Regional News

Teaching is a Dangerous Profession in Thailand’s Deep South

Thanya Srilapkhuen, a primary school teacher in southern Thailand

PATTANI – From the doorway of her classroom, Thanya Srilapkhuen, a primary school teacher, can see armed guards in khaki fatigues making their way through a sunny compound. When she looks to the right, the 36-year-old’s eyes settle on a security fortification protecting the entrance to her school. At the checkpoint there are more guards in combat gear, seated behind camouflaged sandbags and rolls of razor wire. They are a reassuring sight, noted Thanya. “We need them here; it is more safe,” she said.

The scene evokes a war front, but it also reveals a mindset in which the presence of armed soldiers and policemen in schools has become a normal part of everyday life. Clearly, people have been shaken by the string of teacher killings here — a bloody sideshow in a small, deadly insurgency that, in its latest form, has raged since 2004 across Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, the three provinces along Thailand’s southern border with Malaysia. Both primary and secondary school teachers have been targeted by shadowy ethnic Malay Muslim rebels as part of a larger separatist struggle with the troops of predominantly Buddhist Thailand. By the end of August, teachers accounted for 175 of the more than 6,000 deaths linked to the unrest. Thanya has borne witness to this grisly spectacle, attending six funerals of friends and colleagues.

Placing armed soldiers and police at school gates is not the only security net that has been cast to protect teachers. A common sight in the early morning in this region of small towns and far-flung villages is a patrol of eight troopers accompanying a group of teachers in a vehicle heading to school. Such patrols dominate military operations here, dotted across the small roads and highways that cut through the terrain of gentle hills and rubber plantations. The 36,000 soldiers in the region are part of a force of 150,000 armed operatives, including rangers and paramilitaries. Most of the soldiers are assigned to protect nearly 16,000 teachers. “Security for teachers occupies a big share of our daily work, because they are soft targets,” Colonel Banphot Phunphian, spokesman for the military’s Internal Security Operations Command, told the Nikkei Asian Review. “It sometimes works out to assigning 2.5 soldiers per teacher for these security operations.”

Unsettling as it is, the targeting of Thai Buddhist teachers, many unarmed (though some have received weapons training) exposes the heart of this conflict. Malay Muslims, the predominant community in Thailand’s deep south, and the country’s largest minority, are aggrieved at their treatment by Bangkok since the three provinces, formerly part of the Muslim kingdom of Pattani, were annexed by Thailand in 1902. Bangkok imposed harsh assimilation policies, forcing the ethnic Malay population to adopt Thai names and give up religious and cultural customs. They were also denied education in the Malay language in public schools. One consequence was that such schools came to be seen by Malay Muslims as symbols of oppression. They then became visible markers in the front line of this ethnic conflict, which has erupted periodically since the 1970s.

Crackdown

The Thai government has sought to fight the insurgency partly by cracking down on Malay Muslims thought to have links with the fighters, including Islamic religious teachers. Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, director of the Cross Cultural Foundation, a local human rights campaign organization, said that about 5,000 people had been detained in southern jails under emergency decrees since 2004, adding that some Muslim teachers had been arrested after the military claimed to find bombs, guns and weapons located in religious schools. In some cases, the arrest of Islamic scholars by the army has prompted retaliatory strikes on Thai teachers.

Runda Kumpulan Kecil, the armed wing of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional-Coordinate, the strongest and most influential of the insurgent groups operating on the ground, has often dispatched its members in such retaliatory strikes. “We choose and strike back,” a stocky midranking commander of the RKK said during an interview in a remote village. Targeting teachers is also sometimes a part of the recruitment process for new volunteers, often at the end of a rigorous period of training in camps hidden under the thick forest canopy that covers much of the terrain here. “The basic training lasts two months and then selected RKK members are given weapons training and taught bomb-making,” said a local source with access to the BRN-C’s armed wing. “But to graduate they need to succeed in their first operation. And sometimes teachers are the targets.”

In defining this conflict, Thai governments and the military have closed ranks to describe the unrest as being rooted in religion. However, critics say this attempt to avoid addressing the more sensitive and politically challenging ethnic dimension is wishful thinking. “The Thai government cannot eradicate Malay nationalism; it is very strong,” said Shintaro Hara, a Japanese linguist who teaches Malay at the Prince of Songkla University, based in Pattani. “The Thai people are blind to the scars of the local history. And for Malays to keep their identity, there is a need to keep the memory of struggle fresh.”

Beyond the politics of identity, the deep south’s economic problems have occasionally driven eruptions of local frustrations. The majority of jobs in the bureaucracy are held by Thai Buddhists, an obvious minority in the region, leading to complaints about the marginalization of the region’s nearly 2 million Malay Muslims. A decade of violence has undermined the hopes of Malay Muslims of a bigger share in the area’s economic potential. The fisheries industry has sagged, despite Pattani’s reputation as the largest port in the south. More than 100 fish processing factories have closed in the last five years in Pattani, where the fishing sector accounts for a third of the province’s gross domestic product. This downturn has affected both the owners of the area’s 700 big trawlers and the 20,000 households that own smaller boats.

