Yala schools won't open till Monday.

Yala schools won't open till Monday.

Security under review after teachers' murders.

POST REPORTERS.

Local education authorities in Yala have decided to shutter 190 schools in the province for another three days after two teachers were killed

and their bodies burned last week. Adinan Pakbara, director of Yala Education Zone 2, said all 190 schools under the supervision of the Office

of the Basic Education Commission (Obec), in both Yala education zones 1 and 2, will open again on Monday, Jan 8.

From yesterday until tomorrow, executives of 190 Obec schools are meeting with local security authorities to discuss ways of revamping

teacher protection and school security plans, Mr Adinan said.

The attempts to beef up security for both teachers and students in the province followed the murder on Dec 29 of the director of Ban Bado

school, Chamnong Chupatpong, 59, and a teacher at the same school, Manu Sornkaew, 52.

They were shot dead in a pick-up truck only 100 metres from the school and their bodies torched with the vehicle in a new and savage twist to

the insurgency.

Mr Adinan said to help students catch up with their lessons before their final examinations over the next two months, all 190 schools will have to

adjust their teaching plans.

For example, when the schools resume their operations, teachers will increase the amount of class time spent on major subjects while reducing

that for minor subjects, he said.

The daily violence continued in Yala and Narathiwat yesterday. Four assailants on two motorcycles shot dead a 70-year-old man, Mayi Kooma,

and his son in law, Madao Ma, 34, in Yala's Bannang Sata district about 12.30 pm yesterday.

Half an hour later, an assailant on a motorcycle attacked Pirom Fueangfoo, an employee of a forest protection centre in Bannang Sata.

However, the man fled the scene after Mr Pirom fired back with his pistol.

Police believe an insurgent group was responsible for both attacks.

In Narathiwat, a prominent local Muslim leader known for his tough stance against extremism was among three people shot dead, police said

yesterday.

Kawee Prachumkayohmas, 55, was shot four times in an ambush late on Tuesday as he left a cemetery where he had been praying during a

religious holiday.

He was the leader of Bacho village in Narathiwat province and was known for his strong opposition against the separatist insurgency, which

started three years ago.

In Narathiwat's Rueso district, border patrol police inspecting railways in the district found two teenage youths trying to remove fishplates from

a part of the railway. The two escaped after they saw the patrol.

At the opening of the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre (SBPAC) in Yala, its director Phranai Suwannarat said he would

emphasise public participation and a peaceful approach to solving the strife in the region.

''We won't react to violence with violence,'' he said, adding that the SBPAC will try to listen to locals' opinions about ongoing problems in the

deep South as much as possible.

Meanwhile, the cabinet has approved a plan to award a special pay rise for 522 state railway employees working in the three southern border

provinces.

Netpreeya Chumchaiyo, assistant to the government spokesman, said the 522 state railway employees will receive a 1% additional pay rise on

top of their 6.5% annual pay rise this year.

The cabinet also agreed to delegate authority for approving future pay rises to the SBPAC, said Ms Netpreeya.BANGKOK POST/AFP.

Bangkok Post
Thursday January 04, 2007