AFP/Bangkok
Thailand’s army chief yesterday urged teachers in the country’s insurgency-racked south to stay at home after 6pm to avoid falling victim to militants as the new school year gets under way.
Nearly 160 teachers and other school staff have been killed during a nine-year-old insurgency that has gripped Thailand’s Muslim-majority deep south, bordering Malaysia.
Recent rounds of peace talks between representatives of the rebels and Thai authorities have failed to stem the violence, leaving teachers fearful that they remain in the firing line as they return to school.
“I ask for your co-operation not to leave your houses after 6pm - it will help reduce violence (against teachers),” General Prayut Chan-O-Cha said in the southern city of Yala, in reply to a teacher who asked if the army could curb attacks on his profession.
Thousands of schools closed temporarily in December in protest at a lack of security for teachers, who are targeted by the militants for their perceived collaboration with the Thai state.