Muslims Attack Teachers in Thailand

(Bangkok) For the fourth time this year, Muslims have attacked Buddhist teachers in far south Thailand.

From TheStar.com.my:

More than 100 government schools in Thailand's rebellious Muslim far south were closed on Monday after villagers abducted and beat two women Buddhist teachers, leaving one in a coma, officials said. The attack prompted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to call another urgent meeting with top security officials on how to protect teachers, a prime target in a two-year separatist insurgency in which more than 1,300 people have been killed.

Although Thailand is primarily Buddhist, the three far-southern provinces adjacent to Malaysia are largely Muslim.

"They are doing everything they can to drive minority Buddhists out," said Tawat Sae-ham, head of a teachers' union in neighbouring Narathiwat province, where an angry mob took two Buddhist teachers from a school on Friday.

The teachers were dragged from the school and held hostage by masked men.

The attackers demanded the release of two Muslim men being held on suspicion of murder. When authorities refused to release the men, the teachers were beaten, leaving one, newly graduated Juling Ponggunmul, in a coma.

Teachers and witnesses said it took police and troops three hours to reach the village to help the teachers, but security personnel said they got there as fast as they could on roads on which spikes had been scattered.

The latest attacks are part of the ongoing campaign of violence as Muslims attempt to separate themselves from Buddist Thailand. The government claims to be making progress on improving security, however, Sunai Phasuk of Human Rights Watch says the continued high level of violence indicates otherwise. In fact, it's believed that unchecked abuses by government security forces have increased fear and alienation in the region.