Pattani villagers plead with troops to stay
Residents of three villages in the deep South province of Pattani gathered in front of a military camp in neighbouring Yala province yesterday to demand that the military drop its plan to pull out a unit of troops providing security in their area.
Some 200 people from the villages in Pattani’s Panare district lodged a petition with Fourth Army Region Commander Udomchai Thamsarorat urging him to continue posting a unit of rangers at Wat Mahingsaram school in the district.
Villager Kriang Promchan said residents of Ban Yai village had been told that the troops would be removed. The villagers need the soldiers’ protection and want the authorities to review the decision, Kriang said.
Jintana Pakrak, another villager, said residents of the three villages have felt unsafe since learning that authorities planned to move the troops out of the area.
A group of about 10 people led by Sil Tanthapong, chief of Kok Krabue Tambon Administrative Organisation, held a brief meeting with Attadej Mathanom, deputy chief of staff of the Internal Security Operation Command’s Fourth Region, in an effort to come to some sort of security arrangement. They were unable to reach a clear solution, however, and the villagers agreed to return home after the meeting.
Violence has become a near-daily occurrence in the deep South since January 2004, killing about 5,000 people since then. Most of the victims have been civilians, including many teachers.
The latest attack on teachers took place Thursday in Narathiwat’s Yi-ngor district, when gunmen killed Waroon Thong-eiad, assistant director of Romklao School, and injured her husband, school director Sakul Thong-eiad.
Boonsom Thongsriplai, chairperson of the Teacher Federation in the three southernmost provinces, said educators feel vulnerable after sustaining terrible losses this year. Since January 2004, 148 teachers have been killed, he said. He urged the authorities to do more to protect teachers.