Rubber, the main source of the deep south’s income, has been buffeted less by bullets and bombs, but more by global price slumps. “Rubber is the core of the economy in the deep south, and when rubber prices go up or down, so does everything else,” said Anusart Suwanmongkol, a leading Pattani hotelier and a former senator for the province. “Now, because the commodity price has collapsed, there is a huge impact across the south. The conflict has not left this mark.”

It is this reality of teachers cowering in fear, economic troubles and a festering insurgency that Thailand’s latest military regime has to shoulder. Three months after he grabbed power in a coup, army chief and junta leader Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha appears ready to address the troubled south. The strongman — who is now prime minister — has given orders for a military-packed delegation to resurrect a stalled peace dialogue between Bangkok and the Malay Muslim insurgents, brokered by the Malaysian government. A groundbreaking dialogue during the first half of 2013 was welcomed by Buddhists and Muslims as a hopeful turn. But it failed to make progress due to Thai military objections.

For educators in the deep south, the prospect of talks between Bangkok and the BRN-C could be, literally, lifesaving. “The talks should continue, and they have to build trust,” said Prasit Meksuwan, headmaster of the Ban Yaha primary school. “But we will still request for military camps near our schools.”

Regional News

Thai Immigration Police Detain Over 26,000 Illegal Migrant Workers

Thailand’s Immigration Police have detained approximately 26,000 illegal migrant workers from Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia during an eight-day operation in Bangkok and surrounding regions, according to a Royal Thai Police spokesperson.

Mr Adisorn Keudmeuangkhon of the Bangkok-based Migrant Working Group said the drive was in response to an increasing number of concerns about an influx of illegal migrant labor.

“Some Thai people see that many illegal workers are competing for their job positions in the past few months,” he told me. “That’s why the ministry has to take tougher action.”

Civil strife in Myanmar and the recent implementation of a military conscription have driven thousands of Burmese into Thailand, while severe inflation and limited job opportunities in Laos have also encouraged an influx of workers from that country.

Between June 5 and 12, officials detained and checked 20,111 Myanmar laborers, 1,659 Laotian migrant workers, and 3,971 Cambodian workers, according to the Ministry of Labor.

It marked the start of a 120-day campaign to audit workplaces and arrest unlawful migrant workers, according to the government.

Migrant Workers to be Deported

According to Keudmeuangkhon, undocumented workers face fines ranging from 5,000 to 50,000 Thai baht (US $136 to $1,365), deportation, and a two-year prohibition on re-entering Thailand.

Authorities did not intend to file criminal charges, he claimed.

Authorities raided 1,774 workplaces, according to Moe Gyo, chairman of the Joint Action Committee on Burmese Affairs, which advocates for Myanmar labor rights.

He stated that since the military junta activated conscription, there has been an upsurge in the number of arrests of Myanmar citizens in Thailand who do not have a work permit identity card.

All men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27 must serve in the military for at least two years. The first group of 5,000 conscripts summoned by Myanmar’s junta will start duty at the end of this month, military sources told AFP on Monday.

According to Keudmeuangkhon, the bulk of Lao migrant workers in Thailand work as fresh market shopkeepers, restaurant servers, and mall salespeople.

Most people visit Thailand as part of ASEAN’s visa-free policy for tourists, but they stay longer than the 30-day restriction once they find job.

“Employers like to hire Lao migrant workers in the service sector because they can speak fluent Thai,” he told me.

Immigration Police Detain Illegal Migrant Workers

The Thai Cabinet may approve an enhanced program for Thai employers to register their unauthorized foreign workers in July or August. Keudmeuangkhon explained.

Last month, the Thai Ministry of Labor’s Foreign Workers Administration office announced that 268,465 Lao migrant workers were officially working in Thailand.

Baykham Kattiya, Lao Minister of Labor, told Radio Free Asia earlier this month that there are 415,956 migrant workers in other nations, the majority of whom work in Thailand.

According to her, the Lao government believes that over 203,000 persons working outside of the nation lack proper work documents.

However, a Lao official familiar with the labor industry informed Radio Free Asia, a BenarNews-affiliated news station, on June 20 that the number of illegal Lao migrant workers in Thailand and abroad is likely significantly greater.

“They go to other countries as illegal migrant workers through different types of methods – as tourists or students,” said the politician. “Thus, it is hard for the immigration police to collect data on these people.”

Government Officials Responsible for Smuggling in Migrant Workers

Government Officials Responsible for Smuggling in Migrant Workers

News

High School Student Dies After Being Electrocuted By School Water Dispenser

14-year-old boy was electrocuted by a water dispenser: File Image

Thailand’s Office of Basic Education Commission has initiated an investigation into the electrocution of a 14-year-old student by a water dispenser in a high school. The event happened at noon on Friday, during the high school’s sports day. The victim was a Grade 8 student.

According to local media in Trang Province, the incident occurred when a teacher instructed the pupil to turn off a water dispenser amid a heavy rain.

