials had not heeded the warnings.