A Buddhist schoolteacher was shot dead just after the start of a new school term in Thailand's predominantly Muslim south in the latest violence blamed on separatist insurgents, police and officials said today.
The bloodshed in the provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat has left more than 500 people dead this year, and prompted more than 1,000 government-run primary and secondary schools to delay the start of their term by a week.
Most of the schools reopened Monday, though students and teachers have been allowed to go home early if they felt unsafe and some schools are holding just three hours of classes.
The bullet-riddled body of 35-year-old teacher Aroon Penhboon was found late last night in the Thanto district of Yala province, said police Lt Piyawuth Phongbaiboon. "Everyone is living in a state of fear, but education has to go on," said Adinan Bakbara, Yala's provincial education chief. "The atmosphere is not favourable for classes, but we have no choice."
At least 85 Muslims died Oct 25 when security forces dispersed a violent demonstration outside a police station in Narathiwat's Tak Bai district. Some 78 of the victims suffocated or were crushed after they were detained and stacked into army trucks.
The incident sparked outrage among the Muslim community and concerns of a surge in sectarian violence in predominantly Buddhist Thailand.