Police see no pattern in string of school fires
A building at the Ban Cham-
nan Saicharoen School in Kantharalak district burnt down in unexplained circumstances on Friday night, police said yesterday.
Forensic experts are at the scene, and investigators are checking leads, Provincial Police Region 3 commissioner Lt-General Sataporn Laothong said.He suspected the fire had been accidental or the result of an electrical fault. Arson has not been ruled out. Teacher Narong Suphrom said he saw the fire start in the headmaster's office and then spread. He saw nothing suspicious beforehand. Since the September 19 coup some 21 schools in eight provinces of the lower Northeast have been hit by fire. All provinces are in Provincial Police Region 3. Police have arrested eight people suspected of arson, and prosecutions are proceeding, a police report said. Suspects in custody include students and school staff members, it added. Police say disgruntled students seeking revenge on teachers allegedly started four of the blazes. Schools involved were one each in Nakhon Ratchasima and Surin and two in Buri Ram. A fire in Chaiyaphum and one in Buri Ram allegedly involved students "acting on a whim". Two Nakhon Ratchasima fires were the result of alleged negligence by school staff failing to maintain electrical equipment. Damage from the eight is estimated at Bt87,900. In seven other school fires, police concluded the causes had been accidental and blamed faulty electrical equipment. Damage is estimated at Bt2.8 million. In six other cases arson has been determined as the cause, and police continue to seek suspects. These six are in Yasothon, Nakhon Ratchasima, Buri Ram, Ubon Ratchathani, Chaiyaphum and Surin. Damage totals Bt3.6 million. In the upper Northeast, in Provincial Police Region 4, 11 school fires have been reported, four in Nong Khai, three in Loei, two in Kalasin and one each in Maha Sarakham and Sakon Nakhon. Two Nong Khai students accidentally set a pile of clothes alight while smoking in a classroom. Two students on a drinking binge burnt down another school in the province. In Maha Sarakham, a villager torched a school after complaining about noisy students. Police concluded five of the 11 fires had been caused by faulty electrical equipment. Damage is estimated at Bt5.2 million. The remaining three fires are considered arson, and police have yet to name or arrest suspects. Two of these were in Loei and the other in Sakon Nakhon. Damage is estimated at Bt5.9 million. National Teachers Alliance chairman Uaychai Watha declared yesterday that 90 per cent of all school fires were politically motivated and started by supporters of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The Nation SI SA KET
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