According to a witness, the child collapsed while strolling with his friend near a water station. The friend claimed he attempted to assist but was also shocked by electricity.

According to reports, the friend then recovered, left the site, and requested assistance from teachers. A teacher ran to the scene and used a towel to pull the boy away by the ankle. He was taken to the hospital, but it was too late, they claimed.

The event sparked criticism from parents and netizens over school safety, as well as the slow response to aid the young youngster.

Mr. Chainarong Changrua, head of Trang-Krabi’s Secondary Educational Service Area Office, told local media on Sunday that forensic officers from Trang Provincial Police had visited the area. They discovered the blown breaker switch behind the water dispenser, he explained.

The breaker was burned out, thus the authorities assumed the disaster was caused by a short circuit that allowed energy to spill to a neighboring power pole. The student also appeared wet and was not wearing shoes when electrocuted.

According to the Office of Basic Education Commission, a probe team will complete its investigation this week.

The student’s father, Mr Pornchai Thepsuwan, 53, claimed he was saddened when he saw his son’s body. The boy (Wayu), was the youngest of two boys, he explained. He stated that following the tragedy, the school director and staff gave financial assistance to the families.

Mr Pornchai also said he would not seek charges against the institution because he believed it was an accident.

Electrical accidents in Thailand

Electrocution instances in Thailand have increased alarmingly in recent years. Many mishaps occur as a result of improper wiring and inadequate maintenance of electrical systems.

Public locations, such as schools and markets, frequently lack adequate safety precautions, putting individuals in danger. In rural areas, antiquated infrastructure exacerbates the situation, resulting in more frequent and serious events.

Although several high-profile cases have brought these challenges to light, genuine progress has been gradual. Furthermore, the rainy season heightens the likelihood of electrical accidents, as water and exposed wires do not mix well.

The government has made steps to strengthen safety standards, but enforcement is patchy. More education on electrical safety could help to reduce these accidents.

Unfortunately, better infrastructure and tougher rules may have prevented many of these incidents. The loss and injuries caused by electrocution are avoidable, emphasizing the need for immediate action.

Over 200 High School Students Facing Sedition Charges in Thailand

Over 200 High School Students Facing Sedition Charges in Thailand

News

Thailand’s Tourist Police Crackdown on Tourist Scammers in Pattaya

Tourist Police Pattaya: File Image

Thailand’s Tourist Police said it is collaborating with embassies from five countries to combat tourist scams and ten criminal gangs in Pattaya. The Tourist Police Bureau, convened a meeting on Thursday Pol Lt Gen Saksira Phuek-am told a press briefing.

Pol Lt Gen Saksira Phuek-am, the Tourist Police bureau commissioner said the participants included ambassadors from South Korea, Ukraine, Russia, India, and Switzerland.

He told the briefing the he had ordered a crackdown on tourist frauds, such as fraudulent or low-quality tour operators and unfair sales of goods and services. Stepped-up operations began on June 19 and will continue until June 25.

He stated that the agency was working with numerous organisations to increase tourists’ confidence in visiting Pattaya.

Gen Saksira spent time on the famed Walking Street speaking with officers on duty and assigned them to seek for members of ten criminal groups known to operate in Pattaya.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin will visit Chon Buri on Saturday to assess the tourism situation. He intends to visit the site of a future Formula One racecourse near Khao Phra Tamnak in Bang Lamung District.

Prime Minister Srettha recently met with Formula One organisers in Italy to examine the potential of including Thailand on the race schedule in the future.

On Sunday, the Prime Minister will pay a visit to Rayong’s U-tapao airport to discuss development on the airport’s land, with the goal of encouraging investment in the Eastern Economic Corridor.

Police Chief Reinstated

In other police news, Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol has been reinstated as national police chief following the conclusion of an investigation into a highly publicised quarrel, according to Wissanu Krea-ngam, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s counsellor.

Mr Wissanu released the investigation’s findings on Thursday, after the prime minister formed a fact-finding committee chaired by Chatchai Promlert to investigate into the quarrel between Pol Gen Torsak and his deputy, Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn.

The four-month study revealed conflicts and disorder at all levels of the Royal Thai Police, but it was unclear whether these issues arose from a single cause or several causes, according to Mr Wissanu.

The findings revealed that both Pol Gen Torsak and Pol Gen Surachate were involved, with each team contributing to the tensions, he noted.

Mr Wissanu indicated that Pol Gen Surachate was reinstated as deputy national police head on 18 April following his relocation to the Prime Minister’s Office on 20 March. A disciplinary committee was formed to investigate Pol Gen Surachate, and he was ordered temporarily suspended from the police force.

Because there were no further difficulties to explore, it was decided to restore Pol Gen Torsak. He plans to retire on September 30.

On March 20, Mr Srettha abruptly transferred both top police officers to the Prime Minister’s Office in an effort to address the growing schism within the police service.

Kitrat Panphet, Deputy National Police Chief, was subsequently named Acting Police Chief. According to sources, Pol Gen Surachate could face money laundering charges related to online gaming networks.

Source: Bangkok Post