Krongchai Hattha, a historian at Prince of Songkhla University’s Pattani campus, lectures at a shrine to the Chinese goddess Lim Ko Niew. He spoke about the history of Pattani in a bid to reconcile differences between Buddhists and Muslims in the restive

Village leaders in Narathiwat yesterday called on authorities to hire permanent security guards to protect schools in the deep South rather than rely on volunteers.

Besides being well trained, the security guards should be local residents because communities in the region share responsibility for protecting their schools, said Mohammed Amin Sarikhan, the chairman of an association of kamnan and village leaders in Narathiwat.

The proposal was made following the murder of Prasarn Makchoo on Monday.

The Thai-language teacher was shot dead while teaching a primary class at Ban Bue Rang School in Narathiwat's Rusoh district.

Prasarn was still holding a piece of chalk when he was gunned down in front of his class of terrified children, an investigator said.

Narathiwat Governor Pracha Therat said defence volunteers guarding the school may have cooperated with the killers.

Mohammed Amin said the volunteers had no weapons and were assigned to monitor a vast area, not just the school.

Army chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin admitted defence volunteers lacked the ability to provide security.

"The defence volunteers are just ordinary villagers and we need time to train them to be as capable as soldiers," he told reporters while visiting the South yesterday.

Defence volunteers receive some arms training from various agencies, including the Army and Interior Ministry.

Prasarn's murder is embarrassing for the authorities. Just two months ago security officials failed to rescue two female teachers who were savagely beaten by a mob of villagers in Kuching Reupah.

The attack occurred amid a tense stand-off between defence volunteers and villagers. The villagers were demanding the release of two men arrested earlier in the day on charges of being members of an insurgent group seeking to separate the Malay-speaking region from Thailand.

Teachers' organisations in the deep South yesterday urged authorities to overhaul security for teachers.

"We are working in fear; we cannot work like this," said Prasit Meksuwan, an adviser to teachers' federations in the three southernmost provinces.

The militants dared to kill a teacher in a school without even covering their faces because they knew state authorities had no ability to hunt them down, Prasit said.

The Nation

Narathiwat